iTikes Piano Rating :
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
need major improvement
By babytuna
I had high expectation for some reason. I was excited to get this thing! and I was highly disappointed after I played it with my son.
First of all, it sounds like a crap! like, really. I opened the box, put the batteries in, turned on the piano, and pushed the key and I was highly disappointed!!! Initially, the volume was set on minimum as a default, and what came out was annoying static, electric (i dont know how to explain this annoying beeping-ish small sound) sound. First I thought it was broken because the sound didnt come out but the metaric-electric-werid sound did. Then I realized the volume was off, so I turned it up, and yes i did hear the key sound comes out but with the annoying metaric-electric sound!!! Whatever keys you play, the uncomfortable sound comes out at the same time. It's like the sound that comse out from the speaker when the mic is angled toward it...
and then move on to the apps. (note: you can play the piano without ipads nor iphones / itouch any versions)
it sucks. Some of them are not even working. like, "learn the notes" section, they say to play the certain note, but the app wont play the sound, so you don't really know what's going on. and "learn to play" section, you can't basically learn to play because if you make one mistake it just ends. and hey, it's kids playing and they will miss one note! On top of that, it starts from playing just 1 note. and then the next one is 2 notes and it goes up by 1 note. My son only made it to 3 notes... I mean, thats not even close to a song! He just did the note "A A A" A 3 times!!! and since he missed the 3rd one. it went back to the beggining... and i tried and it's dang hard! because you have no idea when it's my turn to play and when im supposed to press the key! and im 29 years old... :(
I initially wanted to get a piano for my son, and he loves ipad. so i figured this toy would be great. wrong. The app sucks, but then the sounds suck! so, for paying the retail price of $49.99, I definitely would get a electric piano from other brands... The other piano won't go together with ipad, but at least it sounds like a piano (without the annoying static sounds).
In case you are wondring:
- this toy works with any versions of ipads, iphones / itouch.
- the app is free
I got this as a gift. If i bought this by myself, i would definitely returning this with confidence. I was excited with these itikes lines and was thinking to buy the canvas too, but now I know I won't!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Great investment! Paid for by itself in 1 session.
By N. Ha
I brought this for my 4 years old daughter because my wife wanted to send her to piano class that's going to cost about $50/hr? For that kind of price, I rather have this and be able to teach her the basics. Will probably save me at least 10-20 sessions worth! But with all these negative reviews, I really didn't expect much.
The free app is 212mb, so while the ipad was downloading it, which took some time. We were getting familiar with the piano. This piano works like any other toy electric piano w/o the ipad/iphone. It is decent all by itself. It even have the letter/name of the key emboss of the key itself, so you know which key you're pressing, like C flat, C sharp, etc. Each key you press, it lights up. You can record and playback. There have "stepper" button where a tune comes out and it would intentionally pause and lights up the next key, you would have to press it before it continues for a few more notes and so forth.
With the free apps, it made this piano so much better and whileworth. Once the app is installed, you place your ipad on the piano slot and launch the app. If it doesn't detects your piano, its saids "waiting for device" and 3 other options. 1. Play without the toy 2. Terms and Condition 3. Privacy and policy. That's exactly what I got, so I thought may be those parents are right, this isn't ready for prime time. Then I power it on...and Voila. Device detected. I'm not sure how but it does. I thought it was through the bluetooth, but my ipad bluebooth was disabled. There's no physical connection between the ipad and the piano. I doubt it is the wifi connection, but anyway, a new screen came up with 8 games or type of lessons to choose from.
One of the game teaches you to play a song one note at a time, so you have to follow it. As the note comes up on your ipad screen, the key that you suppose to press lights up! How? I really dunno. And when you press the piano key, the corresponding ipad notes lights up. I even took the ipad off the slot from the piano and it works! I'm thinking it has to be bluetooth, but as mentioned, my ipad bluetooth is disabled to prolong battery life plus I didn't even link the piano to the ipad. Anyway it worked and I'm happy. The others games are similar, designed to teach the kids how to read notes and associate them to the keys on the piano. So a note would come out appear of the "C" line and you suppose to press the C key, etc. I'm sure it's gonna take an avg kid hours and plenty of lessons and practice for them to know and remember the 2 main octave of the piano, which is what this piano has. After about 10 minutes with this toy, my music reading ability from elementary school is creeping back. I remember the "FACE" technique now.
If I truly invest the time to teach my daughter, which I intend to, I'll save myself at least $500-$1000 in piano lessons or much more. Even sending her to piano class, you'll still need a piano at home for them to practice. This iTikes piano and app is interactive which makes it fun and easy to learn. It will out lived its usefulness when your kid is able to play a song just by reading a simple sheet music. How many sessions will it takes for a kid to do that?
While I love this toy piano and think its worth every penny, it isn't perfect and improvement is needed, but there's nothing like it out there. The sound could be better, but it is not terrible. Lets be realistic, this is a toy, so lets not compare a toy to a professional instrument or the speaker from a $500 ipad. But I too thought I had a broken one b/c only static came out when I turn it on until my daughter dial up the volume while I was trying to read the instruction. Duh!
Another negative is while playing the notes to the song the app was teaching my daughter, sometimes you have to press it really hard otherwise it won't registered and thinks you missed the key. This is my only gripe. This probably has something to do with how the ipad and the piano is connected.
Anyway, if you want a good sounding quality piano that your kids will pound on it a few time and will get bored quickly because they don't know how to play it because there's no interactive apps or instruction to guide them, then get a real keyboard, not this toy piano. But if you want a toy piano that can actually teach you or your kids hours of instruction and interactive games and fun, this is for you.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Okay for a keyboard, app/tech integration needs improvement
By D. Zalewski
I liked the idea of the iTikes Piano because it can function like a regular piano/keyboard but the experience can also be enhanced with a free app on my iPhone (or on an iPad if you have one). It even comes with a few different sized holders. There are a few songs already programmed in the piano that will light up the keys, showing how to play them. One mode plays a bit then waits for you to press the lit up key before it continues a few more notes. My 2 year old likes that, but she definitely enjoys the freestyle mode. You can also adjust the pitch and tempo of the music. I find it difficult to get it back to the default, but when actually learning how to play a song it is very helpful to slow it down then gradually speed it up again.
Just the piano on its own I find worth it to have for my two year old. The technology integration with the app is interesting, but she's much to young for it right now. There are more games to play and help teach kids how to actually play the piano. It includes games on pitch, sight reading, and learning notes and sounds. The app interacts with the piano over wifi, but still needs some work. It was not always responsive and we often had to exit the app completely in order to switch activities. Hopefully they will continue to work on fine tuning that aspect and create additional apps to work with the keyboard as well.
Regarding the sound, I saw other review mention that it sounded bad. Ours sounds fine - it is not distorted or anything. Our only disappointment was with the app portion.
*I received one of these to review.
Product Description
The iTikes Piano allows kids to play music and expand their learning using an iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #63037 in Toys & Games
- Brand: iTikes
- Model: 626432
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.99" h x17.60" w x8.74" l,3.20 pounds
Features
- Standalone Piano with major & minor keys, volume control and tempo/pitch tuner
- App-based music games allow kids to learn more note names, musical staff and pitch training
- Use iPad®, iPhone® or iPod touch® to play learning games, watch visualizations and more
- Light-up major keys
