The Toniebox is a cuddly speaker for kids to play audiobooks, games and songs.
This squashy audio player recently got an upgrade, with the main differences being changes to the light display on top and the new Tonieplay feature (something you need to buy in addition to the Toniebox or as part of a bundle).
As a mum of two kids who adore audio books, I was thrilled to try out the Toniebox 2. Here’s what’s new and whether it’s worth buying for your child.
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Toniebox 2 quick verdict
The cute Tonies characters that you place on top of the Toniebox in order to play individual stories, or other audio, make this engaging and fun for kids.
Audio books are a fantastic way to engage them with storytelling and the Toniebox is the ideal size for them to have on a bedside table, carry from room to room, take with them in the car or snuggle up to in bed.
You can control some elements of the Toniebox – such as volume level and the light on top – via the app. And you can find a selection of free content on the MyTonies app too.
Toniebox loses points due to the potential for lost Tonies – the audio is not saved in the app once played for the first time – and the free content when compared to the Yoto Player, another speaker aimed at kids that uses cards instead of figures to play content.
Brand new to the Toniebox 2 is the Tonieplay additional feature. This unlocks games and challenges for kids they can play solo or in a team, using the Play dial that magnetically connects to the top of the box.
What is a Toniebox?
A Toniebox is a square speaker that can be paired with small painted figurines called Tonies that have preloaded audio content, such as audiobooks and music. Plus you can create your own custom content – whether you want to record granny reading a book for your kids or your children singing their favourite song.
Operating the Toniebox is extremely simple – with no screens or myriad of buttons – you just pop a Tonie on top of the box and off it goes.
There are ears on top of the Toniebox that act as buttons, plus you can tilt or tap the box in order to skip forwards or backwards through the audio.
The Toniebox is small enough to be held (with two hands) by a child. It’s not heavy plus is padded with a woven sustainable fabric cover, meaning no sharp edges or potential injuries if they drop it on their foot!
The new Toniebox 2 comes with an extremely short charging cable, but it’s USB-C, so you can switch to using one of your own at home if you need something longer.
Battery life is great and so my kids tend to have the Toniebox in bed with them when listening to stories.
You could even take it on a long car journey – it has a headphone jack – if you want to keep your child entertained.
Quick facts
- USB-C charging cable – the one included is very short.
- 10 hours’ battery life
- Control by squeezing the ears to put volume up or down. Tilt to the left or right to speed through content, or tap on the left or right side to skip backwards or forwards through audio.
- Tonieplay is a new feature that acts as a screen-free game for kids. Using the dial that magnetically fixes to the top of the player, then can unlock interactive games, challenges and treasure hunts.
- No headphone jack. Toniebox say they are bringing out new headphones soon but for now, there are no headphones compatible with the new Toniebox 2. At present, you cannot used third-party Bluetooth headphones with the device, but this feature is rolling out in the future, Toniebox has said.
What age is Toniebox for?
Toniebox pitches itself as being for kids aged 1+. My children are eight and 10 and I would say that most of the Tonies content available is too young for them. There are some options, like Kay’s Marvellous Medicine by Adam Kay and David Walliams’ books that work great for older kids. However there’s not quite enough choice on there once kids reach eight and up.
I think the Toniebox is absolutely perfect from age one to eight. Tonieplay particularly is more geared up for little kids, with Paw Patrol and Winnie the Pooh among the themes available.
If you want it to have a little more longevity with a speaker, then go with the Yoto Player, which includes content such as the Harry Potter collection of books.
One thing I would say though is you can of course create your own Tonies audio. You could read record yourself reading books of your choice for your child – assuming you have the time. Or download audio from elsewhere on the internet and upload that to a Creative Tonies blank character using the app.
What do you get in the box?
A Tonies Starter Set comes with your Toniebox, a charging cable plus one Creative Tonie figure.
This Tonie figure will introduce your child to the device – once you’ve gone through the setup process – but does not feature any content. However you can add some free content from the My Tonies app!
You can use the Creative Tonie to record 90 minutes of your own content, but you’ll want to purchase at least one other Tonies figure with your Toniebox to get started.
You will need connection to WiFi to set up your Toniebox. The set up process is simple and the MyTonies app will guide you through the process from your smartphone.
The Toniebox 2 does not come with a set of headphones and there is no headphone jack.
Tonieplay is sold separately but you can get it as part of a bundle. We have the Toniebox Paw Patrol Tonieplay bundle.
How does the Toniebox work?
The Toniebox is about as simple as it gets to operate, once you’ve gone through the initial setup process.
You will need to set the Toniebox up via the My Tonies website or by downloading the app to your smartphone or tablet. You will need your WiFi password handy. Set-up takes less than five minutes.
The light ring changes colour depending on what the Toniebox is doing, for example it will glow in rainbow colours when playing something.
I recommend doing this setup before you wrap up the box to give to your child – this way when they have unwrapped it it’s immediately ready for use!
The light ring can also be used as a nightlight, and you can set a timer for this in the app. Plus you can set a sunrise alarm that makes the Toniebox glow and play wake-up tunes to gently wake your child. Again, all of this is done via the app.
To use your Toniebox simply follow these steps:
- When you’re ready to get started place a Tonie figure on top of the speaker inside the square of lights on top (there’s a slight magnetic pull between the Toniebox and figure so it pops into place easily, but it then can be simply picked up when you’re ready to pause or switch content).
- When the lights turn rainbow it is playing the content.
- To pause the audio just remove the Tonie from on top of the box. To start from where you were just put the Tonie back on the box.
- Tilt the whole Toniebox to the left to rewind it, tilt to the right to speed it on
- Tap the Toniebox on the lefthand side to skip a chapter forwards, or on the right to skip back a chapter (you can use the My Tonies app to change these control settings or get rid of them completely).
- Use the ears on top of the Toniebox to increase and decrease volume. You can also press and hold either to sync your Toniebox with the app after making changes in your settings (such as setting limits on the volume).
- Once the story has finished the Toniebox will automatically turn itself off and go to sleep.
How does the Toniebox app work?
You can use the My Tonies app to set up your Toniebox, and then after that it becomes a way to manage usage of your speaker plus a way to access free content, and create your own!
I particularly like the fact you can use the app to set a maximum limit on the volume on the Toniebox, as the kids tend to play things as loud as they will possibly go whereas I need them a little quieter to hear myself think!
If you have more than one Toniebox in your household then you can control them all from the same app.
You can also see all of your Tonies and check out the playlist for each one. This is really useful with Tonies that feature multiple stories. You can see a running list and help your child find the story they want.
You can add multiple “members” to your My Tonies account via the app, and set what access they have to edit your Toniebox settings.
What kind of Tonies can you get?
Tonies are the characters you can place on top of the Toniebox speaker and they contain audio content. Once they’re placed in the square on top of the Toniebox that content will load up onto the speaker, and your child can listen to it all the way through or skip along chapters as they wish.
This image gives you an idea of the size of a Tonies, they easily fit in the hand of a little one.
There is a huge range of Tonies, made from classic characters like Hansel and Gretel to new favourites such as Elsa from Frozen.
As well as figurines, the Tonies also come as little mini book figures featuring the front cover artwork. These tend to be the Tonies aimed at older kids.
The length of content on each Tonie varies. Some contain over an hour of content while others, such as The Gruffalo, have just 17 minutes. It’s worth checking when you buy a new Tonie how long the content is (it should say in the product description when you purchase) so that you aren’t disappointed.
The content on the Tonies isn’t just voices reading a book. For example with The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom Tonies there’s also music and sound effects as the story unfolds. It really brings the story to life!
However there is also free content available on the My Tonies app Library. To use the free content in the app just put your Creative-Tonie on the Toniebox and then go into the app and assign the content to that Tonie. Press and hold one of the buttons on the Toniebox to sync and you can now play that content.
The free content includes songs and stories. At the time of reviewing this there are 21 free items in the Library on my app.
Creating your own custom content with a Creative-Tonie
One of the coolest things about the Toniebox is that it also allows you to create your own content.
Kids could have fun with this by recording themselves singing or reading their own favourite book.
I think there are so many different ways of using this option, for example if a parent is going away for a few days they can record themselves reading a few of the child’s favourite bedtime stories. Then the reading can be played through the Toniebox so that the parent has a way of being involved with bedtime even when they’re away!
To create your own content of up to 90 minutes you just need the Tonie figure that will have come with your Toniebox. You can record your audio through the app, then sync it via the Toniebox.
You can also download audio files to be added to the Tonie figure.
You can also order new Creative Tonies from the Tonies website.
How does Tonieplay work?
Tonieplay is a controller dial that connects magnetically to the top of the Toniebox.
Once you have a game loaded – we have the Paw Patrol one – you’re challenged to take part in missions and games. The game pack includes cards with each of the Pups of the Paw Patrol and you simply tap the one you think is best for the mission on top of the Toniebox.
It’s a wonderful new way to the use the Toniebox, challenging kids to games and tasks without a handheld games console or tablet.
What my kids think of the Toniebox
My kids love the Toniebox and have really enjoyed listening to the stories.
Even at age eight and 10, they still love the functionality of it, and ease of use.
Using the Toniebox is incredibly easy for kids to get the hang of, and even very young children will manage to swap Tonies around to load different content.
Because the audio content comes loaded onto very cute and fun figurines shaped like favourite characters this makes it no only easy to find the story or songs they want to play, but it also adds to the fun. The Tonies become little action figures, and friends, that the kids love to play with.
Everything is very durable. Our first Toniebox has taken more than a few knocks and the Tonies have been dropped on the floor many times, but everything is still in working order.
Toniebox 2 pros
- Good range of audio content to suit lots of tastes.
- Screen-free that engages children on books and story-telling.
- Very easy to operate for kids.
- Tonieplay adds a new dimension for daytime fun with the Toniebox.
- Parental control of volume.
- Rechargeable battery means kids can take the Toniebox on a car journey or move easily around the house.
- Soft exterior means it is a cuddly speaker.
- Value for money as will hold children’s interest for several years.
- Ability to create your own audio content.
- Free content in the MyTonies app including stories, sleep sounds and timers for things like brushing teeth.
Toniebox 2 cons
- Figures are easy to lose due to their size. You may find yourself hunting for them under sofas and in toy boxes.
- Expensive – you will want to buy at least one Tonies with the speaker.
- Once figures are lost you can’t play the content, even via the app.
- I don’t think the Toniebox has the same longevity as the Yoto Player, which has lots of content available to buy for kids aged 9+.
- No headphone jack and doesn’t work with bluetooth headphones right now – future updates that allow this are coming, apparently.
Toniebox 2 vs Yoto Player
The Yoto Player is a very similar concept to the Toniebox except that it uses cards instead of figurines for loading different audio content.
But there are some key differences you need to be aware of when making your purchasing decision.
Screen
The Yoto features a screen with a pixel graphic display, whereas the Toniebox has a glowing light ring on top.
Yoto Cards vs Tonies
With Yoto the audio is played via Yoto Cards, but once you have played them once they’re stored in your Yoto app.
If your kids loses the card, no problem. Just play via the app, or use a blank Yoto Card to upload the content and your kid can use that one instead.
With Tonies if you lose the figure then it’s gone. The figure shows in your MyTonies app, but you can’t playback via the app.
Free content
Both the Yoto app and MyTonies app offer free content.
I would give Yoto the edge on the free content, because it has a radio station and podcasts. The radio station plays fun tunes in the day and sleepy lullabies at night.
The podcast is fun and engaging for kids.
But Tonies does have a large library of free content from MyTonies including children’s songs, fun quizzes and classic stories such as Pinocchio.
That free content is largely geared up for younger kids of six and under.
If you want something with a bit more potential for longevity, the Yoto beats Tonies in this regard.
Extra features
The Yoto doubles as a clock and nightlight. The Yoto nightlight is a bit weedy to be honest.
Toniebox does double as a nightlight and it also is a bit too dim if your child is particularly scared of the dark.
Tonieplay has Yoto beat when it comes to an added dimension of fun to engage kids without using a screen – this offers cool games and quiz challenges for children to play solo or as a group.
The new Yoto 3rd gen player also has a temperature sensor that you can read via the app too – handy only if you have little kids.
Cost
The Toniebox is just slightly more expensive than the Yoto Player. But the Yoto Mini is cheaper than both of them.
The Yoto Mini does all of the things the Yoto Player does apart from the nightlight and temperature sensor, plus it has a much smaller screen.
The cost of Yoto Cards and Tonies is roughly the same – the cost of these does vary depending on what you are purchasing.
So how do you choose?
Picking between Yoto and Toniebox really comes down to which one you like the look of best – you may prefer the look of the Yoto Player with its pixel display that brings the audio to life visually.
Both work with a changing cable and both have very simple controls. Both have a range of free and paid for content available.
Really when comparing the Toniebox vs Yoto Player it comes down to which one you like the look of the best and your child’s age. A child of seven may get more use out of a Yoto, for example. A child of one with adore the Toniebox for years to come.
Final verdict: Is a Toniebox worth buying?
Yes the Toniebox is a perfect gift idea for kids aged one and over (and there’s also plenty of content younger babies would enjoy too). They will get years of use out of it (up until around age nine) plus it’s so compact and the speaker looks so cute it will look great in any bedroom. The Tonies are adorable too!
I love the selection of colours available and when placed on a shelf or bedside table the Toniebox and Tonies add a lovely splash of colour to a bedroom.
We’ve had a Toniebox for years, so I’ve had a lot of time to test it out and gather our thoughts on it. I would most definitely recommend one to friends.
The big downsides are the initial cost of the speaker and the cost of the individual Tonies – starting at £14.99.
Having said that I do think it’s good value for money and I think it’s something all kids can get a lot of enjoyment from.
Plus it’s so easy to use that kids do not need any help when it comes to playing music or a story through the Toniebox. It’s great if you’re looking for something that encourages a little independent play, as well as nurtures their love for stories.
It’s a fantastic gadget and perfect for kids, with Tonies content to suit any taste.
If you’re looking for a gift they will be excited to open, and will appreciate for years to come, then this is it.
We were gifted the Toniebox 2.
