Every recommendation on PianoPicked traces to a number or a description the maker published. This page is the method — what we check, where it comes from, and what we deliberately don’t do.
The specifications we reconcile
Every guide works from the same core facts: the key action as the maker names and describes it (semi-weighted, weighted, hammer action, and whether the maker says the weighting is graded from bass to treble), sensors per key as declared, polyphony and voices, speaker output and speaker count, headphone outputs, pedals included and whether a three-pedal unit can be connected, dimensions and weight, and connectivity (USB-MIDI, USB audio, Bluetooth MIDI or audio).
“88 keys, fully weighted” on a listing is a label, not a specification. The same words appear on very different mechanisms, so we record what the maker actually says about the action and the sensors — and when the maker says only “weighted”, the guide says exactly that: action not specified by the maker. We never infer an action from the price, the brand or a retailer’s description.
We then reconcile those facts against how you’ll play: a first piano for lessons, practicing on headphones in an apartment, a small space, or a console for the living room. The reconciliation, not the spec sheet, is the recommendation.
Where the numbers come from
Manufacturer specification sheets, owner’s manuals and official model pages, in that order of trust. Every specification we publish is taken from a document we can point to. When two manufacturer documents disagree, we say which one we used and why. When a fact cannot be verified from any published source, the guide says so in a named exclusions section rather than repeating a figure we cannot stand behind.
What we don’t do
We don’t buy, play or test the pianos we write about, and we won’t pretend to. “Picked” means chosen from the documents. How a keyboard feels under your own fingers can only be settled by playing it, and we say so plainly.
We also don’t give lessons or advice on teaching methods, and we don’t cover repairs, power-supply substitutions or any work on the instrument. This is general information: follow the maker’s manual for assembly, power and any work on the instrument, and contact the maker’s authorized service if in doubt.
Who it’s for — and who should skip it
Every recommendation names who it’s for and who it isn’t for. An honest guide has losers as well as winners, and ours name what we excluded and why.
Prices
We don’t publish prices. They change too quickly to trust in an article, so we use broad price bands (for example $400–700) and ask you to check the current price with the retailer before buying.
How we’re paid
Reader-supported, through affiliate links that never affect what we recommend — the full policy is in our affiliate disclosure.