Khadas Tea Review

The Khadas Tea is a neat portable headphone amplifier. It features support for high-bitrate digital audio signals including Master Quality Authenticated or MQA. A palm-sized digital-to-analog converter (DAC), the Khadas Tea features a headphone jack as well as Bluetooth for multiple listening options–both wired and wireless. Additionally, you’ll find MagSafe support for use with compatible Apple iPhones, or even some Android phones with a MagSafe adapter. With its solid audio quality, the Khadas Tea is a great choice for music enthusiasts. Learn why this might be the best value DAC on the market in my hands-on Khadas Tea review!

Khadas Tea Review Verdict

When I first became familiar with Khadas, it was while reviewing its VIM 3L single-board computer (SBC). So when I discovered that the company had developed a DAC/amp, the Khadas Tea, I was eager to test it out.

The spec sheet is incredibly impressive. At its core, you’ll find an ESS ES9281AC Pro digital-to-analog converter capable of decoding PCM streams of up to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD256 with MQA. You can listen using its 3.5mm headphone jack connected over USB-C or Lightning. Alternatively, you can stream from Bluetooth to the Tea–although you’ll still need to plug in a pair of wired headphones to the Tea.

Additionally, the Tea handles lossless music playback from a slew of streaming apps including Tidal, Qobuz, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, and more. Of course, it can also handle your personal music files in MP3, M4A, FLAC, OGG Vorbis, or other formats.

In the box, there’s a USB-C to USB-C cable, alongside a USB-C to Lightning cable for the iPhone 14 series and earlier (blessedly, Apple now includes USB-C on the iPhone 15 roster). For iPhones, the Khadas Tea supports MagSafe, an ecosystem for iOS mobile devices to wirelessly attach to various accessories such as portable battery chargers, wallet cases, and DACs. While Android doesn’t natively support MagSafe, you can find Android MagSafe adapters and cases for phones like the Pixel 8 and Samsung Galaxy S23.

In a sea of gum pack-shaped portable digital to analog converters/amplifiers, the Khadas Tea differs–in a refreshing way. It’s thinner and wider, measuring less than 0.3 inches (7.95mm) thick. Its flattened-out design means the Tea adheres to iPhones using MagSafe without adding extra bulk, and remains pretty pocket- or purse-friendly. In my experience, the Khadas Tea was barely noticeable when shoved into the pocket of my jeans or the front pocket of a button-down shirt.

Khadas Tea DAC specs

• Amplifier/DAC: ESS ES9281AC Pro 32-bit 2-channel digital to analog converter
• Connectivity: USB-C, Bluetooth
• Supports lossless music from Apple Music, Tidal, Qobuz, and your own personal music files
• Plays up to 24-bit 96KHz LDAC over Bluetooth; HD, PCM, DSD, MQA hardwired
• MagSafe compatible
• Works with iPhone/iPad, Android, Windows/macOS/Linux
• Includes USB-C to USB Type C and USB-C to Lightning cables
• 1160mAh battery (about 8 hours of continuous playback)
• Bluetooth microphone onboard
• 0.3 inches (7.95 mm) thick

Khadas Tea Audio Performance – How does the Khadas Tea sound?

But the real question is how the Khadas Tea sounds. Simply put, it’s stunning. I connected my Audeze Mobius planar magnetic driver headphones via a 3.5mm wired cable, fired up Tidal, and played some MQA tracks. There’s a warm soundstage with punchy mids and robust bass that’s not overpowering. The lows sound crisp, and the vocals are crystal clear.

John Lee Hooker’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer” emanated with Hooker’s warbling warm vocals backed by equally weighted guitar strums, piano key plunks, and bass string plucks. The Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” with its layered guitars felt immersive with good delineation of the voices and instrumentation. “X” by ScHoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, Saudi, and Kendrick Lamar from the Black Panther soundtrack bumped with its ample low-end without being overpowering and muddying the vocals.

Largely, I found audio pretty headphone-specific. For instance, using the Khadas Tea with my Sony WH-1000XM5s maintained the XM5 profile, while pairing the Tea with my Audeze Mobius cans kept their musicality. While the Khadas Tea enabled you to play high-quality audio such as MQA streams or FLAC vinyl rips, ultimate sound quality is determined by your headphones.

Khadas Tea Battery Life – How long does the Khadas Tea battery last?

The Khadas Tea is rated for around 8 hours of playback. Indeed, I was able to go for well over 10 hours without having to charge, granted this wasn’t all continuous. In my testing, 8-10 hours is about correct for its battery capacity. Luckily, the Tea is an easy-to-charge DAC thanks to its USB-C connectivity and included Lightning to USB Type-C adapter — which is a moot point for iPhone 15 users because of Apple’s USB-C adoption.

Khadas Tea Portable DAC Review: Final Thoughts

Overall, Khadas Tea is a fantastic DAC. It features a slim profile for great portability, long battery life, MQA support, Bluetooth or USB-C connectivity, and MagSafe compatibility. I liked that I could wirelessly transmit audio from my phone, laptop, or other device to the Tea for listening to music untethered or use a USB Type-C cable directly connected to my phone. I’d have liked an onboard volume indicator, but that’s a minor quibble. While you can find better DACs with slightly more resolution, it’s tough to find a digital to analog converter with this robust a feature set at such an affordable price point.

Your turn: What DACs do YOU recommend?