Best Page Turners for Sheet Music in 2022: the complete review

One of the many advantages of digital sheet music is that it allows for hands-free page turning. Of course, this requires a page turner Bluetooth pedal. There are a lot of page turners available on the market with many different features, and choosing the right one for you can be quite a hassle. So to help you decide, we prepared this comprehensive review of the 11 best Bluetooth pedals for sheet music in 2022.

Table of Contents

Best all-round pedals

1. Pageflip Firefly – €105 / $109.95
2. Airturn BT-200 S-2 – €79 / $79
3. Pageflip Butterfly – €98 / $89.95

Best-in-class pedals

1. IK Multimedia iRig Blueboard – €88 / $99.99
2. Pageflip Dragonfly – €135 / $129.95
3. Coda STOMP – €162 / $159.95
4. Airturn Duo (BT-200) – €99 / $99

Best pedals on a budget

1. IK Multimedia iRig Blueturn – €79 / $79.99
2. Donner Page Turner – €66.99 / $73
3. Moukey MG-1 – €44.99 / $55.99

Top 3 Best page turners all-round

To start this review, let’s focus on the best all-round Bluetooth page turner pedals. These page turners will offer you great reliability and performance for a mid-tier price, and will follow you on stage with no problem. If you don’t mind the advanced features of the more expensive models, you will find your happiness in this category.

1. PageFlip Firefly

Good points

• The footswitches of the Firefly have small backlights for extra visibility that can be switched on or off.
• The pedal has a “repeat” function that can be easily switched on or off straight from the pedal.
• Just like all PageFlip pedals, it has an easily accessible Bluetooth reset button.
• Like on the Butterfly, the footswitches on the Firefly are big and placed at a low height and wide apart, which makes them easy to reach and reliable.
• The page turner can be powered either with AA batteries (not included) or via a micro USB port.
• This micro USB port can also be used instead of Bluetooth to connect the pedal.
• Two auxiliary outlets can be used to add additional controllers.
• PageFlip has developed a free desktop app (compatible with MacOS and Windows) to customize the controls, including advanced multi-key configurations for advanced use cases.
• The pedal is designed to sip very little battery, and annonces a whopping 1-year autonomy on a single pair of batteries. Also, the LED will flash red before the batteries die out, which is quite handy.

Could be improved

• It would be great if the customization software was available on iOS, and if it could be used to change the name of the pedal for easy identification.
• This pedal is bigger and heavier than other options on this list. It gives it great flexibility, but it’s also extra weight in your bagpack.

2. Airturn BT-200 S-2

Good points

• The BT-200 S-2 shares some of the great features of the Ped Pro and the Duo: it has a unique identifier, a MIDI mode and a repeat function customizable through the Airturn Manager app.
• Although the pedal is very compact and light, it feels quite sturdy.
• The BT-200 S-2 is charged through a 9V DC plug, which can make it fit easily into pedalboards.

Could be improved

• Because of the small size of the foot pedal, the footswitches are very close together which can easily lead to mistakes and misses.
• The metal footswitches have a pretty loud “click” when pressed.
• Non-skid pads are very small and not that effective.
• When the pedal is connected, a blue light flashes every 3 seconds, which can be disturbing to some performers.

3. PageFlip Butterfly

Good points

• The non-skid pad on the bottom of the Butterfly is very effective.
• The footswitches on the Butterfly are big and placed at a low height, which makes them easy to reach and reliable.
• Like all PageFlip pedals, the Butterfly has an easily accessible reset button, allowing users to quickly disconnect the pedal from its paired device to pair it with another.

Could be improved

• The Pageflip Butterfly is powered with AA batteries, which are unfortunately not included.
• There is no “repeat” option and no unique identifier in the name of the page turner.
• It is a bit big and heavy if you have to carry it in a bag, even though this means it’s more stable.

Top 4 Best-in-class page turner pedals

Now that we have discovered the best models for most people, let’s talk about the best pedals period. The page turners in this category will offer you unmatched reliability and advanced features, such as MIDI or extra buttons, and will suit the needs of the most demanding professionals.

1. IK Multimedia iRig Blueboard

Good points

• This the only solely-MIDI page turner in this list (all other pedals in this list act as external keyboards, and a few of them have a MIDI mode as well). Thanks to the MIDI over Bluetooth feature and the 4 footswitches, there is a large choice of customization options for the controls. For example, you can set up two footswitches to turn pages and the other two to play/pause audio files or jump to the next piece. For the Blueboard to work, you will need to download the (free) iRig Blueboard app.
• Thanks to the Blueboard app, it is possible to edit the name of the pedal and to power on/off as well as changing the intensity of the backlight.
• The Blueboard has two 6.5mm jack plugs to connect additional external controllers to the pedal, such as an expression pedal for example.

Could be improved

• There is a free app available on the App Store to update the firmware of the page turner. However during our test, despite following the instructions, we were not able to get it to work: it would not detect our Blueboard.
• You will have to install and let the iRig Blueboard App run in the background for the Blueboard to work.
• Just like the Blueturn, the Blueboard does not contain an internal rechargeable battery and can only be powered with four AAA batteries.

2. Airturn Duo (BT-200)

Good points

• Each Airturn Duo has a unique name that appears in the Bluetooth settings of your device, making it easy to quickly identify which pedal is paired with which device. This will prove very convenient in group settings to avoid getting the iPads and page turners mixed up.
• The Duo’s settings can be customized with the Airturn Manager App: for example, the repeat function can be turned on and off and the sensitivity can be adjusted.
• The 7th mode of the pedal is a MIDI function, with customizable controls.
• The pedal differs from the two other Airturns in its ergonomics. It comprises two big “tactile” footswitches that are placed quite far from each other, which is a good point: it makes them reliable and hard to miss.
• The central unit of the BT-200 can be taken off to be used as a hand-held device.

Could be improved

• Like the Airturn Ped Pro, the Duo can only be powered with a built-in battery, unable to be charged quickly in cases of emergency.
• When the page turner is connected, a blue light flashes every 3 seconds, which can be disturbing to some performers.
• The non-skid surface of the Duo is very small and slips too easily.

3. PageFlip Dragonfly

Good points

• Like the PageFlip Firefly, the Dragonfly is packed with great features such as a repeat option and a reset button, it is customizable through PageFlip’s desktop software and has a micro usb port to connect and/or power it.
• The main footswitches are well-designed and reliable: they are placed wide apart and at a low height.
• The Dragonfly page turner pedal features two additional footswitches, which can be very handy. For example, it is great for playing and stopping songs to play along with on Spotify or iTunes without having to leave Newzik or use split screen.
• The pedal is designed to sip very little battery, and annonces a whopping 1-year autonomy on a single pair of batteries. Also, the LED will flash red before the batteries die out, which is quite handy.

Could be improved

• Given its extra footswitches, it would be great if the Dragonfly was MIDI-compatible.
• It would be great if the customization software was available on iOS, and if it could be used to change the name of the pedal for easy identification.
• Once again, the Dragonfly is big and heavy compared to other models on this list, which can be problematic if you’re looking for an ultra-portable solution.

4. Coda Stomp

Good points

• The metal casing of the Coda Stomp feels very sturdy and “road-ready”. If you use other metal guitar pedals such as BOSS products, it has a similar feel.
• The Stomp is powered either with a 9V battery or through a 9V DC plug, which makes it fit easily into pedalboards.
• The pedal has a very nice tactile response. Contrary to rubber buttons, you will be 100% sure if you have pressed the switch or not.
• This page turner pedal has a “repeat” function that can easily be switched on and off straight from the pedal.
• The blue LED will turn red 10-15 hours before the pedal runs out of battery, which leaves you plenty of time to change it.

Could be improved

• The downside of the tactile response provided by the switch is that pressing it produces a noticeable click sound, which can be problematic in quieter contexts such as orchestral or chamber music. Absolutely not a problem for modern musicians though.
• The STOMP has a keyboard mode accessible by pressing both buttons at once. A nice idea, which suffers from two downsides: first, you have to do this every time you want to access they keyboard, unlike other products of this list. Second, if you press both buttons by mistake and go into keyboard mode, you won’t be able to turn pages until you double-press again to go out of keyboard mode, which can be a problem during a show.
• The pedal is quite hard to get outside of America at the moment. However, Coda Music told us they are actively looking for a European distributor, so this should become easier in the future.

Best Bluetooth page turner pedals on a budget

Reliable page turners aren’t always expensive, and cheaper pedals can actually be very reliable even in professional contexts. Don’t mistake low price for low quality: the first model on this list is the one most orchestras we work with adopt!

1. IK Multimedia iRig Blueturn

Good points

• Light and compact design that feels sturdy and durable.
• A no-fuss, easy-to-use page turner.
• Completely silent footswitches.
• The footswitches have a blue backlight when the pedal is turned on, which can prove handy in low-light settings.
• AAA batteries included.
• The iOS virtual keyboard can be made to pop up easily by pressing the left footswitch for about 3 seconds.
• Several hours before the batteries die, the LED light will start blinking slowly, which is a very good thing as it reduces the risk of running out of battery in the middle of a show.

Could be improved

• The Blueturn does not have a reset button. To pair it to a new device, you will first have to “forget” the pedal in the Bluetooth settings of the device it is already paired to.
• Blueturn pedals do not have a single identifier. This means that if you use several Blueturns and several iPads at the same time, there is no way to identify which pedal is connected to which iPad.
• Despite its non-skid pad on the bottom, the pedal slips quite easily on the floor.
• The Blueturn can be powered by AAA batteries only and is not rechargeable.
• The footswitches do not give any tactile feedback, are quite small and placed a bit high, which can make for easy mistakes and takes some getting used to.
• The power button is located behind the pedal, which is not the most convenient (especially if you want to tape the pedal on stage).
• The blue footswitch backlights cannot be switched off.

2. Donner Page Turner

Good points

• The Donner page turner feels well-built and sturdy.
• It has a “repeat” function that can be switched on and off straight from the pedal.
• There is a good amount of space in-between the footswitches, and they are easy to reach and reliable.
• The pedal features two auxiliary inputs to add additional controllers.
• The Donner is very quick to pair since it does not require a confirmation on the device.

Could be improved

• When the page turner is paired, a green light flashes every so often and can be disturbing.
• The ergonomics of the foot pedal could be a little better: the central unit sometimes gets in the way when trying to press the footswitches.
• The Donner Buetooth pedal can only be powered through its built-in batteries, so there is no way to charge it quickly in case of emergency.
• The manual provided with the pedal is poorly translated.
• The Donner has a reset button, but it is very hard to reach.
• The battery life is quite short (50 hours) compared to the other page turners on this list.

3. Moukey MG-1

Good points

• The Moukey has a repeat function that can be turned on and off with a switch.
• The main advantage of the Moukey page turner is its price: under $60!

Could be improved

• Just like with the Donner, the manual provided with the pedal is poorly translated, the battery life is short (about 50 hours) and the reset button is not easily accessible.
• The pedal feels pretty cheap.
• Although they are made of plastic, the footswitches are very noisy.