Updated: 10th September 2026
Yoto has announced its biggest hardware update yet with the launch of the Yoto Player 4th Gen and Yoto Mini 4th Gen. This is a comprehensive post about the new players as comparing with previous Yoto Gen 3 Player and Yoto Mini 2024. Use the contents below to help navigate the post.
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Press the Green Button!
I’ve been at a UK Yoto launch event (10th September 2026) getting hands-on with both of the new players and, although there are lots of upgrades including better sound, faster Wi-Fi, more storage and a completely redesigned Yoto Player and Yoto Mini, there is one new feature that really stands out to me:
The Green Button is a game changer.
It’s a feature that many families have been hoping for. The new Green Button gives children card-free access to their favourite Yoto content. You can set up two separate playlists per device – up to 20 titles for daytime and another 20 titles for nighttime – and children can scroll through them directly on their Yoto Player or Yoto Mini.
It means you could potentially head out for the day, go on holiday or settle down for bedtime without needing to take out a stack of Yoto Cards at all.
Do you need to replace your existing Yoto Player or Mini? Absolutely not.
However, do the Yoto 4th Gen editions bring some genuinely exciting new features? Yes.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Yoto 4th Gen – What’s New at a Glance?
The biggest changes to the new Yoto Player 4th Gen and Yoto Mini 4th Gen include:
- A new Green Button for card-free access to favourite audio
- Two separate Green Button playlists – up to 20 daytime and 20 nighttime titles
- Playlists are set per device, so different Yotos in the same family can have different selections
- Green Button content can work offline once downloaded
- A new display experience that can show full-colour cover artwork
- 64GB storage on both devices – enough for more than 1,000 hours of offline audio
- A faster processor and increased memory
- Wi-Fi 6
- Bluetooth 6.1
- Improved sound
- A redesigned Yoto Player and Yoto Mini
- New full-panel night light on the Yoto Player 4th Gen
- IP67 splash and dust resistance on the Yoto Mini 4th Gen
- Four new Adventure Jacket colours
Yoto describes this as its biggest hardware update to date, with new processors, increased memory, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 6.1 and 64GB storage included across the new generation.
Yoto Player 4th Gen and Yoto Mini 4th Gen Comparison
| Feature | Yoto Player 4th Gen | Yoto Mini 4th Gen |
|---|---|---|
| UK price | £119.99 | £89.99 |
| Green Button | Yes | Yes |
| Day playlist | Up to 20 titles | Up to 20 titles |
| Night playlist | Up to 20 titles | Up to 20 titles |
| Storage | 64GB | 64GB |
| Offline audio | 1,000+ hours | 1,000+ hours |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6 | Wi-Fi 6 |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 6.1 | Bluetooth 6.1 |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| Battery life | Up to 14 hours | Up to 12 hours |
| Charging | USB-C + wireless | USB-C |
| Water/dust resistance | No IP67 rating | IP67 |
| Night light | New full-panel light | No |
| Replaceable battery | Yes | Custom-fit rechargeable battery |
The Yoto Player 4th Gen costs £119.99, while the Yoto Mini 4th Gen costs £89.99 in the UK (find prices in your part of the world here). Both became available for pre-order on 10th September 2026. Yoto currently estimates that the Mini will dispatch from 30th September, with the full-size Player following from 15th October 2026.
The New Yoto Green Button – The Game Changer
For me, the Green Button is easily the most exciting part of the Yoto 4th Gen launch.
Until now, the beauty of Yoto has largely centred around inserting a physical Yoto Card and letting children control their own audio. You could already control a player from the Yoto App, but the Green Button gives children another way to independently access their content without requiring the physical cards.
An adult sets up the Green Button selection through the Yoto App. Each individual Yoto Player or Mini can have: up to 20 daytime titles and up to 20 separate nighttime titles. Importantly, these are per device.
If you have several Yoto Players on one Family Account, each child could have completely different Green Button selections on their own device. That could be brilliant for siblings of different ages or children with very different interests.
How Does the Yoto Green Button Work?
Using it at the launch event was incredibly simple. Children use the Green Button to scroll through their selected content. I’ll say a little more about this next as this is now easier than you would imagine). Once they have chosen what they want, the usual orange controls continue to control their audio.
The Green Button itself also works as the play/pause button.
One of the things that made selecting content particularly easy for me was the new display. Rather than being restricted to the familiar simple Yoto pixel icons, the new displays are able to show full-colour artwork, including artwork that looks like the cover of the corresponding physical Yoto Card.
I found it incredibly easy to flick through the choices and immediately recognise what I was looking for. For me, this means the display upgrade isn’t merely cosmetic. It makes the whole Green Button system much more intuitive to use.
What Can You Put on the Yoto Green Button?
The Green Button isn’t limited to physical Yoto Cards that you own.
Yoto says adults can create their selections using favourite titles and free content from their Yoto library. This can include digital-only Yoto Cards and free bonus audio, with Yoto giving examples including soundscapes and toothbrush timers.
This opens up lots of possibilities.
A daytime list might contain:
- Yoto Daily
- Favourite audiobooks
- Music
- BrainBots
- Activities
- A toothbrush timer
- Frequently played Yoto Cards
A nighttime selection might include:
- Favourite bedtime stories
- Sleep Radio
- White noise
- Soundscapes
- Lullabies
- Gentle audiobooks
Yoto is deliberately positioning the feature as something that can support morning and evening routines. I’m assuming that parents can set when the ‘daytime’ and ‘nighttime’ selection starts and finishes but I haven’t had this confirmed yet. When I find out I will update.
You Don’t Need to Take Your Yoto Cards Everywhere Anymore
This is where the Green Button really clicked for me.
You no longer necessarily need to take Yoto Cards out and about with you.
Of course, you absolutely can – and physical Yoto Cards remain a huge part of what makes Yoto special. But imagine heading off in the car, visiting grandparents or going on holiday. I still kick myself for losing our Julia Donaldson set at a Center Parcs!
Your child could already have up to 20 carefully selected titles sitting on their Mini waiting for them. The playlists also work offline once the content has downloaded, so you don’t need to worry about having Wi-Fi while you’re travelling.
Yoto already allows downloaded content to play without an internet connection; streaming content such as radio still requires connectivity. Therefore you could add radio or a podcast to your list of titles but you will need a connection to make that specific content work.
For travel, that combination of offline listening + Green Button + 64GB storage makes the new Mini particularly interesting.
The Green Button at Bedtime
This might actually be my favourite use for it. I’ve written before about why we don’t use physical Yoto Cards at bedtime (you can find this article here).
We love Yoto and use our Player every night, but as our Yoto Card collection grew, choosing a card became counterproductive.
Too much choice.
Cards everywhere.
Lengthy decisions.
Sometimes anxiety around choosing the “right” one.
At bedtime, anything that reduces decisions and friction is a huge plus in my book.
We’ve tried narrowing choices, choosing earlier in the day, using the Yoto App and creating groups. All can work, but the new nighttime Green Button playlist feels like an incredibly neat solution.
Interestingly, Yoto says one of the motivations behind the new feature was precisely that as families’ libraries grew, children needed a quicker way of finding their favourites independently.
With the new system, I can curate a collection of up to 20 suitable nighttime options in advance. However, you could build this up as a lovely rhythm/ routine. Music plays and you’re getting ready for bed, the toothbrush timer comes on, next there’s a story followed by some lullaby music. We’re not dealing with our entire Yoto library just as we’re trying to wind down for bed.
Alternatively, maybe there are 2 or 3 stories to choose from rather than the whole collection. Parent-created boundaries without removing child independence. That’s why, personally, I think the Green Button could be much more significant than it first appears.
Yoto Mini 4th Gen – My First Impressions
Firstly, it’s adorable. I’m not sure there’s a more technical way of putting it! It looks… beautiful, feels silky smooth and you just want to keep touching it!
The new Yoto Mini has lovely smooth, rounded corners and a really pleasant feel in the hand. The Mini felt around the same weight as our existing one to me, although that’s purely my hands-on impression rather than a measured specification.
It also feels remarkably tough.
At the launch, Yoto had a Mini continuously going around in a mechanism where it was being bashed around – and it just carried on playing!
I would personally still buy an Adventure Jacket.
Not necessarily because I think the Mini needs protection from ordinary bumps – it seemed pretty indestructible – but because the jacket should help prevent scratches and gives children a little more grip when holding it. It also gives your Yoto personality.
Yoto Mini 4th Gen is IP67
This is another epic upgrade for a children’s device. The Yoto Mini 4th Gen has an IP67-equivalent splash and dust resistant design. Yoto’s technical information specifies resistance equivalent to submersion in up to one metre of water for up to 30 minutes, although it isn’t designed for deliberate or prolonged submersion.
For real family life, think:
- Unexpected rain
- A Mini being dropped in a puddle
- Drinks getting knocked over
- Dust and dirt outdoors
- Camping
- Beach trips
- General child-related chaos
It’s a feature that makes enormous sense on something designed specifically to travel around with children.
Better Sound, Wi-Fi and Storage
Both Yoto 4th Gen models have been upgraded to Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 6.1 and 64GB storage, alongside a faster processor and increased memory.
The 64GB storage provides space for more than 1,000 hours of offline listening.
The sound also impressed me. The little Yoto Mini really packs a punch for its size. I’t was one of those things that was much more noticeable when actually handling and listening to one than when reading through a specification sheet. I’ve always been impressed with our 2024 Mini’s sound for the size and the 4th Gen Mini is even better.
A New Full-Panel Night Light on Yoto Player 4th Gen
The larger Yoto Player has also received a substantial lighting upgrade. Its new full-panel night light offers seven colours and can be used for bedtime and OK-to-Wake cues.
However, this is also one feature where what comes next could be particularly interesting. At the launch, there was discussion around the new lights being utilised more extensively in future so that Yoto content could become more of a multisensory experience, with audio and lighting working together to create a performance.
Yoto has confirmed that future free software updates are planned to introduce dynamic lighting effects designed to complement what children are listening to. I’m intrigued to see where Yoto takes this. A DANCE PARTY was definitely mentioned!
Does the Yoto 4th Gen Look Too Childish?
I’ve already seen some comments suggesting the new Yoto design looks more childlike and doesn’t consider older users. I know this is very much personal preference but, I don’t agree. I’m in my 40s and the design really appealed to me.
In fact, I particularly like how clean and almost blank the base units look without their Adventure Jackets. Rather than making them less suitable for older users, I think this potentially makes them ripe for personalisation.
I can completely imagine children, teenagers and adults adding:
- Vinyl decals
- Stickers
- Names
- Symbols
- Cricut or ScanNCut designs
- Completely custom wraps or themes
I’ve written before about giving your Yoto some personality, and the Gen 4 design might give us even more scope to do exactly that.
New Yoto Adventure Jackets
There are four new Adventure Jacket colours, with the same colours available for both the Yoto Player 4th Gen and Yoto Mini 4th Gen.
Yoto has also refreshed the Mini accessories. The new Mini Adventure Jacket includes a wrist lanyard, while the updated Yoto Travel Case has been designed to fit both generations of Yoto Mini.
I didn’t see the new Mini cords attached to the devices I handled at the event, but they look more robust in the press images (see above).
That’s something I’ll be interested to test because we’ve previously had a Mini cord snap. My daughter likes spinning things around, which certainly gave the previous one a challenging life!
Yoto Gen 3 vs Gen 4 – Is the Price Increase Reasonable?
This is probably going to be one of the biggest questions. To check out prices in your part of the world click here.
The Yoto Player 4th Gen is £119.99.
The Yoto Mini 4th Gen is £89.99.
At the time of writing, the Yoto Player 3rd Generation is listed at £89.99, meaning the new Player costs £30 more. The Gen 3 has 32GB storage and up to 16 hours of playback.
The Yoto Mini 2024 Edition is currently listed at £64.99, making the new Mini £25 more. The 2024 Mini has 32GB storage and up to 14 hours’ battery life.
That’s a significant price increase. However, I also think this is a significant update.
Would I Pay More for the Yoto Mini 4th Gen?
Personally, yes.
For an extra £25, the combination of the Green Button, new display, IP67 protection, 64GB storage, improved connectivity, better sound and redesigned hardware makes the new Mini particularly compelling to me.
If I were buying my first Yoto Mini today and my budget allowed it, I think I would choose the Yoto Mini 4th Gen.
Would I Pay More for the Yoto Player 4th Gen?
Again, I think I probably would if I were buying new.
The £30 jump is considerable, and the Gen 3 remains an excellent Player. However, the Green Button is the feature that would tip it for me – particularly because our full-size Yoto Player is predominantly used at bedtime.
The new display and future possibilities for the full-panel lighting also make the Player feel like a platform Yoto can continue developing. We’re a neurodivergent family, so sensory input is very important to us.
Do You Need to Upgrade Your Existing Yoto?
No. Absolutely not.
If you take one thing from this article, let it be that. Your current Yoto hasn’t suddenly become a bad player because a new one exists.
If you’ve already got a Yoto Player Gen 3 or Yoto Mini 2024 that works brilliantly for your family, I wouldn’t suggest you immediately rush out and replace it. If you’d like to find out more about both of these players check out my comparison post here. The new Gen 4 devices have some really exciting features. But exciting is different from essential.
When I asked Yoto at the launch whether they had considered a trade-in option for existing owners, I was told that this wasn’t something they had explored. However, the response was also reassuring. The clear intention is to continue bringing software updates to older models where possible, helping make the Yoto Player or Mini you already own the best device it can be. I really like that approach.
Are Interactive Yoto Cards Compatible with Gen 4?
There is an important launch-day caveat. Some interactive Yoto Card features are not currently compatible with the new 4th Gen players. Yoto has said that this functionality will be coming, so this appears to be a temporary limitation rather than something that Gen 4 will permanently lack. If interactive Yoto content is particularly important in your house, I would check the latest compatibility information before replacing an existing Player.
Will Yoto 4th Gen Work with Bluetooth Hearing Aids?
This is not confirmed yet. Bluetooth has been upgraded to Bluetooth 6.1 on both new players. I specifically asked at the launch whether that might allow compatibility with newer Bluetooth hearing aids. It looks like a real possibility, but I haven’t yet received a definitive technical answer from Yoto about supported hearing-aid standards. I’ll update this article as soon as I have confirmation.
Yoto Player 4th Gen Battery Life
Yoto quotes up to 14 hours of battery life for the Yoto Player 4th Gen. The battery remains replaceable, and Yoto says it plans to make a battery replacement kit available in 2027.
The Yoto Mini 4th Gen is quoted at up to 12 hours. Interestingly, those headline figures are lower than the up-to-16-hours quoted for Gen 3 Player and up-to-14-hours for the 2024 Mini, so battery longevity alone isn’t a reason to upgrade.
My First Verdict on Yoto 4th Gen
Having now had the opportunity to see and use the Yoto Player 4th Gen and Yoto Mini 4th Gen, I came away more excited by the update than I expected. The increased storage, Wi-Fi 6, improved sound and faster hardware are all welcome. The IP67 rating makes enormous sense for the Mini. The new display is much more useful than simply saying it looks prettier. And the future possibilities for the Player’s lighting are fascinating.
But the Green Button is the game changer for me. It’s a relatively simple idea that potentially changes how we use Yoto every day. For travel, I can load favourite content and leave the cards safely at home. For bedtime, I can provide a carefully curated selection without presenting our entire Yoto library. And because the daytime and nighttime playlists are set independently for each individual device, children still retain the independence that is such a fundamental part of Yoto.
Which Would I Buy If I Were Buying My First Yoto?
If budget allowed, I’d be inclined to choose Gen 4. The price increase is significant, but so is the update. And of the two? The Yoto Mini 4th Gen may actually be the device that impressed me most physically. It’s wonderfully tactile, incredibly portable, surprisingly powerful for its size and now substantially more adventure-proof.
The Player, though, has that nighttime Green Button functionality alongside the new lighting system – and given how heavily we use Yoto at bedtime, that’s enormously appealing to me. I’ll continue updating this post as we spend more time with the new generation and Yoto releases further information.
Yoto 4th Gen FAQ
Yoto 4th Gen is the new generation of Yoto’s screen-free audio hardware, consisting of the Yoto Player 4th Gen and Yoto Mini 4th Gen, announced on 10th September 2026.
The Yoto Player 4th Gen costs £119.99 in the UK. It became available to pre-order on 10th September 2026, with an estimated dispatch date of 15th October 2026. You can find prices for your region here.
The Yoto Mini 4th Gen costs £89.99 in the UK. Pre-orders opened on 10th September 2026 and Yoto currently estimates dispatch from 30th September 2026. You can find prices for your region here.
The Yoto Green Button gives children card-free access to a curated selection of favourite Yoto audio. Children can scroll through the available titles on their Player or Mini and select what they would like to hear without inserting the corresponding physical Yoto Card. The Green Button also functions as play/pause.
Each Yoto 4th Gen device can have up to 20 daytime titles and up to 20 separate nighttime titles.
That means there can potentially be 40 different selections across the two playlists.
Yes. The playlists are set per device.
If a family has multiple 4th Gen Yoto Players or Minis, each device can have its own daytime and nighttime selections.
Yes, downloaded Green Button content can be used offline.
This makes it particularly useful for travelling or taking a Yoto Mini out for the day without carrying lots of physical cards. Streaming content will still require an internet connection.
No, you don’t always need a physical Yoto Card to access audio on Yoto 4th Gen.
The Green Button allows children to browse selected content directly from their device. However, physical Yoto Cards continue to work and remain an important part of the Yoto experience.
The Yoto Mini 4th Gen is IP67-equivalent water and dust resistant. It is designed to cope with accidental splashes, spills and brief submersion, but Yoto states that it isn’t intended for prolonged or intentional submersion.
Both the Yoto Player 4th Gen and Yoto Mini 4th Gen have 64GB of storage, which Yoto says is enough for more than 1,000 hours of offline audio.
Yes. Both Yoto 4th Gen models have Bluetooth 6.1. However, specific compatibility with modern Bluetooth hearing aids has not yet been confirmed.
The new display experience can show full-colour artwork, including recognisable card cover images when browsing content. From my hands-on experience at the launch, this made finding titles using the Green Button incredibly easy.
Standard Yoto Card playback continues to be part of the Yoto 4th Gen experience. However, some interactive functionality isn’t currently compatible at launch. This will change.
Most existing Yoto owners do not need to upgrade.
If your Gen 3 Player or existing Mini works well for your family, continue using it. Gen 4 becomes more compelling if you particularly want cardless Green Button browsing, the new display, improved hardware or – in the case of the Mini – IP67 resistance.
In my opinion, yes, if your budget allows the additional cost.
The older models remain excellent players, but the Green Button, updated display, larger storage and other hardware improvements make Gen 4 the version I would personally be inclined to choose when buying new.
Yoto indicated at the 4th Gen launch that it intends to continue improving older Yoto hardware through software updates wherever possible. A new generation does not mean your existing Player or Mini has suddenly become obsolete.
Yes. Yoto has introduced four new Adventure Jacket colours, with the same colour options available for the Player and Mini. The Mini version also includes an updated wrist lanyard.
Yes, it can.