The report card
- Content & free listening25% of score8.3
A huge range of character figures, Creative Tonies and new Tonieplay games, but less free listening than Yoto.
- Cost of ownership20% of score5.8
Figures are £14.99 and games around £17 to £20: the priciest system here to feed.
- Easy for small hands20% of score9.2
Padded, certified from 12 months, with ear-squeeze volume; tilting to skip can be fiddly.
- Parental controls & privacy15% of score8.3
App volume limits and remote control, a sleep timer and a sunrise alarm.
- Sound, battery & build20% of score7.2
USB-C and Bluetooth at last, but reviewers report only around 7 to 10 hours of battery, and there is no 3.5mm jack.
The full review
The Toniebox 2 is the 2025 update to the soft, cube-shaped player that made collectable story figures a thing. Pop a Tonie on top and it plays; squeeze an ear for volume; tilt it to skip. It's certified for children from 12 months, which is why the USB-C charging cable is deliberately short.
The upgrades are meaningful: USB-C instead of the old charging dock, Bluetooth (so it works with wireless headphones and doubles as a speaker for your phone), a light ring that shows volume and battery, and a sleep timer, bedtime mode and sunrise alarm. Every existing Tonie works on it. The Independent's reviewer, who had used the original for years, called it a thoughtful refinement rather than a reinvention, and found remote volume control in the app the most useful parental feature.
Tonieplay is new too: screen-free audio games with a controller, at around £17 to £20 each. Reviewers found them fun and easy for young children to pick up, but the range is still small.
The downside is cost. Content Tonies are £14.99 each, Creative Tonies (up to 90 minutes of your own recordings) are £11.99, and there's less free content than with Yoto. Battery life is modest too, with reviewers reporting roughly seven to ten hours, and there's no 3.5mm headphone socket, so older wired headphones won't plug in.
Pros and cons
What I like
- Genuinely toddler-proof padded design
- Certified from 12 months
- All old Tonies work, plus new Tonieplay games
- Remote volume, sleep timer and sunrise alarm in the app
- Bluetooth for wireless headphones
What I don't
- Figures at £14.99 each add up fast
- Short battery life next to Yoto
- No 3.5mm headphone jack
- Very short charging cable (by design)
Key specs
- Age
- 12 months to 9+
- Size and weight
- 13 x 13 x 12.6cm, 815g
- Charging
- USB-C
- Headphones
- Bluetooth (no 3.5mm jack)
- Wi-Fi
- Needed for set-up and downloads
- Extras
- Light ring, sleep timer, sunrise alarm, Tonieplay
Head-to-heads
What I read
This is a research-led review. These are the main sources behind the scores, alongside patterns in verified owner reviews. How I review.