FVEREY Folding 88 Key Semi Weighted Keyboard

I’ve had this foldable 88-key keyboard for a couple of weeks now, I wanted to write a review detailing my experience. First, so far, I’m giving this 5 stars. BUT that’s with the caveat that it specifically fits a very narrow use case I have. I’ll put a quick TL;DR section below, then my larger review that will take into account my very specific scenario.

TL;DR:
If you’re looking for a full-sized 88 key keyboard, and absolutely do not have the room for it, this is a great solution. I don’t recommend the on-board sounds (I use software instruments on my computer), and the velocity sensitivity isn’t fantastic. If you have the room (even to store a full sized keyboard standing up while not in use), then definitely look elsewhere. For the same price range you can get some really amazing used gear, the one thing that makes this device useful is the ability to fold it up.

Full review:
First, I want to talk about my background a bit. I’ve studied music my entire life, graduated from college with majors in Theatre, and Music, then auditioned for, was accepted into, and graduated from a conservatory in NYC. After that I taught music at a university for several years.

Following this, I didn’t touch any instruments for about 15 years… In the last 2 years I’ve taken a deep dive into electronic music, and music production, and I’ve begun to work to get my piano skills back up to a level where I can teach again.

Unfortunately, I live in a homless shelter… Everything I own has to fit into a three-foot-tall locker. I have my laptop (and I own Ableton Live Suite), a 25-key midi controller with mini keys (Novation’s Launchkey Mini MK3), a 37-key midi controller with mini keys (Arturia’s KeyStep 37), and several software synths and pianos.

I’ve been working to re-aquire my piano skill, but the mini keys and limits of using 2 controllers smooshed together started causing problems pretty quickly. I knew I needed full sized keys, and 88 of them, but I didn’t have room. Fortunately, there are now folding keyboards!

This fits in my locker, and has 88 full sized keys. Period. That’s exactly what I needed it for. The other problems and limitations are secondary, but I’m going to discuss them below. Honestly, if you have space for a full sized keyboard (even if you have to stand it up against a wall when not using it), you’ll find better options at this price point (especially if you are willing to buy second hand gear).

First, the sounds. They’re terrible. I have a cheap external rompler, and plugging this into the rompler is a far better experience… My go-to, though, is my computer. Using Addictive Keys, UVI’s Model D, or Arturia’s Analog Lab makes this sound so, so much better. The included sounds are lifeless, minimally velocity sensitive, and many won’t allow control with a sustain pedal. Again, I want to say in fairness, the internal sounds AREN’T why I bought this, so, for me, it’s irrelevant. If you’re just needing to work on scales, or practice some sight reading, the internal sounds will work fine, but it’s not something you’d want to record, or perform with, and it doesn’t really bring joy.

The controls are minimal, and not really designed for ease of use. But then, there’s not much you’ll want to do, except power it on and turn down the volume. Using the included USB-c cable to plug into a computer makes it much more useable. Still, the velocity sensitivity of the weighted keys aren’t great. There’s very little difference between pianissimo and fortissimo, but with a little work (using software, not the internal sounds), you can get it to be relatively expressive.

The sustain pedal uses an 1/8″ TS (mono) plug, I’ve rarely seen another sustain pedal that used this… I tired to use the included sustain pedal, and it works, but I found it kept slipping away from my foot, and it wasn’t very useful. For that reason I bought and 1/8″ to 1/4″ adapter, now I can use my regular sustain pedal, and that made a huge difference.

The included music stand turned out to be useless. I don’t know if the one I received is just defective, but the little tabs that fit into the holes on the keyboard are too small (or the holes are too large), so when I put music on it, it just falls over backwards and pulls out of the holes. Useless. Fortunately I have a desktop music stand that works great.

I tried to use the Bluetooth midi, unfortunately the latency made it unusable. I have other Bluetooth midi devices, and they work flawlessly on my phone, tablet, and laptop, but for some reason, while I can connect to this device, every scenario I’ve tried to use it under just ends in so much latency that it’s unusable.

The internal battery is a great idea, that I really appreciate. When I can’t make it to a power source, I can still use it for some scale work without having to worry about it.

The feel of the keys is pretty nice, as inexpensive weighted keys go. It doesn’t feel as good as either of my small midi controllers, but the slight (non graded) weight, full size, longer travel, and decent action definitely make it more useful for relearning the piano than the other options I have available.

Being able to plug the audio of another device into this keyboard is a plus, but it’s pretty noisy, and you then have to use the internal sounds. Useful for a quick lesson through my tablet, say, using headphones, but really it’s of very limited use day-to-day.

Finally, the folding… I’m not sure how durable this is going to be. I take in and out of my locker several times a day, and it has two small hinges, and a plastic latch that do the work. Whether or not these are going to hold up to continued use, only time will tell. So far, I’m treating it delicately, hoping that it’s stronger than it looks, but this is likely the failure point of the device.

So, there you have it. I’ve given it five stars because it’s the ONLY full sized 88-key keyboard I can fit in my locker, and for my purpose, it’s perfect. I’d still recommend that you consider other options if you can, the one trick that this has is the ability to fold up. If you NEED that and are fine with lackluster sounds, or willing to use your own software instrument, it’s not a bad choice as long as your expectations (especially of the velocity sensitivity) are appropriate for the limitations of the device and price point. I absolutely think that it’s worth the money if you specifically need something that folds in half… Just, don’t be too rough with it.

*7/29/2021 Update: FVERY addressed the issues I mentioned in the pictures above, and now I have a fully functioning stand as well as a sustain pedal that has a properly glued-on surface. I also noticed a few new reviews saying that these “good reviews” are a scam–to be honest, I personally believe it was worth the price that I paid ($200) given that it was 1) foldable and 2) 88-keys (and I spent hours looking at all the different pianos, semi-weighted and not, etc. to come at this conclusion). Sure, it might not have the best sound quality, and sure, it might not have the best semi-weighted keys compared to more expensive options, but as someone who wanted a foldable piano that was the best option bank-for-buck-wise, this FVERY piano was the best choice for me compared to other competitors on Amazon (at the time; not sure about now). In addition to the fast customer support, I have now updated this review to 5 stars instead of 4 now.

Bought this keyboard as I had not played piano for a few years since entering college, and as the FVEREY piano was foldable and had solid ratings, I took a chance and bought this to play in my apartment.

That said, as someone who enjoys playing predominantly classical music as well as some other varieties (e.g., pop, movie songs, etc.), I would rate this as a solid 4.5/5 overall for the price but have deducted half a star due to the broken stand and poor quality of the sustain pedal when it arrived (see pictures). Fortunately, the FVEREY team was responsive and has sent me a replacement for both since, but that is expected to take half a month to arrive as it was shipped internationally from China.

Build quality of the piano itself is sturdy and solid, keys feel nice, and there are a lot of instrument tones you can play on (although I mainly stay on the default piano tone and thus can not speak well to the other ones). There also are some additional features (e.g., demos, basic metronome, etc.) that I don’t use very often but work.

In terms of sound quality, I would rate it 4-4.5/5 considering the price of the keyboard. As others have mentioned, you get what you pay for, but I do think the sound quality is quite decent for the price. As a semi-weighted piano, you can feel that some keys are louder when pressed down harder, but it’s nowhere close to a real piano (e.g., upright piano). However–either my fingers got used to it, or the keys got less stiff over time–I eventually got used to how hard I needed to press certain keys (left hand keys were a bit harder to press down on for some reason) for them to make a sound. One thing to note is that because of the semi-weighted structure of the piano, it can be hard to differentiate between right and left hand notes in terms of loudnness (e.g., if I wanted to have my right hand chord/notes play louder than my left, it wouldn’t be that obvious to hear unless I really tried to play the left hand very softly).

All in all, I would recommend this as it’s very portable due to its foldable feature, has solid sound quality given the price, and is fun to play on overall. Hope this helps!