Khadas Tea ultra-slim headphone DAC for smartphone: Review

Many would see the Khadas Tea as the answer to a question no-one asked, but others would see it as more of an “about bloody time” kinda device which brings premium high-quality audio to that lump of technology in your pocket – the smartphone.

Now I say Smartphone, but let’s be honest the Khadas Tea is designed first and foremost with new iPhone users in mind. The iPhone 12, 13 and upcoming 14 models all feature that magnetic attachment technology MagSafe, a the Khadas Tea is a super thin device that snaps on their for easy storage.

I say storage because it doesn’t need to be there. You can in fact put it in your pocket because the device pairs via Bluetooth to your phone and allows you to plug headphones in for your music needs. But – But – But, I hear you interjecting – there are little dongles that allow you to connect headphones via lightning. Yes there are.

Um, hello – wireless headphones? I hear you mumbling. Yes, if you’ve got wireless headphones, no matter the brand or price the Khadas Tea seems utterly useless.

But you’re not the audience here. Buyers of the Khadas Tea think $299 is pocket change, because they love listening to music with headphones like the Sennheiser IE900’s – yeah, when was the last time you considered spending $2,400 on in-ear headphones – right?

So, those are the headphones I took on my travels recently.

Clearly, I can plug those into that infamous lightning adaptor. And I did.

But then, I plugged them into the Khadas Tea – and plugged it into the iPhone with the included USB-C to Lightning cable. Forget Bluetooth, that’s not going to give you what this offers.

We were sent this one by the folks at MiniDisc Australia – without whom, we probably would never have known it existed. This kinda gear lives in the audiophile world, a world of high expense and high appreciation for music and sound.

We’re talking lossless audio here. You’d better have a Tidal Subscription or a library of files you’ve collected – because most of your streaming just won’t cut it.

I’ve gotta say, it was mind-blowingly good. A clarity of sound I haven’t heard from a mobile phone. Rich, deep, crisp, hearing things in songs that have passed me by over many years. I get it. I do.

It’s almost rude of me to even try to unpack the sound quality here, but it’s real – very real.

What I will say is that at $299 the MagSafe attachment of the Khadas Tea to my phone had me as worried as I was with the MagSafe wallet potentially holding my cash at a simple magnetic attachment. Very. But I don’t anticipate this one being used when out running, this is for sitting back in your home library, enjoying music, or relaxing on holidays, or on a plane. This is for times you can’t bring your expensive amplifier and record collection with you.

This is next level.

Ideal for the true audiophile who shuns the smartphone music generation. Now you can be one of them.

Buy: $299 at MiniDisc Australia