Screen-free audio players for kids: Yoto Player vs Toniebox 2

What should you look for in a screen-free audio player?

Look at the age it is made for, how stories get onto it and what they cost, and whether it works with headphones. These are the numbers that separate the two.

• Age. Yoto says the Yoto Player is for ages 3 to 12 and up. Tonies say the Toniebox 2 is certified safe from age 1, although the starter set packaging warns it is not suitable under 12 months because of small parts.
• How a story starts. Yoto uses flat cards pushed into a slot. Tonies uses figures placed on top of the box. The figure is easier for small hands; the card is easier to post through a letterbox, stack and carry.
• Cost of content. Most Tonie figures are £14.99 each. Yoto sells cards individually and through Yoto Club, from £3.99 a month, where most cards cost one credit. Budget for content as well as the player.
• Battery. The Yoto Player runs up to 16 hours per charge and charges by USB-C, with an optional wireless dock. The smaller Yoto Mini runs up to 14 hours. Tonies describe the Toniebox 2 battery as long lasting but do not give hours.
• Headphones. Yoto says children can use wired or wireless headphones. Tonies say the Toniebox 2 now has headphone connectivity, without saying on the pages we read whether that means a socket, Bluetooth or both.
• Free listening. The Yoto Player includes Yoto Daily and Yoto Radio at no extra cost over wifi. The Toniebox 2 starter set includes a Creative-Tonie you can fill with your own recordings.
• Wifi. Both need wifi to set up and download content. Yoto says the player stores more than 600 hours offline.

Yoto Player vs Toniebox 2 compared

Yoto or Toniebox for a toddler?

For a child under three, the Toniebox 2 is the one made for that age. It is a soft cube, a figure on top starts the story, and tonies say it is certified safe from age 1. The Yoto Player's stated range starts at 3.

From about three upwards the choice is closer, and it comes down to how you will use it:

• Bedtime in the child's room. The Yoto Player has a night light with seven colours and an ok-to-wake clock, so one device can do stories and the "not yet" signal in the morning.
• Car journeys and shared rooms. Headphones matter more here. Yoto confirms wired and Bluetooth headphones.
• Travel or a second child. The Yoto Mini, about £64.99, plays the same cards in a smaller box, but has no night light.
• A child who likes to collect and hold things. Tonie figures are characters in their own right, which some children love to line up and some parents find expensive.
• Choosing without help. Both let a child pick and start their own audio without a screen or reading, which is the reason most families buy one.

What does it cost after the first month?

The player is the smaller part of the spend if your child listens a lot. At £14.99 per Tonie, five extra stories costs about £75. Yoto Club starts at £3.99 a month, cancel any time, and gives credits to spend on cards, which spreads the cost if you would buy a card or so a month anyway.

Ways to keep it down:

• Record your own. Grandparents reading a favourite book onto a Creative-Tonie or a Make Your Own card costs nothing beyond the card or figure.
• Use the free channels. Yoto Daily and Yoto Radio come with the Yoto Player.
• Swap with friends. Both work on physical cards and figures, so they can be lent like books.

Things to know

• Small parts. The Toniebox 2 starter set carries a choking hazard warning and is marked not suitable for children under 12 months. Keep figures away from babies and younger siblings.
• Yoto safety reports. GOV.UK lists a product safety report for the Yoto Mini 2021 to 2023 edition, whose battery could overheat at a high state of charge, with a free replacement battery offered; affected serial numbers generally start 1FE to 8FE. A separate report covers faulty UK plug adaptors sold with the Yoto Player 2nd generation from 2021 to 2023. Both are rated low risk. The 3rd generation player in this guide is not named in either, and the Yoto Mini we list is the 2024 Edition, which Yoto distinguishes from the 2021 to 2023 models.
• Volume. The World Health Organization advises teaching children to keep volume below 60% of the device maximum when using headphones, and the NHS says volume should be just high enough to hear comfortably.
• We have not tested either. Specs come from Yoto's and tonies' UK sites, John Lewis for the starter set contents, and GOV.UK for safety reports, all checked on 11 September 2026.
• Things we could not confirm. The Toniebox 2 battery life in hours, whether its headphone support is a socket or Bluetooth, whether it has a microphone, and whether first-generation Tonies figures work on it, all from tonies' own pages.