In my current season of toddler parenthood, I’ve sometimes felt that I could cut the tension between myself and the TV remote with a knife. As much as I try to keep screen time in check, sometimes I need 10 uninterrupted minutes to unload the dishwasher before a certain almost-2-year-old goes for the dog bowl.
That’s where audio players are handy. In a world where screens are increasingly hard to avoid, parents are looking for alternatives—and these players, in their various formats, are to the rescue. The devices mark a sweet spot between independent play and story time, letting kids listen to music, audiobooks, and interactive stories without a tablet in sight. Some audio players are geared toward younger kiddos who enjoy tactile toys and familiar characters like Elmo and Bluey, while other options are designed to grow with them to chapter books, podcasts, and beyond.
Over the past several weeks, my family has tested some of the biggest names in the category to see how they stack up. Here’s the verdict on which ones are best suited for different families and their needs.
Want more recommendations for WIRED-tested kids’ toys? Here’s our guide to Brain-Boosting Toys for Kids, Kid-Approved STEM Toys, and the Best Gifts for Lego Lovers.
Best for Kids of All Ages
The Yoto Player is simple enough for toddlers to operate independently while offering a broad enough content library to keep it relevant as kids grow. Stories and music live on credit card–sized cards that my daughter could swap in and out with her little hands, and the small pixel display on the front of the machine adds a visual element without becoming another distracting screen.
You can add each Yoto card to your child’s library through the device’s companion app. Once you do, you can stream the content directly from your phone or remotely send it to the Yoto. That means you’re not necessarily tied to bringing the speaker with you everywhere you go. I saw this capability as being especially useful on road trips—you can play stories through your car speakers or listen from your phone if the player gets left behind or its battery dies.
Yoto offers more than the stories and songs from its player cards. You’ll also get kid-friendly daily radio, draw-alongs, toothbrush timers, white noise, a wake-up clock, and a nightlight that activates when you flip the player screen-side down. I only see it getting more useful as my daughter grows, and if I’m being honest, there is a Nancy Drew story collection I am secretly eyeing for myself.
My biggest concern is simply keeping track of all those little cards. I’ve found them tucked into couch cushions and hidden under rugs more than once. Sure, once a card is in your library, you can play it on the machine through the app, but that defeats the purpose of this being a “screen-free” device and one that my daughter can use independently. I also learned pretty quickly that the silicone Adventure Jacket accessory ($30) is more than a nice-to-have add-on after watching the machine take the occasional spill off the couch and my daughter carry it haphazardly from room to room.
Best Bedtime Story Experience
This little device has become one of the most cherished parts of our bedtime routine. Every night, my husband and I climb into bed with our daughter, turn off the lights, and read together while casting the Moonlite projector. No longer is bedtime a fight; now all we have to do is say “story time,” and she grabs her milk, makes herself comfy in bed, and points at the ceiling.
More of a modern story projector than a traditional audio player, the Moonlite Storytime Projector is still relatively screen-free. The projector device clips over your phone’s flashlight and shines illustrations onto the opposite wall or the ceiling. Each story lives on a reel, and after scanning the reel’s QR code in the Moonlite app, it appears on your phone while the matching illustrations project in front of you. As you read, you manually advance the reel, like you’re operating a tiny film projector to “turn the page.”
It takes some practice to line up the projector with your phone’s flashlight and adjust the lens until the image is in focus, but the app walks you through this calibration process before every story starts. An adult still reads the stories, and the app provides optional sound effects and background music for extra immersion. Unlike the other products I tested, Moonlite isn’t meant to replace parent-led story time, but enhance it.
The trade-off here is that the Moonlite isn’t really something young kids can use independently. It relies entirely on a smartphone flashlight and the Moonlite app, so it’s a shared experience rather than an independent play activity. But if your goal is to create an engaging and fun bedtime ritual, I highly recommend it.
Best for Character Lovers
Of all the kids’ audio players I tested, the Toniebox 2 was the easiest to pick up and understand. To operate the soft, cubed speaker, kids place a magnetic figurine on the top, and the associated stories and songs automatically play. The experience is very tactile; my daughter figured it out in minutes. She doesn’t know how Bluetooth works or what an audiobook is, but she absolutely understands that putting Cookie Monster on top of the Toniebox 2 means that Cookie Monster will start talking.
The accompanying app is nice, but it doesn’t feel essential. It sends push notifications when the speaker’s battery is running low; offers a listening recap, à la Spotify Wrapped; and includes a handful of free stories that don’t require purchasing additional Tonies, which add up quickly at around $15 to $20 for each figure. One of my favorite features is the ability to record your own voice reading stories, which I think will be great for the next time I have to spend a few nights away from my daughter. The Toniebox 2 also offers a sleep timer and sunrise alarm, though I haven’t tested these features for my daughter.
My grumbles with the whole Toniebox world are brief. I wish the figurines were labeled with the content they contain. Some characters represent specific movies or collections, and there’s no easy way to tell just by looking at them. For example, Bullseye and Jessie each hail from the Toy Story movie series, but the Bullseye Tonie focuses on Toy Story 5 content, and Jessie features only Toy Story 3 and 4. I always mix up the two figures. You can check the app for details on each Tonie, but I’d love a small identifier on each physical character. Also, the soft speaker is durable, but a built-in handle or carrying loop would make it much easier for my toddler to tote the device from room to room—especially because she’s usually double-fisting figurines at the same time. Even so, if your little one gravitates toward familiar characters, the Toniebox is one of the most intuitive audio players I’ve tested.
Best Analog Option
After downloading apps, pairing devices, and scanning QR codes to get other audio players up and running, testing the simple Fisher-Price Rockin’ Record Player was a welcome breath of fresh air. All I had to do was put in batteries and it started playing, which felt satisfying and kind of nostalgic.
To operate this audio toy, kids place one of the chunky plastic “records” on the turntable, move the needle into place, and the music starts. Each record has a different theme—from country and hip hop to a wellness-inspired option—and includes two songs on each side. Some are classic nursery rhymes, and others are Fisher-Price originals. The records are easy to swap, and my daughter figured out how to operate the player by herself almost immediately.
My only real complaint—on behalf of my daughter—is the intentional record-scratch sound effect before each song. It’s a cute touch that sells the pretend record player experience, but each time she hears it, my daughter side-eyes me as if to say, “Well? Where’s the song?” The player is also bulky. That said, it pretty much permanently lives in the corner of my bathroom, where it keeps her entertained for long enough for me to get ready in the morning. With just two songs per side, the replay value is not huge and depends on how many record packs you collect. But if you’re looking for a simple music player that works without you needing to download another app, this player is hard not to love.
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