Khadas Tea Headphone Amplifier, Portable DAC & Magnetic Hi-Fi Amplifier| 32bit/384KHz ESS ES9281AC Pro DAC | USB-C & Bluetooth 5.0 | 1160mAh Battery | 3.5mm Output | Desktop-Class Audio (Teal Blue)

Recently made the move from Android to IOS decided to purchase to compliment my Iphone. Absolutely brilliant bit of kit.It is tiny, it is light and it is literally the size of a credit card.I have a Hidizs DH80S and the Tea is the winner for me. It arrives with both USB C to Lightning and USB-C to USB-C.A USB-C to Lightning Cable has to be purchased seperately for the Hidizs.The Tea has bluetooth that supports ALL the codecs.I've tested it with both cables on Iphone and Android and it sounds absolutely brilliant. I'm not running headphones beyond 30 odd ohm so I can't comment on how well it will perform with high ohm ones.Bluetooth is quick to pair and solid connection. I've been running it with a Sony Walkman DAP on LDAC and it sounds astonishing. I can't tell any difference between bluetooth and wired on LDAC. Plus it can go seriously loud over bluetooth, Sony DAPs really struggle demanding wired headphones.Its standard headphone only, no 2.5 or 4.4 mm input.My iphone isn't magsafe but the Tea attaches nicely and stays put on the magsafe case I have (see pic)Battery life is around 8 hours approx.Charge time is around 2.I've also added a photo with a guide for the various indicator lights.Its an absolutely brilliant bit of kit for either IOS or Android and I would definitely recommend it.Hope this review is helpful.

*****************************************************************Updated 29/08/2024*****************************************************************The Khadas tea(m) got in touch with me and brought to my attention the following important information:“KhadasTea is a Bluetooth decoder which supports Bluetooth decoding including SBC, AAC, LDAC, aptX, aptX Low Latency, aptX HD mainstream Bluetooth formats, but it can’t be used as a transmitter to provide audio to Bluetooth headset. Please use 3.5mm wired headphones to connect Tea and get a high quality music experience. All decoders are not available for Bluetooth headsets.”Thus, Khadas tea is a bluetooth decoder which can’t use with Bluetooth headsets.That might be an important consideration for some customers, as it was for me.*****************************************************************My original review follows:*****************************************************************This is a really well designed and beautiful portable DAC.I love how it snaps to the back of my iPhone 12 Pro Max, even with a kick stand mounted at the base. The blue colour I opted for also looked great and matched the hue of my iPhone.The weight of the DAC, albeit ‘lightish’ caused me concern. The weight of the DAC coupled with the phone makes the combo a heavy option. Albeit, not much heavier than a dedicated high res player in all likeliness.Unfortunately, I could not connect to this DAC via Bluetooth.I tried to connect a pair of Sonos Ace headphones, but they wouldn’t connect, nor would my AirPods Pro.I also tried to connect the Sonos Ace to the DAC with a wire via the lighting connector. Connected via a USB-C cable from the Sonos Ace headphones to the 3.5mm lightning dongle.However, there was a repetitive clicking sound.It seemed either the device was faulty or compatibility with some headphones is an issue. I read on the forums about similar issues. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get a signal via Bluetooth.Having read the forums and interactions from the Support team, they seemed helpful. Should I have asked for their help and request a replacement, they would have helped me out. I just didn’t want the hassle.I connected a cheap pair of wired Sony headphones, (about £20, and the sound was great despite the cheapness of the earphones. I imagine this DAC coupled with a decent pair of wired headphones would sound fantastic.At first, I wanted this DAC to connect to my bluetooth headphones, as I wanted to invest in a new pair of custom IEMs. And, because during this interim period, I couldn’t connect to Bluetooth, the DAC was useless for my needs.I tried their iOS app too. While helpful, it wasn’t robust. It needed a round or two of quality assurance testing. The number of bugs or usability issues I encountered were too many.This DAC opens up some interesting portable high-quality audio options. However, because of my specific experience, I’m going to skip this first iteration and will keep a close eye on their next release. If the team can improve interoperability and the iOS, they might be on to a real DAC winner.

iPhone 12 or 13 this is a must. its slim and dsicreet and the quality is great. Only thing missing is an app but I hear an app is in the making.

It’s a nicely built unit, obviously not quite to the quality of the iPhone but it snaps snuggly to the back of my 15pro and stays put fairly well when pocketed.Sound quality is fantastic when connected via USB and partnered with some decent IEM’s streaming Apple Music Lossless. Bluetooth mode sounds good too but performance is of course better wired, which unfortunately leads me to the first issue. The supplied USB cable is of poor quality, especially for something intended connecting two devices in this way. It doesn’t quite fit as snug a a genuine Apple or other decent USB C connection and I am regularly annoyed by the device disconnecting when nudged. There may also be a dodgy wire in the cable as it sometimes disconnects when manipulated slightly. I would have hoped a better solution like a moulded 180 degree U shape adapter could have been provided.My second issue is the App. Its features are only available when connected via Bluetooth and this only seems to works when USB is disconnected so having to change connection mode to view battery status is a bit of an oversight. Bluetooth has its own issues too. The device appears to present itself twice at times once under “Tea” the other as “Common” when I find myself connected to “common” I am unable to switch to Tea and have to disable Bluetooth and reconnect.

Yes you’ve found the DAC amp you’ve been looking for just as i did! So impressed by the thought technological advancement packed into this really slim DAC. I’ve tried various dac/amps of making music/media portable. This solves that, well done Khadas! It sounds great to listen to media, light to carry, feels good in hand. Buttons are well recessed on the Tea and provide enough feedback. Great battery life. Tryna think of negatives, cant! Get this and i’m sure you’d come near the conclusion that this is your portable endgame.

If you are like me and want better quality out of your phone listening experience, grab a Khadas Tea and a set of Koss Porta Pro headphones. For less than $160 you end up with a very respectable setup. I didn’t have any issues with setup, a firmware update, or connectivity. Khadas nailed it with this cool little device.

I like the form factor since I'm able to attach the unit to the back of my phone with magnets. Hmthr performance is also pretty good with excellent sound quality. My main issue with this is that it's a bit buggy and difficult to use at times. Sometimes it does not want to connect to my phone via either Bluetooth or the USB cable so it takes a bit. Also, the volume sometimes doesn't work unless I restart the unit. If you use the device in exclusive mode then it sometimes stops playing if you switch from a high res song to a standard res song. I never really knew what the battery level was because the app doesn't seem to reflect it correctly. I ended up returning this even though I loved the form factor.

I’m not much of an audiophile, but I am an audio enthusiast and love how my music sounds. I peeked around at amazon for DACs and this fit perfectly in my selection. The fact it can attach to my IPhone 15 is superb and it makes all my music blend and high notes aren’t screechy. Without a doubt recommend this and yes, the app does work, I tinkered with it but not much. All in all, great experience thus far 👍

Impresionante sonido, funciona perfectamente con cable o con bluetooth, en iphone 15 pro max o en iphones con lightning, el sonido es genial, la mejora de audio con apple music y youtube music es impresionante. Además se integra perfectamente con el iphone mediante magsafe, es elegante y de muy buena calidad

I like many things about my Khadas tea. It integrates really well with my iPhone. It pairs about as quickly as my airpods do, and the phone displays the battery level of the Khadas when it is connected, a very nice feature. But at the same time, there is no app to eq the amp, and the light pattern is a little unclear to me. It sounds great and powers my Sennheiser HD6xx well. But it would have been nice to have a 2.5 mm output too. It feels premium and machined well. It sticks great with my iPhone 15 pro in a magsafe case or out. But the back glass on mine cracked on day four. Not from dropping it or anything, just from sitting on it while it was attached to my phone. So durability is a major question mark. But it is so convenient. It is so small, light and fitting with my phone that playing it wired to the phone or through bluetooth, it fits in my pockets easily. Even if they would accept a return, I still think I would keep it. I got a screaming deal on it, and I like the convenience enough to overlook its (many) flaws. Certainly a ‘buyer beware’, though.