Best audio players for kids: Screen

Best audio players for kids: Screen-free <a href="https://comicvibe.com/when-streaming-tech-meets-interactive-entertainment-the-live-dealer-overhaul/” title=”When Streaming Tech Meets Interactive Entertainment: The Live Dealer Overhaul”>entertainment for the whole family

Kid tested, parent-approved.
Credit: Nicole Cammorata/Mashable

Yoto Mini (2024 Edition)
Best tech gift for preschoolers
Our reviewer’s 3- and 6-year-old children were “particularly smitten” with the Yoto Mini, a portable screen-free audio player that works with or without headphones. (The latest model came out in 2024.) It can play kid-friendly music and audiobooksand daily podcast.
Pros & Cons
The Good
The Bad
The Bottomline

Toniebox 2
Best parent-approved tech gift for little tykes
The original Toniebox was a cutesy Christmas gift for toddlers, and its successor is much more enticing. Battery life, connectivity, and storage have all been improved. There are a couple of new features too, such as the light ring, which transforms the audio player into a night light with a sunrise alarm and sleep timer. Hundreds of games, songs, stories, and more are available in figurine form, bringing some playfulness to storytime.
Pros & Cons
The Good
The Bad
The Bottomline

Timio
Best for language learning
Pros & Cons
The GoodScreen-free
Rechargeableasis on learning
The BadVery limited library of content
The Bottomline

Luna StoryTime Projector
Best for a bedtime routine
Pros & Cons
The GoodScreen-free, audio-only option available
Battery-powered orun
The BadStories don’t auto-advance
Audio quality could be louder
No headphone jack
The Bottomline

We are not an iPad family. 

No shade to those who prefer this kind of personal tech for their kids, as there are benefits: computer literacy, skill-building for math and reading, plus some well-deserved peace for the parents.

We have three kids: the oldest is 6, the middle one is 3, and the youngest is about to turn 1. Early in our parenting journey, my husband and I decided to delay these handheld devices for as long as we possibly could. 

Part of the decision came from reading about the long-term effects of tablet use, but a more immediate reason was the way our kids absolutely melt down once it’s time to turn off the TV.

If they can’t handle saying bye to Bluey, then an overstimulating tablet would be a living hell. 

So what is the alternative? Our house is overflowing with all kinds of toys and we’re absolutely bursting with books, which we read constantly. But we wanted something that could bridge that space between television and books, especially in this pre-reading phase when the kids are fully dependent on the adults for storytime.

Over the years, we have explored a handful of screen-free storytime toys and audio players. Great for encouraging independence and self-powered play, these toys can also help to create some of the building blocks of reading comprehension. 

We choose stories alongside the kids, often listen together, and talk about what’s happening.

They’ve proven to be a great tool to soften transitions, help the kids have some quiet time to rest while we prepare meals or clean up, take along during long car rides, and engage their brains without being overly stimulating. 

There is no shortage of options on the market right now specifically aimed at our kids’ age group, so we decided to put some to the test. We spent three months trying out a collection of popular players, both at home and in the car, to come up with this list.

After lots of hands-on testing, the Yoto player came out on top as our favorite screen-free audio player, with the Toniebox as a close second. Read on to learn why and see what else made the list.

Screen-free
Rechargeableasis on learning Very limited library of content
Specs

• Age range: 2+
• Battery Life: 8 hours
• Bluetooth compatible: No
• Wired headphone jack: Yes

Why we picked this

Timio is a simple and straightforward audio player that utilizes proprietary magnetic discs to power the entertainment. Each plastic disc features a series of icons with a touch-to-play functionality, making this particularly well-suited to kids who can’t yet read. Out of all the players we tested, Timio seemed to be the best for bilingual families or language learning in general, as it comes preloaded with options for English, Spanish, French, German, Polish, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch.

Cards are thematic in nature, with a big focus on learning. The cards we tested included nursery rhymes, simple songs, colors, and transportation vehicles, with a wider library of similarly organized options available as well. We found this player to be a good choice for short bursts of edutainment, but that it didn’t sustain our kids’ attention as much as some of the other options. The age range for Timio is 2+, but we actually found this to be an equally great option for our 3-year-old to handle by himself and for our 1-year-old to use side-by-side with an adult. Our 6-year-old moved on from this toy pretty quickly.

Unlike other players on this list, Timio lacks any third-party licenses, so everything available is either proprietary to Timio or within the public domain. We still found it to be a fun and worthwhile option, especially when it comes to early learners, but it wasn’t the player our kids asked about or reached for again and again.

Screen-free, audio-only option available
Battery-powered orun Stories don’t auto-advance
Audio quality could be louder
No headphone jack
Specs

• Age range: 3+
• Bluetooth compatible: No
• Wired headphone jack: No

The Luna StoryTime Projector is a dual-purpose audio player. While the focus of our testing has been on screen-free devices, this player has both audio-only playback and an option to project simple storybook-style images on the wall. It’s extremely low stimulation, which is why I included it on this list. And I’ve gotta say, we actually really love utilizing this projector at key parts of our day.

Since there is no headphone jack, the Luna StoryTime Projector has become a device that the entire family enjoys together. It will only work well in a dark room, so this has also become a frequent part of our bedtime routine. We put on jammies, cuddle in my son’s bed with the projector, then it’s off to brush our teeth and read stories in bed.

It works similarly to the Toniebox in that there are character-based figures that power the stories and songs. I particularly like that the projector mode displays the words as they are read so our kindergartener can begin to follow along. While the content library is fairly small, it’s comprised of well-loved IP from the likes of Paw Patrol, Sesame Street, Peppa Pig, Daniel Tiger, and various Disney options, plus more coming soon.

The biggest drawback worth noting is that the stories do not auto-advance within the player, forcing an action from a human to continue to the next story in the playlist each and every time. I’ve also found myself wishing that the audio volume would go up a bit louder.