If you're comparing the FP-E50 and P-S500, the real question isn't which one sounds better — it's whether you see yourself as a pianist who wants to perform, or a performer who happens to play piano. Both cost exactly $1,200. Both have 88 weighted keys, 256-note polyphony, Bluetooth Audio and MIDI. On paper they look almost interchangeable. They are not.
One-Person Band vs. Premium Piano
The Roland FP-E50 is an arranger portable. It treats the piano as the instrument you play within a larger musical vision — 750 sounds, auto-accompaniment patterns, a mic input for sing-along, and vocal effects built right in. The Yamaha P-S500 treats the piano itself as the goal. Its budget went toward a GH3 three-sensor keyboard action, Stream Lights visual learning technology, and headphone optimization engineered for serious late-night practice. These are not two versions of the same product. They are two fundamentally different ideas about what a $1,200 instrument should be.
The mic input is a useful litmus test. The FP-E50 has one; the P-S500 does not. That's not an oversight on Yamaha's part — it reflects what each instrument is designed for. If you ever imagine plugging in a microphone and singing while you play, you're in FP-E50 territory. If that idea never crossed your mind, the mic input is irrelevant noise, and the P-S500's engineering priorities become much more compelling.
The Keyboard Action Gap Is Real
Don't let identical polyphony counts and similar sound library sizes distract from the most important difference between these two instruments: the keyboard.
The P-S500 uses Yamaha's GH3 action — three sensors per key, graded weighting from bass to treble, ivory-feel surfaces. Three sensors vs. two means the action can register a key that hasn't fully returned to rest before it gets pressed again. For fast repeated notes, trills, and rapid passages, this is a meaningful capability difference. The FP-E50 uses Roland's PHA-4 Standard action — the same keyboard found in the FP-30X, which is an excellent action at its price point, but it runs two sensors per key. That's a real engineering gap between the two instruments, and it matters more as your playing develops.
This isn't brand favoritism. It's recognition that three sensors serve technique differently than two, and buyers developing serious piano skills will eventually feel the difference.
The P-S500 is also lighter despite being more technically focused — 13.8 kg vs. the FP-E50's 15.5 kg. The FP-E50 is heavier because its speaker system is larger (24W vs. 20W), a trade-off that marginally favors the arranger use case where room-filling performance output matters. But if portability is part of your decision, the piano-focused instrument actually wins that category too.
Sound Count Is a Red Herring
750 sounds (FP-E50) vs. 660 (P-S500) looks like a meaningful difference on a spec sheet. It isn't. Both instruments have far more sounds than the average home pianist will ever systematically explore. What matters more is what those sound libraries reflect: the FP-E50's 750 include the genre-spanning variety you need when playing over rhythm patterns, entertaining guests, or building one-person arrangements. The P-S500's 660 are built around the Yamaha CFX concert grand sampling as the centerpiece voice, with accompaniment styles and a broader library added on top.
Neither count makes one instrument better at piano. Redirect that comparison to what you actually use at the keys.
Stream Lights Comes With a Dependency
The P-S500's headline learning feature — Stream Lights, which illuminates keys to guide your fingers through any song in your music library — is genuinely impressive technology. But it only works through Yamaha's Smart Pianist app on a compatible phone or tablet. Without that device, you lose the feature entirely. If you're comfortable setting up app-connected workflows and own a compatible device, Stream Lights is a real advantage during the learning phase. If you're not, or if the app-dependent setup feels like friction, factor that into your decision.
Who Should Choose Which
The FP-E50 serves a specific musician well: the church player who accompanies the congregation, the solo performer who fills a room without a band, the singer-songwriter who needs one instrument to cover everything from chord-melody to full-arrangement backing. For that person, the 750 sounds, rhythm patterns, and mic input aren't gimmicks — they're professional tools. Dismissing them would mean dismissing the entire use case.
The P-S500 serves a different musician: someone who sees the piano as the primary artistic pursuit, who practices daily and wants a keyboard that rewards technique development, who values headphone quality for late-night sessions, and who wants the best Yamaha portable action available without stepping into console territory.
Three years from now, the FP-E50 buyer who is primarily a pianist may wish they had prioritized the keyboard action. The P-S500 buyer who wanted creative versatility and a mic input will feel limited by the focused design. The wrong piano for your actual musical life is the one that frustrates you.
Choose the FP-E50 if: you perform solo regularly, you sing while you play, you want auto-accompaniment for live or practice use, or you need a single instrument that can cover multiple musical roles.
Choose the P-S500 if: piano practice is your primary focus, technique development matters to you, you practice late at night through headphones, or you want the best keyboard action Yamaha makes in a portable body.