Toniebox vs Yoto Player for a 3 y/o - are they actually worth the money?

[Singlemumofoneanddone]

I’m considering buying some sort of audio player for my 3-year-old and I’m torn between a Toniebox and a Yoto Player.

She absolutely loves stories, music and listening to things in the car/at home, so I think she would get a lot of use out of one. But they’re not exactly cheap once you factor in all the additional characters/cards, accessories etc., so I’m trying to work out whether they’re genuinely worth the investment or whether they’re one of those things that seem brilliant but end up gathering dust!

For those who have one (or have had both), I’d really love your honest opinions on:
How much does your child actually use it? Particularly around age 3.
Is it something they can operate independently, or do they still need you to set everything up?
Which has the better range/variety of content? Stories, music, nursery rhymes, educational content, podcasts etc.
How good is the quality of the audio/player itself?
How expensive does it become once you start buying additional content? I’m interested in the cost of Tonies vs Yoto cards, as well as things like headphones, cases, charging docks etc.
Is it worth looking at second hand players online? Likewise second hand characters/ cards?
How much longevity do they have? Does your child still use it at 4, 5, 6+ or does the appeal wear off?
Can you use them for things other than children’s stories? For example, music, audiobooks or content that an older child would enjoy?
Are there any particular features that you think make one significantly better than the other?
And perhaps most importantly… if you were buying one again today, which would you choose and why?

I’m particularly interested in overall value for money rather than simply which is “better” — i.e. taking into account the initial cost of the player, ongoing cost of content/accessories, quality, variety and how long it remains useful.

Please tell me which version you have and your child’s age, and whether you bought it new or second-hand if relevant. I’d especially love to hear from people who have had theirs for a couple of years, as I’m interested in whether they genuinely have good longevity!

Thanks 😊

I'm leaning towards the mini Yoto player so they can take it on car journeys or have it while out for coffee as an alternative to screen time.

Yotos are great!

Yoto

for her age and in the car

if they were younger and for bedtime at home I’d go for Toni box

My sister brought a Yoto player 3rd gen for my son on his 3rd birthday (just turned 4). He's used it every day since and we've asked for cards for Christmas, bday etc and they often have good deals direct from the online shop. You can also get them second hand on ebay. I think it's brilliant - he's been able to use it independently pretty much from the start. I love that I can also control it from my phone, or play sleep sounds if he wants that at night, plus there is a very kid friendly radio which plays songs (some bangers, some dreadful but nice for kids) and they also have some guided drawing podcast type things. It comes with us on long car journeys, holidays etc. It's so nice listening having Winnie the Pooh on in the background whilst making dinner 😂Definitely worth it.

We bought our 3 year old a tonie box2 which we liked as it has some games you can play on it like paw patrol. He did really enjoy playing it for a while and he liked listening to some stories and songs from the other characters.
However, he doesn’t really use it that much now. Our 1 year likes it as he can easily change the characters himself.
I think I would buy the yoto mini now instead for a 3 year old. It’s smaller and more portable which would be good for car journeys. Plus I imagine storing the cards would be easier than the various characters for the tonie box.

We have the original Tonie box my wee ones 2 and a half and she loves it. She can set it up herself and skip songs/stories solo and she even likes playing with the little figures if she's not putting them on so it gets alot of use here. You can get ones with music and songs too instead of stories and she often likes those on while she plays.

Massive Yoto fan here. My children have had them since they were 4 and 2 and at 11 and 9 still listen to them every evening to fall asleep to!

We have the mini yoto and have got a huge amount of use from them.

I like the fact you can make your own cards so I have used library books to put onto cards and made my own music cards.

They also have the yoto club for cards which I think is really reasonable and allowed us to build up a collection of cards fairly quickly.

We have a tonies (original) since my daughter was 2. She listens to it daily still and we use it for bedtime. Its particularly useful in the night if she is unwell/night terrors or generally unsettled and I really rate it. Ive just purchased a second box for my son who has just turned 2.

However, my daughter is now 4.5 and I am seriously considering the yoto mini for Christmas. My perception is they serve different purposes, and we will still use the tonies as we do currently- particularly at bedtime. I like the idea of the yoto mini for out and about screen free time.

Yoto hands down!! We have had ours from age 2 and they found it easy and fun to change the cards. The cards are stored in the app on your phone so you can access from anywhere and even play from your phone. You can make your own cards (made a lot of us singing and reading books when they were young). They haven’t grown out of it at 5, they use it every night practically. It also has a day time screen and night time screen, so they know when it’s morning and they can legitimately wake up - useful for summer when it’s light! We are actually considering getting a smaller one for travel (we take ours, but something a bit smaller would be more practical).

Yoto we bought it at Christmas 2022 it’s been used everyday since. My DS LOVES it. We take it on holidays too. I can play the stories in the car via the app on my phone aswell. He’s 8 now and loves to read independently as well. One of our best purchases.

Yoto. We had the original when my DD was 2. She’s 11 now and has a yoto mini now and still uses it; the stories have changed over time as now she listens to Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and lottie brooks but that’s the beauty of it; it has grown with her.

I think Tonies is gimmicky. Not as long lasting. We have had two yotos (battery stopped holding charge on big one and my daughter likes moving it around so replaced with the mini). Had for four years. She’s six and adores it. Regular daily use.

The Yoto player has been the one thing we bought for our children that has got the most use. Agree with others the Yoto Mini is so good because they can take it on car journeys as well. There are such a wide variety of cards and they seem to be making more for older children now so I'm hoping it will last my 7 year old for years yet.

For my oldest it also has helped him sleep so much better as well. The day he learnt to put a card in himself he no longer called out to us in the night. He finds the cards so soothing he goes straight back to sleep!

My DD has a Yoto mini, but she rarely uses it. I find the cards are very expensive, and the selection of books quite limited.

Each of my children have an Alexa in their room. They listen to audible stories on it. It is fantastic. They can also listen to music, the radio etc etc.

It was significantly cheaper, and there are nicely designed children’s ones.

(Sorry I know you didn’t ask about Alexas but in my opinion they are a better and more long lasting alternative)

Yoto mini!

DD started using hers regularly from age 3 although she'd had it for a year already. We take it everywhere now as its so portable and the cards are lightweight and easy to pack too. She listens to it most nights for 10-15mins before bed, on journeys and often at the weekend while playing.

I like that she can use it completely independently and that it keeps her entertained for ages without a screen involved.

Initial outlay for the player and a pair of headphones but you don't need anything else. We keep cards in a little box for example and she gets new cards for birthday/Christmas from relatives.

There is also yoto radio and storeyshed card which are like podcasts of stories.

Edited to say she is 6 now and no sign of outgrowing yet.

I really like the Toniebox but it’s more of an at-home thing (as it has the games and ds can use it independently) SO easy to use and lots of fun.

That said, I am now looking at the mini Yoto player for car journeys etc this Christmas, he’s coming up 6 and is quite adept at the iPad so not sure whether our external journeys are covered

Oh and this might be a DD thing but you might not need that many cards! She's averaged 8-10 at any given time (we give them away when she outgrows and replace with more age appropriate cards) but she prefers to listen to the same stories repeatedly and uses the story shed card for novelty.

We have the yoto mini and the toniebox 1
we use the Tonie box everyday and it can be easily operated from aged 1
the figures are played with a lot too and they seem to hold a fair bit of value for reselling. They’re often on sale and I find it useful for people who want to buy a gift but would usually buy tat, I don’t really buy new ones myself. At 3 /4/5 most dc are still into lots of things available on there and playing with little characters ime. So we decided to just get something that worked for now.
the yoto mini is generally considered better for when dc are older because it will last longer with the content. Again we use it most days to listen to the daily podcast but we have been largely unimpressed with the content of the cards in comparison to the tonie box
perhaps we’ve just been unlucky though.
for example I bought an animal sounds card thinking it would be some sort of introduction to the animals and the sounds they make and a bit of info about the animals for animal loving dc. But no, it’s literally just a recording of different animal sounds. Obviously it’s my fsult for not realising before I bought it but also who would ever want that. And we got some Disney cards but it’s just one person reading, they don’t even do the voices when characters are speaking, no sound effects or anything. Dd found it a bit boring.you can just get the app too you don’t actually need the player, so in some ways that’s good but in other ways it’s made the player feel a bit redundant

Longevity: my DDs aged 12 and 10 both listen to their Yotos every day. Both use them as audio books to fall asleep too, and both often have an audio book on when they're in their rooms.

Most of their cards are DIY, they're listening to things like Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, Project Hail Mary. DD2 likes to write out a playlist of songs she likes and we'll add those to a card too.

I am certain we wouldn't get this much use out of a Tonie, DD1 in particular would be put off by the figures. The Yotos have been going for several years.

You can make your own card/character for both yoto and tonie so in theory you can have any content on either
I think they’re both fairly expensive for what they are but yoto is a bit better since it’s cheaper anyway and you get free podcasts

We have just got a yoto mini for our 14mo. He is likely a little bit too young but we wanted it mostly for the sleep lullabies etc - didn't want alexa in their room & their monitor switches off after a certain time - and it would grow with him/can use it travelling.

I am really impressed and I am tempted to get the big one for myself just as an alarm clock & sleep machine 😂

I'd personally say the yoto mini for 3yo - they can take about with them in car, holiday, if staying elsewhere etc. It's a great little machine. If you download the app can get a feel for what's available for it. The custom cards are great.

Tonie looked good too but I just know the figures would be lost/chewed etc.

Yes! We've had a yoto player since our eldest was about 3, then bought a second when my youngest moved into her own room. We've been using Yoto for about 6 years now, and they are used every single day. Huge range of cards too. Well worth the investment!

We've got both and they're both used and loved a lot.

Our DD4 had the Toniebox first, when she was 2, and she listens to loads of things on it and uses it nightly for a sleep story. The only downside I can see is storing all the tonie figures, which do take up space.

We got the Yoto last year and it's also brilliant. The cards take up much less space and there are more story options so it will inevitably last longer.

However, the Toniebox is currently winning out as the Bluey tonies have just arrived which are getting played every day. The Yoto does have a Bluey card but it's narrated stories, rather than lifted from the TV show so the tonies are definitely preferred.

Ultimately we love both, they're both equally easy to use. However, I think the yoto will last longer unless tonies bring out stories for older kids/we somehow get a bigger house to keep them all in!

We have both and very well used. My just turned 4yo uses the Toniebox more, she listens to stories at bedtime, if she wakes in the night she’ll put a Tonie back on, she lies in bed in the morning and listens to them. But the Yoto is my preference as cards are cheaper and it’s a bit more versatile. 4yo and 7yo use it together a fair bit for the Drawalong cards and other bits and bobs and 7yo listens to audiobook cards, usually ones I’ve ripped onto the blank cards.

The Yoto has more longevity but we’ve had our moneys worth and beyond from the Toniebox already. So I guess my recommendation is either/both!