Is the New Toniebox Worth It? A Parent Review of the Toniebox 2

Managing screen time is one of the most necessary but exhausting tasks in my house. I have two daughters, 5 and almost 2, and my oldest is like a moth to a flame with a screen. We've had a Toniebox for a few years to help her get the stimulation she wants without a screen, but she outgrew it sometime around 4. However, now that the newest iteration is on the market, I wanted to do a Toniebox 2 review to see if it's worth upgrading to. Here's what I discovered.

What is the Toniebox—and why do kids love it so much?

The Toniebox is a screen-free, ad-free audio player. Tonie figurines are placed on top of the box, and each one has a series of songs, stories, or a combination that revolves around the figurine, featuring themes such as Disney movies like The Little Mermaid, beloved franchises like Llama Llama, or nursery rhymes. The device is suitable for toddlers and school-aged children.

What’s new with the Toniebox 2?

The second-generation Toniebox audio player looks similar to the first-generation style. It now comes in five colours, versus the limited selection of the first generation. Parents can choose from sunset red, cloud pink, sky blue, tropical teal, and moon grey, adding in more calming colours and options to fit certain aesthetics. The new Toniebox also has more rounded edges.

One of the most important changes in the new Toniebox is the charging port. Before, the first-generation style required a specific charger; now, any USB-C cord can charge the device. This makes it easier to travel with and prevents any lapses in content if the charger goes missing or breaks.

The battery life of the Toniebox 2 offers up to 10 hours of continuous play, and the new version takes about 3 hours to fully charge. The Toniebox 2 speaker also got an upgrade, with a fuller-range sound. The headphone jack has been removed in the Toniebox 2 to promote connection via Bluetooth wireless headphones, making it more comfortable for kids on the go.

Another new feature is the light ring, which glows and gives kids visual cues during Tonieplay games,  a new category of interactive adventures only available on Toniebox 2 devices. There are now figurines better suited for smaller hands, such as the My First Tonie line, a collection of squishable, less sharp Tonie animals for toddlers. Another new feature is the smart sleep timer and sunrise alarm, which signal sleep and wake times and are managed in the Tonies app. Additionally, the newest device has 32GB of storage compared to the first generation's 8GB.

How easy is it to set up and use?

Getting started as a parent

This was our second Toniebox, so I knew that the setup instructions would be straightforward. I already had the Tonies app downloaded and added a second box to our app; new users would need to download the app and connect for the first time. The device needed to be charged before I could complete this step.

Once it was charged enough for use—the Toniebox 2 can get 45 minutes of play time with only 10 minutes of charging—it was easy for me to follow the in-app instructions to connect the device. The whole setup, once charged, took about 5 minutes.

Can kids use it on their own?

One of the best parts of the Toniebox brand is that it's very intuitive for all kids, even the youngest. My almost 2-year-old learned to turn the box on by pinching the ears at around age 1. As soon as she saw the Toniebox 2, she pinched an ear and plopped a Tonie on top to listen, adjusting the volume by continually pinching the ears.

How it fits into daily family life

Bedtime routines

Bedtime is chaotic even on the best of days, so having a Toniebox 2 to help me entertain my 5-year-old while I'm putting my 2-year-old down is extremely helpful, especially now that she can play single-player games on it. After I say goodnight, I love that the Toniebox 2 has a sleep timer so that she's not up all night.

Quiet time and independent play

The Toniebox 2 audio player has been a wonderful thing to keep my kids engaged in non-screen, independent play. I especially love that the Toniebox 2 has Tonieplay games now. My 5-year-old had outgrown the original Toniebox and was somewhat sick of the options we had (30 of them!!). But the Tonieplay games have kept her engaged in a new way. I only had to show her how to play one of the trivia games; for the other game, she figured it out herself using context clues from the instruction booklet and following the prompts from the speaker.

Travel and on-the-go use

Toniebox 2 can be a good travel toy, especially in the car. They are a little cumbersome to travel with compared to other audio players on the market, only because the profile of the Tonie figurines is larger and not as compact. Plus, some of the games have small pieces that could get lost easily. We have a carrier for ours, but we are almost always missing a Tonie or two.

The upgrade to wireless Bluetooth headphones is a good choice; that means my kids don't have to be tethered to the actual device to listen, meaning I can be responsible for them in transit instead. However, that does limit their independence somewhat.

What we love about the Toniebox

• The sleek new design and new colours
• The content partners, such as National Geographic, Disney, Marvel, and Peppa Pig
• The new My First Tonie line with squeezable, soft Tonies characters for toddlers
• The Tonieplay line, which features games and challenges for older kids

What could be better

• While the actual device seems reasonable for its longevity, all of the add-ons add up over time
• The portability, especially for travel
• A headphone jack option on Toniebox 2 for parents who wish to use wired headphones
• The bedtime and wake time features are nice, but they took a while to figure out

Toniebox 2 vs. the original: should you upgrade?

There are differences between the Toniebox 2 and the Toniebox 1 that can be broken down into key categories:

• Starting price: The Toniebox 2 ($140 to $160) is significantly more expensive than the Toniebox 1 ($100)
• Certified age range: While children as young as 1 could use the Toniebox 1, it was only certified for 3 and older. The second-generation Toniebox is certified for 1 and older.
• Design: The new Toniebox 2 has rounded corners and comes in softer colours versus Toniebox 1's primary colours
• Sound: The Toniebox 2 has a fuller sound and can go up to a higher max volume than the first-generation Toniebox
• Charging: The Toniebox 2 can give up to 10 hours of continuous play and is charged via a universal USB-C charger. The Toniebox 1 only had about 7 hours of continuous play and required a special charger. The Toniebox 2 also has a quick-charging option, where you can get 45 minutes of play with only 10 minutes of charging.
• Content: All Tonies that worked on Toniebox 1 models will work on Toniebox 2, but Toniebox 2 has specific content that will only work on that device, such as Tonieplay games and the My First Tonies line
• Headphones: The Toniebox 1 had a regular headphone jack for corded headphones. Toniebox 2 only has wireless options.

If you have multiple children, especially one under 3 and over 3, upgrading to a Toniebox 2 might be a good idea to get the cost per wear down even further. If you are a single-child family, getting a Toniebox 2 might not bring you as much value.

Is the Toniebox worth the price?

The Toniebox 2 is a price jump from the first generation. The original Toniebox, without bundles, was $100; now Toniebox 2 devices are $140 to $160. The average cost of a Tonie figurine is about $18, and Tonieplay games are about $25 each. As kids grow and develop more interests, so does the collection, but that means more money spent on a single toy. However, many families, including my own, use Tonies daily, which gets the cost per use down to pennies. My youngest uses it before school, and my oldest uses it before bed, which also gets our cost per play down significantly. It evens out to about the same as a tablet or screen device, but we get so much more out of the Toniebox.

The best Tonies to start with

If you haven't had a Toniebox before or are gifting it, you'll definitely want to start with one of the bundles. Tonies makes it easy by bundling three themed Tonies with a Toniebox. For example, for a child who likes Paw Patrol, you can get a Toniebox 2 with Sky, Rubble, and Chase Tonies included.

If you are gifting this to a toddler, I'd recommend the Toniebox starter set with My First Tonies, and if the child is over 3, I'd recommend the Tonieplay bundles. You can't go wrong with any of the Tonies, though; there are so many to choose from, depending on what a child's interests are. My kids are currently obsessed with the Wicked Tonie and Ms. Rachel Tonie, as well as the Disney Trivia Tonieplay game.

One of the downsides to Tonies is how expensive the individual games and Tonies can be; they certainly add up over time. However, my strategy has been to ask grandparents and friends for Tonies as gifts, to look for them secondhand online, to shop Tonies.com sales, and to trade with friends to make sure we have fresh Tonies in rotation.

Final verdict

I believe that the Toniebox 2 is a stand-out toy that should be on most kids' wishlists. The system is excellent for first-time buyers looking for a gift that will last for years—one that can be continually refreshed by acquiring new media. For existing Toniebox users, I'd also recommend upgrading, specifically for the Tonieplay games and challenges to get even more longevity out of the device. The good news is that there is a great resale market for Tonieboxes, so you could likely offset the cost of an upgrade by selling an old device.

The Toniebox 2 audio player excels because of how easy it is for kids to use and how long families can use it. It's also a durable device that can withstand lots of small hands jostling it about. Parents like me adore it for how engaging and interactive it is as a replacement for screen-focused activities. It can be expensive to build out a Tonie library, but there are secondhand marketplaces, sales at big box stores, and on Tonies.com, and you can trade them with friends to keep things fresh. The Toniebox 2 is best for families that like independent, screen-free play.

Toniebox 2