How to Test a Digital Piano in a Store: What to Play, Check and Ask (2026)

A store floor can have dozens of instruments. If you work your way along the row, your fingers and ears adjust within ten minutes or so and the differences blur. Going in with two or three candidates lets you compare them under the same conditions and without rushing.

Your room dimensions, your budget and whether you will mostly play on headphones in the evening are usually enough to narrow the field. You can line up specs in the comparison tool and save your candidates in your notebook, so they are on your phone when you are in the store.

Each candidate's key action is listed in our key actions reference. If a candidate is not on display, another model that uses an action the manufacturer calls by the same name can give you a rough idea. The cabinet and settings can still change how it feels, so treat that as a hint rather than an answer.

Call the store first and ask:

• • Is the model you want actually on display? Being in the catalogue does not mean every store has it out.
• • Is it plugged in and ready to play?
• • Are your other candidates on the same floor, so you can go back and forth?
• • Is it fine to bring and plug in your own headphones?

• • Your own headphones, the ones you will use at home. Check whether they have a 3.5 mm mini plug or a 6.3 mm (1/4-inch) plug, so you know whether you will need an adapter.
• • The score of a piece you play often, or one you want to learn. A short passage is enough.
• • Measurements: the width and depth of the space at home, plus doorways, hallways, stairs and the elevator if there is one.
• • Your shortlist, in your notebook or as a printed checklist.

A quiet time is best, such as a weekday morning. On a busy floor you cannot hear soft notes, the bass at low volume or the knock of the keys. Allow at least ten minutes per model so you are not rushed.

Before you start, ask a member of staff to reset the touch sensitivity (how the volume responds to how hard you play) and other settings to their defaults. Display models are sometimes left on adjusted settings, which makes a fair comparison harder. Use each model's basic grand piano sound.

The checklist

• • Soft repeated notes: play one key very softly several times. Does the sound come out evenly, without dropping out or suddenly jumping in volume?
• • Fast repeated notes and trills: do the keys return quickly enough to keep up with your fingers?
• • Weight at the back of the keys: play far back on the keys, between the black keys. How much heavier is it than at the front? This matters in pieces with many chords on the black keys.
• • Half-pedalling: press the right pedal about halfway. Does the sustain change gradually, or does it only switch between on and off?
• • Speakers at low volume: turn it down to the level you would use at home. Is the sound still clear, or does the bass thin out too much?
• • A longer stretch on headphones: play for around ten minutes on your own headphones. Notice ear fatigue and whether the sound feels boxed in.
• • Key noise with headphones on: listen to the thump of the keys while the sound goes only to your headphones. A companion standing a few steps away will hear more of it than you do.
• • Bench height and posture: set the bench to your height and check your elbow height, the music rest's height and angle, and whether you can read your score comfortably.

The pedal connected to a display model is not always the one included in the box. Portable models in particular are often shown with an optional stand and three-pedal unit, so ask what comes with it.

How to compare: play the same passage of about eight bars on each candidate, in the same order. Finish by going back to the first one: it reduces the effect of simply getting used to whichever you played last. If the store allows it, a short phone recording of each helps when you listen back at home.

A store is not your home. How the sound fills your room, and how vibration travels to the neighbors below, cannot be judged there. If key noise and vibration worry you, see the guide to quiet digital pianos for apartments.

You can print this checklist from your notebook and take it with you.

• • Delivery and setup: what does delivery cost? Does it stop at the curb or come into the room, and is assembly included? For a portable model, can you take it home yourself?
• • Your old piano: will they take it away, and at what cost? An acoustic piano may need a specialist mover.
• • Warranty: how long, what it covers, and whether there is an extended option. If something fails, does a technician come to you, or does the instrument have to be sent in?
• • Display models: is there a discount, and does the full warranty still apply? Check for scratches and worn keys, and make sure everything is there: pedal unit, bench, music rest, power adapter and manual.
• • Getting it into your home: compare the box size with your doorways, corners, stairs and elevator. For a console model, ask for the packed dimensions.
• • Lead time: is it in stock, and how long until it arrives?

Ask for a written quote that includes delivery and setup. With the total in writing, you can compare like for like with other stores and online shops.

Once you have the quotes, you can enter them in our 10-year total cost calculator to compare candidates including accessories and disposal.

Sometimes none of your candidates is on display anywhere near you. Buying from a retailer that accepts returns lets you check the instrument briefly at home instead, and in some ways that tells you more: your room, your seat height, your headphones and how it sounds at the time of day you usually play. It is a weaker comparison, though, since you will rarely have two models at home side by side.

Before you order, read the return policy: how long you have, who pays return shipping on a heavy box, whether you need to keep the original packaging, and whether a console model can still go back after it has been assembled. In the UK and the EU, most online purchases also come with a statutory right to cancel; elsewhere, returns depend largely on the retailer's own policy.

The statutory right only covers checking the instrument the way you could in a shop. If you use it beyond that, for example by practising on it for several days, you can be charged for the loss in value. Retailers' own money-back guarantees, such as Thomann's, also require the instrument to come back in its original packaging, with all accessories and without signs of use. So keep the check at home short: the size in your room, the sound, and the volume at the time of day you would usually play.

Renting first, or renting with an option to buy, is another way to try at home; see our guide to trying a digital piano at home before you buy.

Impressions blur quickly. The same day, note for each model what you liked and what bothered you in your notebook. Even a simple good / okay / poor mark for each checklist item makes the decision easier a week later.

If you are told the price is only valid today, you still do not have to decide on the spot. Ask how long the quote is valid and think it over at home. If you are deciding with family, showing them your notes makes it easier to explain why you are torn.

Finally, the model that felt best in the store is not automatically the one that suits your room or your evening practice. Put what you felt together with the room measurements, the headphone outputs and the weight. If you are still unsure, the guide to avoiding common regrets walks through the usual pitfalls.