Best for Families with a three to eight-year-old who want the biggest library, lots of free listening, and a night light and clock in one.
Toddler
Best kids' audio players in the UK (2026)
Screen-free story and music players for toddlers and young children, from Yoto and the Toniebox 2 to simpler no-Wi-Fi options.
Quick picks
Gold Star
Yoto Player (3rd Gen)
Tech Dad Score 8.4 · around £90
Value Star
Yoto Mini (2024 Edition)
Tech Dad Score 8.1 · around £65
Splurge Star
Yoto Player (4th Gen)
Tech Dad Score 8.4 · around £120
Best for toddlers
Toniebox 2
Tech Dad Score 7.8 · around £110
Best without Wi-Fi or apps
Voxblock Audiobook Player
Tech Dad Score 7.2 · around £50
Best first
The shortlist
Yoto
Yoto Player (4th Gen)
The Yoto to buy if you want it to last, though nobody has lived with one yet.
Best for New Yoto buyers happy to pay £30 more for the Green Button, double the storage and a replaceable battery.
Best for Travel, car journeys and families who want the Yoto library without paying for the big player.
Best for Children from 12 months who want something they can grab, drop and work on their own.
Best for Long car journeys and flights, where a speaker would drive everyone else mad.
Best for Families who want zero set-up and no connected tech in the bedroom, and children who love long audiobooks.
Affiliate link: if you buy, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes the score. How this works
Side by side
Compare every kids' audio player
Tap a column to sort. Scores are out of 10.
| Product | Links | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yoto Player (3rd Gen)Gold Star | 8.4 | 9.2 | 7.6 | 7.8 | 9.0 | 8.4 | £90 | Amazon |
| Yoto Player (4th Gen)Splurge Star | 8.4 | 9.3 | 6.8 | 8.2 | 9.1 | 8.5 | £120 | Amazon |
| Yoto Mini (2024 Edition)Value Star | 8.1 | 9.0 | 8.4 | 7.0 | 8.9 | 7.0 | £65 | Amazon |
| Toniebox 2Best for toddlers | 7.8 | 8.3 | 5.8 | 9.2 | 8.3 | 7.2 | £110 | Amazon |
| StoryPhones | 7.3 | 6.4 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 8.4 | 8.0 | £80 | Amazon |
| Voxblock Audiobook PlayerBest without Wi-Fi or apps | 7.2 | 6.6 | 7.2 | 8.8 | 6.2 | 7.2 | £50 | Amazon |
Head-to-heads
Before you buy
Buying guide
Cards, figures or blocks?
Every player here works the same basic way: your child chooses a physical object and the player plays the matching audio. Yoto uses credit-card-sized cards that are easy to store. Tonies uses collectable character figures, which toddlers love to handle (and which quickly become toys in their own right). Voxblock uses chunky cardboard book blocks, and StoryPhones use small magnetic discs that snap onto the headphones.
That choice affects cost, storage and how independently a small child can use it. A figure plonked on top is the easiest thing for a one-year-old to manage; cards and a display suit three-year-olds and up.
What it really costs to run
Yoto cards typically cost £5.99 to £12.99, and a five-pack of blank Make Your Own cards is £12.99. Tonies figures are £14.99 each, Creative Tonies (up to 90 minutes of your own recordings) are £11.99, and Tonieplay games cost around £17 to £20. Voxblock audiobooks run from about £6 to £14, and extra StoryShields are around £10.
Yoto Club is optional. Explorer (£3.99 a month) unlocks digital Yoto Originals, while Collector (£7.99) and Collector+ (£12.99) add monthly card credits and 10% off. It only makes sense if you'd be buying cards every month anyway.
Make the most of the free stuff
Before you buy a single card, use what's included. Every Yoto player gets the daily Yoto Daily podcast and Yoto Radio, and Make Your Own cards let you record your own stories or link audio you own. Creative Tonies do a similar job on a Toniebox: grandparents reading a bedtime story is the classic use, and a lovely one.
Yoto 3rd Gen or 4th Gen?
Yoto announced its 4th Gen Player (£119.99) and Mini 4th Gen (£89.99) on 10 September 2026. The Mini is expected to dispatch from 30 September and the Player from 15 October. Both play every existing card.
The 4th Gen Player adds a Green Button for card-free favourites, routines, double the storage, Wi-Fi 6, wireless charging and a replaceable battery. The 3rd Gen Player is still on sale at £89.99 and has years of positive reviews behind it. If you're buying now, the 3rd Gen is the safe, cheaper choice; if you can wait, read the first independent 4th Gen reviews before deciding.
What about Lunii, Timio or the original Toniebox?
The original Toniebox is no longer sold new (John Lewis says it's unlikely to get more stock), but every Tonie works on the Toniebox 2. Tonies has also announced a cheaper Toniebox Lite, due in the UK in autumn 2026, though without Tonieplay, the light ring or the sleep features, and with no UK price confirmed yet.
Lunii and Timio are both good ideas that are harder to buy here. Lunii's store now serves UK buyers in euros, with 16 UK English titles in its catalogue when I checked. Timio's official shop ships from the Netherlands (with possible import charges) and its starter kit was on backorder. Both are available through Amazon, but I've left them out of the rankings for now.
Questions parents ask
What age is a Yoto or Toniebox suitable from?
The Toniebox 2 is certified for children from 12 months. Yoto's players are rated from three, Voxblock from three to teens, and The Independent suggests StoryPhones for three to eight-year-olds. For a one or two-year-old, the Toniebox 2's padded body and simple figures are the better fit.
Do these players need Wi-Fi?
Yoto players and the Toniebox 2 need Wi-Fi and an app to set up and to download new content, but then play offline from their own storage. StoryPhones need a 2.4GHz network for set-up. Voxblock needs no Wi-Fi, app or account at all.
Can my child use headphones with them?
Yes. Yoto's Player and Mini take Bluetooth or wired headphones, and the Yoto app lets you cap the volume. The Toniebox 2 has no 3.5mm socket, so you'll need Bluetooth headphones. Voxblock has a wired headphone jack only. Whatever you use, pick a volume-limited pair: see our kids' headphones guide.
Is Yoto Club worth paying for?
Only if you'd buy cards regularly anyway. The Collector tier (£7.99 a month) gives you a monthly card credit and 10% off; Explorer (£3.99) is digital-only. Plenty of families never subscribe and rely on the free Yoto Daily, Yoto Radio and Make Your Own cards.
What about an Echo Dot Kids or another smart speaker?
They can play stories, but they're a different kind of device: an always-connected microphone and voice assistant, and The Independent notes the Echo Dot Kids needs an Amazon Kids+ subscription after the first year. The UK government's 2026 guidance for under-fives also suggests avoiding AI toys, chatbots and smart speakers for now. A screen-free player with no microphone is the simpler choice.
Will our old Tonies work on the Toniebox 2?
Yes. Every existing Tonie works on the Toniebox 2, so upgrading doesn't mean replacing your collection. The Independent's reviewer, who had used the original for years, found their daughter's figures worked exactly as before.