When it comes to audio players for kids two big names reign supreme – Yoto Player and Toniebox. But which one should you buy?
There are a lot of similarities between these screen-free kid-friendly audio players, but several key differences when it comes to how they work and what they can do.
Both have legions of fans and plenty of positives, but which one will be best for you can depend on your child’s age and how bothered you are about extra features.
I’ve had a Toniebox for several years now, and a Yoto Player and Yoto Mini for a year.
Having tested them all out at length with my kids, now aged six and eight, I can answer everything you need to know about these cool screen-free toys!
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Yoto vs Tonies: quick verdict
Given how pricey both storytelling toys are you likely want something with a bit of longevity your kid will play with some years to come.
For that reason I would recommend the Yoto Player.
While younger kids – toddlers through to around age six – will love the look of the Tonies figures and feel of the padded soft speaker, it’s the Yoto that will hold their attention beyond that.
Plus Yoto has some extra features that just pip Toniebox to the post for me:
- A clock display and ability to set alarms.
- Free daily podcast for kids.
- Radio station.
- Can play Yoto Cards from a smartphone, handy if you’re on the go without the player but kids are bored.
- More extensive control of Yoto from the Yoto App compared to MyTonies app.
Need more information to make your decision? Let’s take a deep dive look at what each of these players can do and what makes them such a hit with kids!
You can see further information in my Yoto Player review and Toniebox review.
Yoto and Tonies head-to-head comparison
Here’s the key points of information you need to know when comparing Yoto vs Tonies.
| YOTO | TONIEBOX | |
|---|---|---|
| COST | £99.99 ($119.99) | £79.95 ($99.99) |
| BATTERY LIFE | 24 hours | 7 hours |
| MEMORY | 600 hours of content | 90 mins of content |
| AUDIO SELECTION | 915 Yoto Cards | 185 Tonies |
| FREE CONTENT | Extensive free content such as stories, podcast, radio station, sleep sounds. | Extensive free content such as bedtime stories, stories, sleep sounds, toothbrush timer. |
| WIFI NEEDED? | Yes – for set-up and initial playback of a new card | Yes – for set-up and initial playback of a new Tonie |
| BLUETOOTH ENABLED? | Yes | No |
| HEADPHONES JACK | Yes | Yes |
| NIGHTLIGHT | Yes | No |
| CONTROL VIA APP | Yes – extensive control of volume, nightlight level, playback, alarm times, and what card is playing | Yes – control volume but not playback |
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How the players work
On a basic level the players are operated in a very similar way – for Yoto you insert a Yoto Card to play content and with Toniebox you place a Tonies character on top to begin playback.
Both players require you to download the manufacturer’s app in order to set them up, and these apps can then be used to control the players.
The Yoto app is far more extensive when it comes to control options, but we’ll come to that shortly.
Once your Yoto Player is set up control is via two dials on the top of the player. You twist the right one for volume and the left one to skip chapters in audio books, or press to select Yoto Daily podcast or Yoto Radio.
Toniebox is a little more physical to control. It has two pointy ears on top that are the volume control buttons. To fast forward you tilt the speaker to the right, to rewind you tilt it to the left.
To skip a whole chapter you need to tap the Toniebox on the side, and can go backwards by tapping the other side of the Toniebox.
This is one reason why the Toniebox is such a lovely squashy player to hold, kids need to be tactile with it to operate which makes it great fun.
Yoto vs Tonies: The design
On initial glance right out of the box Toniebox beats Yoto thanks to its bright and cheerful soft exterior and those pointy “ears” on top. It’s your kid’s new bestie!
But Yoto comes to life once it is plugged in and the screen appears. Yep, the screen! Now I did say at the start these are screen-free toys, and they are.
This is not a screen like an iPad or smartphone. It displays the time and pictures that are relevant to the content being played. Think of it like a picture book.
The pixel display changes depending on what chapter is being played, showing favourite characters and objects relevant to the story.
When the player is not playing any content it shows the time – extremely useful if you want it to double as a bedside clock.
Yoto Cards vs Tonies
Let’s be honest, when it comes to look the Tonies are cooler. It’s an actual action figure! But let’s not judge an audio book by its cover.
As I write this there are 185 Tonies available in the brand’s online store and 915 cards available from Yoto’s website. The Yoto Cards are the same size as your bank debit card. They do flex a little, but they would be hard to snap in half.
The Tonies are more expensive, starting at £14.99, whereas Yoto Cards start at £5.99, although some bundles of cards cost more – the full Chronicles of Narnia is £44.99.
The Tonies selection is utterly fantastic and the quality of the look of the handpainted Tonies is really magical – so engaging for kids.
Tonies available include Marvel superhero stories like Spiderman, Peppa Pig, In the Night Garden, Disney classics such as The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, and old favourites such as Paddington Bear.
But there’s no escaping that Yoto has a larger selection available for you to browse. It includes the same Marvel stories, classic Disney tales and much-loved classic stories like Tonies.
You can also find non-fiction content, such as Cards about the planets and natural world around us.
What type of audio content do you get?
A question I get asked a lot by readers is do the Yoto Cards and Tonies from famous films – like Moana – include the songs from the movie. Are they the audio from the full movie?
The answer is no they are not and you won’t get those famous songs, such as Let It Go from Frozen.
You get an audio book version of the story.
There is some sound effects and most stories begin with some introductory music to set the tone for the story.
All of the audio books we have had have been excellent quality with very engaging readers doing the audio.
Can you play your own content?
Both Yoto and Tonies allow you to play your own content.
Toniebox comes with a Creative-Tonie and Yoto comes with a Create Your Own Card.
With both you use the apps can either upload your own audio content, such as a playlist of songs your child loves or audio of you reading their favourite story!
What about free content
Both Yoto and Toniebox offer fabulous free content to their little users.
Toniebox has over 10 hours of free songs and stories in its MyTonies app, while Yoto has a free daily podcast and a radio station.
During the day the radio station plays fun music, while at night it switches to lullabies.
Yoto also offers the Yoto Space, a place filled with user-generated content and the chance to download more kid-friendly podcasts, such as National Geographic Kids.
I would say the Toniebox free content is largely aimed at kids aged under five. The Yoto content is still enjoyed by my eldest daughter aged eight.
Yoto App vs MyTonies app
Both apps have a similar basic structure, with the function to control the device, browse the brand’s free content and shop the brand’s store.
The Yoto App offers more extensive control over the Yoto Player device when compared to MyTonies.
In MyTonies you can set a volume limit for your child’s use of the Toniebox. But you cannot pause the Toniebox, a deliberate decision by Tonies who want kids to have ultimate control of the device.
With Yoto you can stop the playback on the device – handy at night when your kids are asleep but you can’t be bothered to go into their room to switch off the Yoto.
You can also control volume limits, set alarms, change the colour of Yoto’s nightlight and select something to play from your Yoto Card library.
You can either playback cards in the app, handy if you’re out without the Yoto Player but need to entertain your kids, or set a card to play on the player (even without the physical card).
Battery life
Yoto Player has a longer battery life than MyTonies.
The new 3rd gen Yoto has a 24 hour battery life when fully charged – do bear in mind that playing it on full volume while streaming content may mean you get slightly less battery life.
MyTonies has seven hours of battery life when fully charged.
The Yoto Player comes with a USB-C charging cable, while the Toniebox comes with a magnetic docking station.
A magnetic docking station for Yoto is sold separately.
Extra features
Toniebox will play Tonies as well as your own custom content or free content, including sleep sounds and stories, from MyTonies.
Meanwhile Yoto Player will play Yoto Cards and free content from Yoto Space, plus these things too:
- Extensive control of Yoto’s settings and playback in the Yoto App.
- Nightlight – this activates when you turn the Yoto face down (Yoto Mini does not have a nightlight). To be honest it only gives off a dim glow, so it’s not a significant light. You can change the colour of the nightlight, via Yoto App.
- Yoto Daily Podcast
- Yoto Radio
- Set alarms – includes “ok to wake” signals, changing the colour of the nightlight once it is morning and set when the image on the clock face changes from a moon (night) to sun (day).
- Playback cards from the Yoto App on your phone.
Do Yoto and Tonies need wifi to work?
Both audio players require wifi for the initial set-up after you’ve first unboxed them and to play a brand new Yoto Card or Tonie.
Once you have played a card or Tonie on the devices, this content is stored in the internal memory and you can remove and return them to the devices to resume playback.
Both players will remember where you were last listening to the story and resume from that point.
How much memory do they have?
Neither of them has a limitless amount of memory of content. However Yoto beats Toniebox when it comes to storage space.
Yoto has 32GB of memory – enough for around 600 hours of content.
Meanwhile Toniebox has space for 90 minutes of content.
What happens when memory runs out? Your player will just boot out the oldest content, and in order to load it again you just need to place the relevant Tonie, or Yoto Card, on the player to retrieve it.
Yoto vs Toniebox: Which is best for travel?
Both the Yoto and Toniebox have a connector for headphones, making them ideal for listening on the go on planes, trains and automobiles – or anywhere else for that matter!
The new 3rd generation Yoto Player has a battery life of 24 hours, while Toniebox’s battery life is seven hours.
Based on this Yoto could be considered best for travel, although Toniebox appears more robust thanks to its squishy design.
Yoto does sell Adventure Jackets to go with its Players, and these provide a bumper and handle for easy carrying.
Both can be used for travel, although you may find the Yoto Mini beats them if travel is a priority for you.
Yoto Mini vs Toniebox
We can’t do a thorough comparison of Yoto and Tonies without also mentioning Yoto Mini. See my full Yoto Mini review.
This is a smaller version of Yoto Player with a smaller screen and lacking the nightlight and room temperature functions. It also has less storage and slightly less battery life (20 hours).
Other than those key differences the Mini does all of the same things its big brother can do – play Yoto Cards, control from the Yoto App, alarms, clock face (although a smaller one) and the cute pixel images that change when cards are being used.
Final thoughts
I recommend the Yoto Player because it will last your child much longer than a Toniebox.
Younger kids will absolutely love the concept of the Tonies and it has a lovely selection of free content for little kids that is fun, educational and useful (such as a teeth cleaning timer).
If both of these options are more money than you wanted to spend then consider the Yoto Mini, the Yoto Player’s little sibling with most of the function but in a much smaller size.
Another alternative audio player toy is the Amazon Echo Dot Kids.
