Yoto Player and Yoto Mini Review–Everything You Need to Know

I have had our Yoto player for over 2 years now so I decided it’s time to write my review about it and share everything you need to know before purchasing it! I have to say upfront, this is hands down one of the best “toys” I have ever gotten for my toddler. We use it almost daily and it comes with us on every trip! I own both the Yoto Player and Yoto Mini and will be sharing a Yoto Player review and a Yoto Mini Player review.

If you decide to try out the Yoto player, you can use my Yoto discount code which is Hailey10 for 10% off the players, cards, and accessories.

_{*This post is not sponsored by Yoto. Some of the links shared in this post may be affiliate links meaning I make a small commission off of your purchase (with no extra cost to you). This allows me to continue to create free content for my readers. Thank you for your continued support!}

What is the Yoto Player

The Yoto is a screen free audio player that you insert cards to play whatever is on them. They have cards with stories, songs, meditations, nature sounds, and more. It has a large pixel display which, when turned face down, will become a nightlight; a slot to insert the Yoto cards; two speakers on either side; two knobs that control the volume and tracks, and a headphone jack. There is the Yoto Original and the Yoto Mini.

What is the Yoto Mini Player

The Yoto Mini Player performs the same as the Yoto Player but it is smaller. The mini has a small pixel display but still plays the same cards. It only has the one speaker on the front that I find it to be plenty loud. It has the same two knobs, a card slot, and headphone jack.

What Comes in the Box

When you order your Yoto player, whether it’s the original or the mini, you will also get:

• Yoto Player
• Charging dock (original) or a USB-C cable (mini)
• 1 Welcome card that can be used as a Make Your Own Card
• Quick Start Guide
• Safety information sheet

Difference and Similarities Between the Yoto Original and Yoto Mini Player

Differences

The Original Yoto player costs $100. It is larger, had a charging dock, has a batter life of around 8 hours, and has a larger display. If you lay the Original Yoto face down on its screen, it will light up as a night light.

The Yoto Mini costs $70. It is smaller, charges with a USB-C cable, has a battery life of around 15 hours, and has a small display down in the corner. Since it’s smaller, it is more portable and suited for traveling.

Similarities

For the most part, the two different players do the same thing. Both of the Yoto Original and the Mini play the same cards. They have headphone jacks and have all of the same audio features like white noise, Yoto Radio, and the Yoto Daily Podcasts.

Yoto Cards

There are hundreds of Yoto card options to choose from on the Yoto website. They range in price from $5 to $13 as well as bundles which makes the prices even better. There are cards with stories on them, songs, fairytales, nature sounds and more. When looking at the cards, you can search by age to find the cards that will be most suitable for your child.

The cards are thick like credit cards so they are very durable. We have had some of our cards for almost 2 years and my kids have never come close to breaking them. I store our cards in the Yoto Card Case. It’s perfect for keeping them from getting lost and it makes it really easy for my toddler to look at all of his options.

If you are looking for an inexpensive way to add to your child’s card collection, you can use the Make Your Own Cards to put different stories or sounds on cards at little to no cost.

Make Your Own Cards

When you get your Yoto Player, it comes with a Make Your Own Card. This is a blank card that you can put whatever you want on it. Some options are

• Your own recordings. You can record yourself reading a book or singing a song and upload it to a make your own card.
• Friends or family recordings. This is one of our favorite ways to utilize the make your own cards. My parents (my toddler’s grandparents) record themselves reading books and email them to me. I can easily upload these to a Yoto Make Your Own Card.
• Podcast Cards: You can download individual podcast episodes or download the RSS link and upload the whole podcast to a card. This is cool because every time your Yoto is connected to Wifi and the card is in the player, it will download the new episodes. Some of our favorite podcasts are
  • Thomas and Friends Story Time
  • Gardenkeeper Gus
• Free downloads: There are some free downloads out there of kids books. If you can download them as an mp4, you can upload them to a Make Your Own Card. A fun one is these Little Blue Truck books read by the author. (On your desktop scroll to the bottom of the page and the links are under Downloadable Audio.)
• Purchased downloads: If you have bought a CD, audiobook, or song and have the mp4 file, you can upload it to a Make Your Own Card.

Yoto Club Membership

The Yoto Club Membership is a $10 monthly subscription service that provides new cards for members each month. As a member you get 2 credits every month and get to choose which 2 cards you want to order. These credits do accrue if you want to save them up or if there’s nothing you want that month. Not every card is eligible to be purchased with these credits, however. There is a library of cards that are available for you to scroll through–right now it’s roughly around 150 cards.

Members also get 10% everything off of the Yoto website, exclusive discounts, and free shipping on all orders.

I am currently a member and I do think it’s worth it if there are multiple cards in the Yoto Club library you want. Many of the cards are $6-$12 but with your credits you get 2 for $10 and free shipping which is a steal.

Yoto Player Accessories

There are a few accessories I have and love from Yoto that I’m going to recommend:

• Adventure Jacket: If your little one will be carrying their Yoto Player around or you plan on traveling with it, I highly recommend the adventure jacket. It’s a silicone case that just protects it from bumps and scratches. Link to the Mini Adventure Jacket
• Card Case: We love our card case. Before we got it our cards just floated around and we could never find the ones we wanted. My 3 year old can easily flip through the pages and choose the card he wants to listen to.
• Headphones: You can buy the Yoto headphones but I really love these headphones from Amazon. The adjustable part is metal and seems less likely to break. They’re also cheaper. However, the cool thing about the Yoto headphones is that the chord can be completely removed and plugged into either ear piece.

Yoto Tips and Tricks

How to Play Yoto Cards without Wifi

If you just put a card into your player when you are out and about, it will tell you the Yoto player needs to be connected to wifi to play this card. What you need to do is put the card in the Yoto Player while it is connected to wifi. The content will download onto the player and can then be played without needing to be connected to the internet again.

Yoto Radio and Podcast

Yoto has its own radio station and podcasts that are child-friendly and educational. They are free features that you can play when your Yoto player is connected to wifi. On the app you can set how you want to be able to turn on the radio or daily podcast. These offer a wide variety of music, stories, and educational content. I do find the podcast geared a little more towards older kids, maybe 5 years old and up but every kid is different!

Best Ages for Yoto Player

We got our first Yoto Player when my son was about to turn 2. I mostly played the cards for him and he listed while he ate breakfast or played. It was around 2.5 years old when he started utilizing it himself and closer to 3 when he really could do it and had no issues getting out his own cards and operating the dials. Of course every kid is different but 2.5-3 years old was the sweet spot.

My daughter is 15 months and loves the musical cards and loves holding the Yoto mini. She can also take the cards in and out but doesn’t actually know how to operate it.

There are cards for kids up to ages 9 years and older so if you have an older kid that loves to read or you want to help instill a love of reading, audio books on the Yoto Player may be a great option for you.

Which Yoto Do I Prefer?

I almost always recommend the Yoto Mini Player. I love how small and portable it is especially since my toddler mainly uses his in the car. It’s also less expensive at $70 vs the Original which is $100.

However, if you are looking to get those benefits out of your Yoto player like a nightlight, then the Original may be for you. It is also cool that you can just leave it on it’s charging dock for everyone to enjoy.

Yoto Player Downsides

There are very few things I don’t like about the Yoto Players. But I want this Yoto Player review to be thorough so to name a few things I would change, I wish it was a little more durable. I love that you can purchase the adventure jacket but I have had a button break on me for no apparent reason and I do worry that if it got dropped enough times, it would really break. That being said, Yoto’s customer service is amazing. When the button stopped working, I contacted them, had a few back and forth emails, and they sent me a new one as it was still under warranty.

At $70-$100, the Yoto is expensive. And on top of the initial cost you have to pay anywhere from $5-$12 to get cards to listen to. Of course you can make your own cards which can cost very little, but that takes up a lot of time.

And last, I wish the battery life was longer. I know they say 8 hours for the Original and 15 hours for the Mini, but I do feel like it dies quickly. I need to charge it every few days which may not be a big deal to some, but it is pretty disappointing when it dies on a car ride.

Final Thoughts on Yoto Player

Overall I have to say the Yoto Players have been one of the best additions to my kids activities, play time, and travel essentials. We use it daily and I know it is instilling an incredible love of reading in my kids.

If you decided you the Yoto Player or Yoto Mini Player is for you, you can use my Yoto discount code which is Hailey10 for 10% off the players, cards, and accessories.

If you found this Yoto Player Review helpful and are interested in more travel content with kids, check out my post on My Road Trip Essentials and other posts, here.