AKAI Professional MPK mini Plus

⭐ Full Review:
I’ve been using the AKAI Professional MPK Mini Plus for some time now, and I can confidently say it exceeded my expectations in almost every category. Although it’s a compact MIDI controller, it delivers a level of performance that feels very close to full-sized studio equipment.
Overall
The MPK Mini Plus is a perfect blend of portability, functionality, and build quality. It fits easily on any desk and is ideal both for beginners and more advanced producers who want something quick, reliable, and inspiring to use. It’s lightweight, but it still feels durable and premium.
Handling / Ease of Use
The layout is incredibly intuitive. Every knob, pad, and key is placed in a way that makes sense, even during fast workflow sessions. The keys feel much better than I expected from a small controller — they have a comfortable travel distance and respond well to different playing dynamics. The transport controls and pitch/mod wheels are also huge advantages in a device this size.
Features
This is where the MPK Mini Plus really shines. The chord and scale modes help create melodies fast, even when you’re not in a “creative” mood. The 8 drum pads are extremely responsive and perfect for finger-drumming. The extended key range compared to other MPK models makes a noticeable difference when composing more complex ideas. The built-in arpeggiator is simple but powerful, and works smoothly with DAWs.
Considering the size and price, the feature set is honestly impressive.
Finish / Build Quality
The controller looks clean and modern. The knobs don’t wobble, the pads feel premium, and the keys are smooth with a solid rebound. Despite being lightweight, the body feels sturdy enough to take with you in a backpack without worrying about breaking anything. Akai clearly paid attention to detail here.
Conclusion
Overall, the AKAI MPK Mini Plus is a fantastic MIDI controller that combines great playability, advanced features, and excellent portability. It’s perfect for producing music at home, in a small studio, or even on the go. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a compact but capable MIDI keyboard — it delivers far more than its size suggests.

This keyboard is a great value for the price in my opinion. Sure there are cheaper keyboards with the same amount of keys. There are even cheaper keyboards with more additional options such as more faders, rotary controls or more transport controls for example. However I was quite suprised about the build quality and overal quality of this keyboard. The key bed might be mini keys, nevertheless they do feel very nice for a relative small and compact keyboard.

To put this review in perspective, I own a few midi controllers which I bought when having mobility in mind. I own the MPK Mini MK1, I own an IK Multimedia iRig Keys 49 (version) 2, I own the Korg MicroKEY 37 MK2 and an MPC Studio MK2.

Although I wasn't in a great need to get an extra keyboard, I am very happy to be able to add the MPK Mini Plus to my collection and it will probably be used more often than the other keyboards on the long term.
This is simply because this keyboard has the perfect amount of 37 keys for me, just like the MicroKEY and the iRig Keys 2 but it is an extra bit smaller,
This makes it much more portable than the other two keyboards. Those keyboards do not fit in a regular backpack unless you leave the zipper open. The MPC Studio MK2 has a great portable size but works mainly best with the MPC software. Therefor I don't use it with other DAW's. The MPK Mini Plus fits perfect in my backpack. Also the keys are better than the other keyboards I just mentioned and the pads are almost as good as the MPC Studio MK2. I think it's the same quality pads but they are slightly smaller and sturdier to press than the MPC Studio MK2. The transport controls are a great additional feature to the MPK Mini Plus as well as the Chord and Scale modes and the Step sequencer. In conclusion, if you are looking for a great price value 37 keys midi controller which is portable and has a nice build quality, a great key bed and some very handy additional features then this keyboard might be the one for you.

This is a solid midi controller. I don't think there is any competition for this keyboard currently (that also fits my desk).

37 keys. Quality pitch+mod wheels for the best expressive playing (beats touch strips easily). Plus a joystick. Good pads that are very fun to play. Encoders feel just right.

The keys are small or medium sized. I like it because it allows for more keys in a smaller space. In case you are wondering:

White keys are ~8 cm tall, a little under 2 cm wide
Black keys are ~5 cm tall (playing area is 4.5cm, 5mm of slope), about 8mm wide

If you plan to play some Chopin this is not the keybed for you. You will want something that closer resembles a piano. But you need more than 37 keys for that anyway.

For everyone else this should be more than fine. The key action feels good and consistent from left to right. I enjoy playing the keys and I'm not bothered by anything

Overall a great and practical device that I can only recommend.