Two Yamaha home pianos that share most of a spec sheet

"ARIUS or Clavinova?" is one of the most common questions about Yamaha home pianos, and for the last few years it usually meant the entry Clavinova, the CLP-825, against the top standard ARIUS, the YDP-165. In Japan both have now been replaced. The YDP-166 arrived in June 2026, and in September 2026 Yamaha announced the CLP-826 for release in Japan on 22 October 2026.

If you are shopping outside Japan: as of September 2026 the CLP-826 is announced for Japan only. Yamaha has not announced it, or a price, for the US or Europe, and the CLP-825 remains the entry Clavinova in those markets. Yamaha's Japanese specification tables for the CLP-825 and CLP-826 differ in a single row, the keyboard. So everything in this article also describes the CLP-825 against the YDP-166, except the wood on the white keys covered in the next section.

The shared list is long: 88 keys, the Yamaha CFX concert grand sample, 10 voices, four reverb types, 40 W (20 W × 2) through two 12 cm speakers with diffusers, Bluetooth audio and MIDI, two standard 6.3 mm headphone jacks, three pedals with half-pedalling, 303 lesson songs and 50 classics, a two-track recorder, and USB audio over USB TO HOST. Neither has a line output. Both cabinets are 849 mm high, and the widths differ by 7 mm.

That leaves a short list of real differences: the keyboard, a second piano sample, polyphony, resonance modelling, weight, and a step in price.

A note on method: this comparison is based on Yamaha's published specifications. We have not played the two side by side, and the CLP-826 is not on sale yet, so we set out what Yamaha states rather than rule on feel.

The keyboard is where the ranges now separate

The CLP-826 uses GrandTouch-S, the same action as the CLP-825, with escapement and ivory- and ebony-feel keytops. The one change Yamaha made is wood on the sides of the white keys. Yamaha says this answers customer requests and, together with key design drawn from its acoustic pianos, gives a more grand-piano-like feel, citing more natural finger contact when playing octaves. These are not wooden keys: Yamaha calls the white keys of the CLP-845 wooden, and describes the CLP-826 as using wood on the key sides. The difference in wording matters.

The YDP-166 uses GrandTouch-E, the keyboard Yamaha developed for this ARIUS generation. Its specification also lists escapement and synthetic ivory and ebony keytops. It does not list wood.

This makes the ARIUS–Clavinova split clearer than it was before this update. Read off the spec sheets, the CLP-825 and the YDP-166 keyboards had a lot in common: both with escapement, both with ivory- and ebony-style keytops, neither with wood listed. The step between them was mostly a keyboard name. The CLP-826 now has a physical feature the ARIUS lacks, and you can see and touch it in a shop.

How much it changes the touch is another question. Yamaha does not publish key weights or sensor counts, or how GrandTouch-E relates to GrandTouch-S. On our spec-derived touch scale, GrandTouch-S sits one grade above GrandTouch-E (8 against 7). That grade comes from published construction, not from playing them, and it does not account for the new wood on the key sides. If the keyboard is the reason you are looking at a Clavinova, this is the part to test with your own hands.

Sound: the same CFX, plus a Bösendorfer

Both pianos are built on the Yamaha CFX sample, and both have 10 voices. The CLP-826 adds a second concert grand, the Bösendorfer Imperial. If you would like to switch between two distinct piano characters, only the Clavinova offers that.

Resonance is handled differently on paper. Yamaha lists VRM on the CLP-826 and VRM Lite on the YDP-166. Both model the resonance that builds when notes ring together and when the damper pedal is held. Yamaha does not publish what the Lite version leaves out, so read this as a difference in detail rather than in kind.

Polyphony is 256 notes on the CLP-826 and 192 on the YDP-166. This is the number of notes that can sound at once, and it runs short mainly in long pedalled passages or with two voices layered. For most home practice 192 is enough; 256 gives more margin.

The speakers do not separate them. Both drive two 12 cm speakers with diffusers at 20 W × 2, both have Stereophonic Optimizer for headphone playing, and both have Intelligent Acoustic Control for low volume. Any difference you hear in the same room at the same volume will come from the samples and the resonance modelling, not from the speaker system.

Connections, lessons and practice: level

On features, the two are closer than the Clavinova name suggests. Both support Bluetooth audio, so a phone or tablet can play through the piano's speakers, and Bluetooth MIDI for apps. Both work as a USB audio interface over USB TO HOST, which is the route to a computer. Neither has AUX or line outputs, so an external amplifier or mixer has to go through a computer. Both have two standard headphone jacks, so two people can practise quietly.

The lesson content is the same: 303 lesson songs and 50 classics, a metronome, transposition, and a two-track recorder on each.

One caution applies to the YDP-166 outside Japan. Yamaha's US specification marks its Bluetooth as varying by area, so confirm with the dealer that the unit sold in your country has it.

Size, weight and what comes in the box

The CLP-826 measures 1,350 × 411 × 849 mm and weighs 45 kg. The YDP-166 measures 1,357 × 422 × 849 mm and weighs 42 kg. The Clavinova is slightly narrower and 11 mm shallower, yet 3 kg heavier. None of these differences changes where the piano will fit. If depth is the real constraint, the YDP-S56 uses the same GrandTouch-E keyboard in a 309 mm deep cabinet.

In Japan, both come with a height-adjustable bench and headphones, and the CLP-826 also includes a book of the 50 classics. Outside Japan the package varies: Yamaha's US page marks the YDP-166's bench as area-dependent, so check each listing before comparing offers.

The price step, and who should stay with ARIUS

Both are sold at open price in Japan, and the CLP-826 sits a step above the YDP-166. For that step, you get the GrandTouch-S keyboard with wood on the white-key sides, the Bösendorfer Imperial as a second piano, 256-note polyphony and full VRM. You do not get more voices, more speaker power, more connections or more lesson content.

Stay with the YDP-166 if you want the CFX sound, a keyboard with escapement, Bluetooth and two headphone jacks for a family starting lessons or an adult returning to the piano, and most practice happens on headphones. It covers everything regular home practice needs, and the remaining differences are ones you would have to go looking for.

Choose the CLP-826 if the keyboard matters most to you and you have tried both, if you want the Bösendorfer as a second piano character, or if you play long pedalled repertoire and want the extra polyphony margin. Outside Japan, the same reasoning applies to the CLP-825, minus the wood on the key sides.

If what you want is more voices, AUX outputs or a larger speaker system, neither of these is the answer. The next Clavinova up is the step for that: in Japan the CLP-836, elsewhere the CLP-835, with 38 voices, 30 W × 2 through 16 cm speakers and AUX in and out. If you are also weighing another brand at the ARIUS level, see our Kawai CX202 vs Yamaha YDP-166 comparison.