Blackstar Carry-on White 88 Keys USB MIDI Controller for Portable Folding Digital Piano with Rechargeable Battery

The media could not be loaded. In general, I love this product for the value. I’ve had it for four days now. I purchased this for getting serious learning piano with the intention of buying a better piano later once I got familiar with options many digital keyboards offer. So for me, I was looking for something affordable, all 88 keys, and easy to transport so that it may still have a purpose once I upgrade later. It definitely feels like a kids toy being lightweight and lots of clicking plastic, but that isn’t stopping me from learning with it. I’m mostly using apps that recognize audio, and it works fine for that. My biggest gripe is the sticky ‘E’ key on the edge doesn’t always spring back up all the way - but it still works.PROS88 keys.Easy to store and transport when folded.Less than 4 pounds.Has a tote bag with a snap.8 hour rechargeable battery.Wires along hinges look well protected.Works great as midi controller over USB. Was automatically recognized by my device.Includes micro USB data cable.Includes 52 stickers to put on keys with note on staff, note letter and number if thumb is on C, dots representing octave, and tiny number of white key.Metronome between 1 and 6 beats with tempo between 1 and 16.Sustain pedal.Has 3.5mm audio jack.128 instruments128 accompaniments, with adjustable tempo30 demo songs to play along with adjustable tempoTapping power resets to default settings/instrument.Hold power to turn on/off prevents accidental power when traveling.Can change transpose keys by six in either direction.CONSNo AC adapter for USB cable.Would prefer USB-C.No ‘normal’ MIDI port (midi over usb only)Keys not weighted.Keys do not detect pressure or speed.Interface to choose between 128 instruments and accompaniments is horrible with arrow kbuttons. Could have used first 10 piano keys as a number pad while holding sound or Accompaniment Buttons.A key tends to stay halfway down sometimes.No Bluetooth as midi controller or headphones.Lots of clicking plastic.Volume not high enough for parties or public spaces.Unable to lock into a rigid position to put on piano stand.Rubber feet look like they’ll fall off over time.No enumerated list of instruments, accompaniments, or demo songs to reference.No pedal for soft notes.Black keys are a bit short in height.Quarter inch lip of plastic in front of keys.Segments tend to slide off pegs when folded. You may want a strap or rubber band to hold it together.No storage IO for music, instruments, or accompaniments such as microSD, USB drive, or Bluetooth.

If your expectations are for a realistic feel of a piano, which some of the negative comments stated, those are unrealistic expectations from ignorance. If, however, you are looking for an 88-note foldable keyboard that, as a professional, you can put in your backpack or put on your bike pannier or carry on a plane - there is nothing like it. It is a bit fragile but just reasonable care is fine. You wouldn't want to step on it. And no, the onboard sounds aren't great, but you can MIDI into your computer and do whatever you want. This is smartly designed and a much needed and long-awaited keyboard for those of us needing a portable option.

This is a good device for what it is. They're not the best keyboards on the market, but as an easy to store, rechargable keyboard for kids to take to their seat and use to practice using Piano Maestro, they do the job, or as a portable instrument for me to stick in a backpack along with my laptop and use as an input device into Noteflight.But is it a digital piano? No. It's a cheap keyboard. It sounds like a cheap keyboard. The keys are full width but slightly shorter than a regular keyboard, and don't depress as far. If you go in expecting a digital piano, or even a good keyboard, you're going to be disappointed. If you go in expecting a $50 keyboard that you can stick in a backpack, you won't be.I've purchased 5 of these so far for my group classes because they are simply put, useful instruments to have in my instrumentarium. So far, the ones I bought last Spring have held up to being used by young kids quite well, which is why I added a few more.Addendum...this particular one stopped holding a charge less than 2 months after getting it, but the other four I have are fine.

Positives: extremely light weight and small; easy to travel with. The headphone jack is a great feature. Using the organ sound is the least offensive tone/sound in my opinion, but I really don’t care about the sound quality. This is for travel practice only.Cons: it is difficult to play any key signature with more than 1 or 2 sharps/flats. This is because the black keys are very short in length and height. If I’m playing, for example, a full Ab major chord, there's no room for the middle finger/Eb on the black key. The only way for me to play it is to curl my middle finger under and play with the fingernail. On a regular sized keyboard there is room for the fingers to slide up on the keys (closer to the soundboard) so fingers 2 and 3 aren’t scrunched up as thumb and pinky play octaves.I should also mention that the metronome feature doesn’t display beats/minute, just a degree of speed. So, Level 5 is approximately 70 beats/minute.I don’t mind the sound, sing I purchased this solely to keep up practicing while I travel for work (which is frequent). On average I have 6 new songs to learn every week, and every day counts in getting the music ready for the next Sunday morning. I find it perfect for things that are in the key of C, F, G, Bb, and D. Unfortunately, I really need to be able to play in every key and to modulate, and the design just doesn’t allow for much utilization of the black keys.If this were redesigned with full length keys, I would absolutely purchase again.For what it is and at this price point, I’m pleased to be able to literally practice while sitting on a balcony at the beach, headphones in, overlooking the ocean, and unconcerned about the effects of salt air. To be clear, I am not a beginner learning the piano, and I would not recommend this product for learning to play. If you have a decent piano or weighted full size keyboard at home as your main instrument, this travel keyboard is sufficient for some types of targeted practice while away from home.