Two new siblings with the same keyboard
Yamaha announced the CLP-826 and CLP-836 in September 2026 as the entry models of the Clavinova CLP-800 series. As of September 2026 they are announced for Japan only, with a Japanese release date of 22 October 2026. Yamaha has not announced availability or pricing anywhere else; in the US and Europe the CLP-825 and CLP-835 remain the current models.
The question of which one to buy is common enough that Yamaha Japan answers it in its own FAQ. Our answer is below. It is a spec-based comparison: neither model is on sale yet, and we have not played them side by side. All figures come from Yamaha's Japanese specification tables.
What the two share
The part you touch and the piano sound you practise with are the same on both:
- GrandTouch-S action with escapement, ivory-feel and ebony-feel key tops, and wood on the sides of the white keys
- Yamaha CFX and Bösendorfer Imperial samples, VRM, Grand Expression Modeling and 256-note polyphony
- Bluetooth audio and MIDI, and a USB audio interface for recording into a computer
- Two standard 6.3 mm headphone jacks
- Three pedals with the GrandTouch pedal
- 303 lesson songs and 50 classical pieces
- In Japan, a bench and headphones in the box
For someone who mainly practises piano, often on headphones, that is most of what matters. The CLP-836 does not give you a different keyboard or a different grand piano sample. What it adds sits around that core.
Speakers and cabinet
The CLP-826 has 20 W × 2 amplifiers driving two 12 cm speakers. The CLP-836 has 30 W × 2 driving two 16 cm speakers. On paper the larger model has more power and larger speaker cones, which usually means more headroom and a fuller low register through the speakers. How much of that you hear depends on the room, and it is worth listening to both in a shop.
The larger speakers come in a larger cabinet:
- CLP-826: 1,350 mm wide, 411 mm deep, 849 mm high, 45 kg
- CLP-836: 1,450 mm wide, 460 mm deep, 927 mm high, 57 kg (polished ebony: 1,455 × 460 × 930 mm, 60 kg)
The CLP-836 is 10 cm wider, about 5 cm deeper and about 8 cm taller. In a small room or against a short stretch of wall, the CLP-826 is the easier fit.
Voices and effects
The CLP-826 has 10 voices. The CLP-836 has 38, which Yamaha says include two fortepiano voices. The CLP-836 also adds chorus, brilliance settings and insertion effects, and has 7 reverb types against 4.
One difference matters for headphone players. Yamaha lists binaural sampling, which it uses for a more natural, spacious sound on headphones, for the CFX only on the CLP-826, and for both the CFX and the Bösendorfer on the CLP-836. If you practise mostly on headphones and prefer the Bösendorfer, that is a point for the larger model.
Display, recording and practice functions
The CLP-826 has no display and is operated by buttons. The CLP-836 has a full-dot LCD. The rest of the gap is in the functions that a display makes practical:
- Recording: one song with two MIDI tracks on the CLP-826; 250 songs with 16 tracks on the CLP-836, plus audio recording as WAV files to USB memory, up to 80 minutes per song
- Split: not available on the CLP-826, available on the CLP-836 (both offer Dual and Duo)
- Touch settings: 4 on the CLP-826, 6 on the CLP-836
- Transpose: ±6 semitones on the CLP-826, ±12 on the CLP-836
- Rhythms and Piano Room: only on the CLP-836 (20 rhythms)
- Pedal functions: the CLP-836 can assign functions such as song start and pause to a pedal
If you want to record your practice and play it back or send it to a teacher, the CLP-836 can do it on the instrument itself. With the CLP-826 you would record MIDI on the piano or record audio on a computer connected over USB.
Connections
This is the clearest line between the two. Beyond the two headphone jacks, the CLP-826 has only USB TO HOST. It has no AUX input, no AUX output and no USB TO DEVICE port. The CLP-836 adds an AUX IN (stereo mini), an AUX OUT (L/L+R and R, standard jacks) and USB TO DEVICE for a USB memory stick.
In practice, if you want to play through external speakers, a keyboard amplifier or a PA system, for example at a school, a church or a small event, the CLP-836 has a dedicated line output and the CLP-826 does not. Both can send audio to a computer over USB and both receive audio over Bluetooth.
Which one to choose
Choose the CLP-826 if the piano is for practice at home, often on headphones, and you mostly play the piano voice. You get the same keys and the same two grand piano samples in a smaller, lighter cabinet, at the lower price of the two. For most learners and for many returning players, that covers what they will use.
Choose the CLP-836 if you want to record yourself properly, connect the piano to external speakers or an amplifier, use more voices or split the keyboard, or want room to grow into functions you may not need yet. It also gives you larger speakers and Bösendorfer binaural sound on headphones, and it needs a larger space.
There is no winner in the abstract. The deciding question is whether you will use the connections and functions the CLP-836 adds.
If you are comparing older and newer models
Each new model differs from its predecessor in one row of Yamaha's tables: wood on the sides of the white keys. The CLP-826 and CLP-836 therefore differ from each other exactly as the CLP-825 and CLP-835 do, so this comparison also applies outside Japan, where the older pair is still current. What the key-side change does and does not mean is covered in our CLP-825 vs CLP-826 comparison. If you want wooden white keys rather than wood on the sides, look one step up at the CLP-845.