Yoto Mini Player Review: Our Experience Two Years In
When Yoto launched a new mini player, we decided to get one for our daughter. A couple of years later, we love it so much that we got another one for our younger son. Here’s why we love the Yoto Mini player even more than the original.
There’s one question that I regularly ask my mum friends when we meet up – what toys are your little ones enjoying these days? Like most parents, I feel I’m constantly on the hunt for the toys that will be worth the money, that will keep my children engaged (and ideally, educated) for those moments in the day where I can’t be playing with them. Among the people I meet, there is one thing that comes up time and again as the toy most worth the money, and it’s the Yoto player.
The Yoto Mini Player and Yoto cards featured were gifted to me for review, however all opinions are my own. This page contains affiliate links, which earn me a little bit of commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
We’ve had the original Yoto player for four years now (you can read my review of the Yoto Player here) and it is one of the only things in our house that the children reach for every single day. The novelty hasn’t worn off, and they keep returning to it in new and fresh ways. What’s more, we’re finding it invaluable in our homeschool days – more on that later.
For all we love it, though, the original Yoto has a couple of downsides. It doesn’t have great battery life, for example, and it’s a little cumbersome if you want to travel with it. We love the Yoto Mini so much that when we bought a third Yoto last Christmas, we chose a Mini over the original Yoto. Here’s our review after two years with the Yoto Mini.
How do Yoto and Yoto Mini work?
Both the Yoto and Yoto Mini are audio players for children. They work by inserting cards, each of which plays a different audiobook, podcast or music album, into a small slot on the top of the player. It’s really easy for kids to switch what they’re listening to by taking out and putting in different cards.
The same cards are used for both Yoto and Yoto Mini, so you can use them interchangeably. Each player also has two knobs which change the volume and skip backwards and forwards through tracks. You can connect headphones if you’d like to, but the sound quality is also great if you’re playing through the built-in speakers. Wonderfully, you don’t need to be connected to WiFi for Yoto to work – the first time you load a card it will download it from WiFi, but after that it will play even without an internet connection. To protect your Yoto, there are ‘adventure jacket’ covers for both sizes.
Yoto also has a fantastic app where you can access hundreds of free podcasts and audiobooks, as well as playing any of the content you own without needing the physical card.
Pros of the Yoto Mini Player (and how it compares to the Yoto Player!)
Versatility
Both the original Yoto and the Mini are incredibly versatile. Yoto players are great for a huge range of ages. Our 5 year old loves the radio stations and music cards, the 3 year old falls asleep to an audiobook every day, and even our 1 year old loves to lift the cards in and out!
As well as a huge range of ready-made cards, you can buy ‘Make Your Own’ cards and upload your own audio. We’ve particularly enjoyed loading up secondhand CD audiobooks we find in charity shops, along with recordings of grandparents reading their favourite books.
Portability
The original Yoto is by no means hefty, but if you want to take it on a plane or train you’ll find it takes up a fair amount of luggage space. Over the time we’ve had a Yoto, we’ve felt that long journeys are where the Yoto really shines, as little ones can listen to their choice of audiobook in the back leaving grown ups to enjoy a podcast in the front.
For this reason alone, the Yoto Mini outshines the original for us. The Mini is much easier to handle for little hands in the back of the car, and fits easily into a child-sized backpack for plane and train journeys.
Excellent battery life
The battery life on the Yoto Mini is a little shorter than the original Yoto player, lasting around 14 hours. Even though the Mini has a little less, we think both have plenty for all except the longest journeys.
Sound quality
The sound quality on both Yoto and Yoto Mini is excellent. Both are clear and easy to hear, and reach a good volume (which can thankfully also be limited in the app if needed!) However, if you need clear, loud sound, for example if you have one Yoto and lots of children are listening in a big room, then the original Yoto is definitely louder.
Charging cable
Both the original Yoto and the Yoto Mini have USB-C charging cables. These interchangeable with other USB-C cables that most people will have lying around, which is handy.
Downsides of the Yoto Mini
The ‘screen’
Yoto is designed to reduce childrens’ screen time (which it definitely does!) but there is a screen of sorts on both the Yoto Original and the Yoto Mini. These only display a static image to show the audio you’re playing, as well as the track number of the audio you’re playing, so it’s certainly not a screen to be concerned about.
On the Yoto Mini, the screen is a little small, and it can be difficult to see what’s on the screen when you’re further away. This isn’t a huge problem, since generally I find children quite happy to get up and look closely when they need to. However, if you have a child who struggles to see over long distances or who has a physical disability, that might be worth bearing in mind.
Why We Love Yoto for Homeschooling
Here are 3 ways we love to use our Yoto to support our homeschooling. If you don’t homeschool, you’ll probably still find these ideas useful, especially if you love to encourage learning throughout your child’s day.
Audiobooks
There is a huge range of audiobooks available for the Yoto player. From Beatrix Potter to Anne of Green Gables and The Wind in the Willows, just about every classic children’s story can be found ready-made for you. Our homeschool days are filled with books and literature because we truly believe that this is the best way to learn, and Yoto is a valuable tool to continue listening throughout downtime and during evenings. It’s also a great way to support learning to read – our 5 year old loves to get out the physical book and turn the pages whilst listening to the audiobook, helping to practice word recognition and comprehension.
Language learning
We’ve begun to learn French this term, and Yoto has an incredible range of French language Yoto cards. We have the rather festive Bulle et Bob Préparent Noël as well as Encore Une Histoire, both of which have been great to have in the background as the children play or draw.
Make Your Own cards for specific subjects
Each term we study a different composer – last term it was Bach and this term, Mozart – and each time it’s been wonderful having pieces by our composer of choice on Yoto cards. It’s amazing how much little children love classical music, and having them readily available helps to immerse children in the sounds of different instruments.
Although our children are still a bit little, there are also ready-made Yoto cards for learning about other subjects that will come in handy as they grow. There are cards for history learning (like these ones on ancient civilisations), science (like this one on anatomy) and nature (like this on Antarctica).
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to the Yoto Mini Player?
Why was the Yoto Mini recalled?
In April 2024, Yoto recalled its Mini Players across the world, due to a few isolated incidents of the battery within the Yoto Mini catching fire while charging. Initially Yoto supplied all users with a replacement charging cord, but after further incidents of batteries catching fire, Yoto instead supplied free battery replacement kits. Since then, there have been no more issues.
We have never personally had any safety issues with the Yoto players we own, and we felt that Yoto dealt with the problems quickly and diligently. The last Yoto Mini that we bought was after the battery incidents, and we still chose to buy another one, since the issues were isolated to a very small number of players. While we’ve had a couple of minor problems with our Yoto players (for example, one of the knobs stopped working), we have always found Yoto’s customer service to be excellent. They even replaced one of our players despite it being out of warranty!
Which is better – Yoto or Tonie?
In my view Yoto is better than the Tonie Box for a number of reasons:
1. The Toniebox is limited to younger children whereas the Yoto is designed for children all the way up to age 12.
2. It’s much easier to store Yoto cards than Tonie figures.
3. The Creative-Tonies (recordable figures) are much more expensive than MYO Yoto cards.
4. There is no mini version of the Toniebox.
5. The battery life of the Toniebox is significantly less than the Yoto.
What age is Yoto Mini player good for?
Yoto state that their players are suitable from age 3 to 12. In our experience, 3 is about the right age to get one. Before our 3 year old got one for his third birthday, he would play around with his brother and sisters’ ones, but never really properly sat and listened to them. He just liked to take the cards in and out! Now he’s a little older he can actually sit and listen to one card before switching, so it feels like he gets good use out of it.
What is the difference between the Yoto and the Yoto Mini?
This handy table is a great summary of the key differences between the different Yoto players.
| | Yoto Player | Yoto Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £89.99 | £59.99 |
| Battery Life | Up to 24 hours | Up to 14 hours |
| Charging | USB-C and wireless | USB-C |
| Capacity | 32GB | 32GB |
| Headphones | Wired (3.5mm jack) and wireless | Wired (3.5mm jack) and wireless |
| Nightlight | Yes | No |
| Size | 11 x 11 x 10.5cm | 7 x 7 x 4cm |
Does Yoto Mini work without WiFi?
Yes, the Yoto Mini (and the original Yoto) both work without Wifi. Cards and content can only download if you’re connected to Wifi, so initially you will need to have a connection to get going. However, once all the content has downloaded, you’ll be able to listen on the go without internet access. It’s worth bearing in mind that the Yoto can’t connect to the app if you aren’t connected to Wifi, and you won’t be able to access Yoto Daily or Yoto Radio.
