Vtech Storio Ebook Reader - For the cheapest UK price Click here

Vtech Storio reviews

vtech storio animateed e-book reader

The Vtech storio Animated E-Book Reader is new for 2010 and is packed full of features that will help you child learn and understand, not just basic reading skills, but phonetics, vowels and more..

Research by VTech reveals that 78% of parents of young children believe new technology – such as computers, mobile phones and iPads – play a positive role in their child’s development. 64% regarded interactive communication as the best way for children aged 3-7 to learn to read, and a study also shows that mums are hungry for electronic learning products that specifically help with their child’s literacy development.

On the back of these findings, VTech is launching Storio - the world’s first animated E-Book Reader for children.

Take a look below at what other customers and fans have made of the new Vtech Storio in our Storio reviews page.

If you would like to add your own Vtech Storio reviews please email them to us and we will add you to our reviews page:

We tried this item on a demo at a local store. My son loved it because it was just like Mommy's Kindle. We both enjoyed the annimation feature. My son has insisted that I help him ask Santa for this for Christmas this year and two weeks after trying it out is still talking about it.

To address a previous reviewer's concerns, it is animated, but it also shows and highlights the words of the story. Also, unlike with the tag and other reading toys, the page turning option does not appear until the entire passage has been read. I've noticed that this discourages my little button pusher from skipping the reading portion and just looking at the pictures.

I've done some research online about this item , and the Vtech website will soon have an ebook library similar to the Kindle. The website says that many of the books offered there will be free.

This is a fantastic reader for kids. I was not interested in the Tag by Leapfrog.....it seemed boring and I would rather read to him anyway. But the V.Reader is a wonderful addition for your little reader. My son loves me to point to words as I read to him. The V.Reader highlights each word as it is read for your child....encouraging word recognition. My son absolutely loves it!!! I highly recommend this reader for your child.

Review from Darren at gizmodad.co.uk

I was lucky to receive the new Storio animated book reader from the great folks at VTech this week. To keep with full disclosure my daughter is a bit younger that the recommended age range, but she still liked hearing the stories, and tapping the screen but just needed some extra help! Not sure who was more excited when it arrived, me or my daughter! Even the box was met with excited shrieks (daughter not me!) Why was I so excited? Well, VTech do seem to make some pretty cool gadgets, er I mean toys, and in my experience are usually built well, have plenty of play value and will often have a good educational aspect to them.
The Storio doesn’t disappoint in this regard. I’d describe the Storio as a device that will save your own Kindles and iPads from little hands as they have their own e-reader made just for them!

The Storio is an electronic story book, with a full colour 4.3″ LCD touch screen, built in speakers, keyboard, stylus, headphone socket (Thank you VTech!) and even an SD Card slot for expansion. It is powered either from 4 AA batteries (not included – bit poor considering the price) or the standard 9v VTech AC adapter. Battery life seems quite good, but with frequent use I’d expect to be replacing the batteries every 2 weeks or so. A separate carry case is available, but it has a flip over clear cover to protect the screen during transport and the story can be read with the cover closed.

On the front of the Storio are buttons for the main actions, page turning, and shortcut buttons to jump straight to the built in game or stored files. There is also a full keyboard, which is used for entering your name, a welcome message and some questions in the games. There are also volume controls and a brightness setting for the screen. On the side is a USB connector for downloading extra content from your computer (Windows and Mac thanks!)

The stories are held on plug in cartridges that are about the size of a GBA cartridge and the device comes with Toy Story 3 included in the box. Further stories are available which include popular characters like Dora, Olivia and Scooby Doo. Extra stories are priced around £17 but do include a lot of extra activities apart from the main story.

Without a cartridge plugged in the device allows you to play a word game with 3 difficulty levels which is similar to ‘whack a mole’. It makes good use of the touch screen and will keep you busy for some time whilst developing vocabulary and spelling.

Plug in the cartridge and the menu gives you the option to read the story, or play the activities on it. Choosing to read the story opens the ‘book’ – and you can bookmark the last place you read to and go straight back there which is handy.

The stories are animated with colourful graphics and are narrated along with the text. As each word is said it is highlighted, and you can tap on any word to pause the narration at which point you can tap each word to have the story read at your pace, or just read it yourself. Some words are highlighted and tapping on these brings up a definition of the word, which is great but would have been nice if it applied to more words not just the couple that are highlighted.
It’s not obvious but you can also tap on the pictures and characters for some extra sound effects or animations!

The stories are animated with colourful graphics and are narrated along with the text. As each word is said it is highlighted, and you can tap on any word to pause the narration at which point you can tap each word to have the story read at your pace, or just read it yourself. Some words are highlighted and tapping on these brings up a definition of the word, which is great but would have been nice if it applied to more words not just the couple that are highlighted.
It’s not obvious but you can also tap on the pictures and characters for some extra sound effects or animations!

The books are a reasonable length, and they will have extra games on them. The Toy Story 3 one has 8 extra games like choosing who makes a noise, or what happens next and all are quite entertaining.

The Included Toy Story 3 is also available on iPhone and iPad, and there are a few differences. The pictures for the Storio are simpler and do not include the video clips that the other versions do, but this shouldn’t affect the enjoyment of the story! The games on the Storio are different and suit the device perfectly, and of course the Storio is designed for children to play with and will stand up to being dropped better than your expensive phone!

The USB connector is handy to have. By installing the software from the VTech site on your PC or Mac you will be able to download your Children’s progress and monitor their use of the device, and this will download back to the device certificates and rewards for them.
Very soon (late Aug 2010) you will be able to use the software to acces the VTech Download store – this is where you will need to use a SD card (don’t pay shop prices – 4gb SD card should only cost a few pounds!) and then you can download extra games and even whole stories to save having to carry numerous cartridges with you! I don’t know pricing for these so will update this review whenever the service launches.

I think the Storio is great. It helps develop reading skills and also speaking and the extra games really add value beyond the stories themselves. One small bugbear is the price is quite high at £60 but this will inevitably drop and for what the device does is pretty good value (especially compared to the ‘grown up’ options of Kindles and iPads!).

The download store should make it even better and easier to take a few different books with you for trips.
All in all I think this is a great toy, and offers a lot of possibilities and your kids will love it!