What

Khadas Tea Pro Review: Two Minute Review

The Khadas Tea Pro headphone amplifier is a slim and lightweight external DAC/amp that works on most devices – iOS, Android, Mac, Windows and Linux – and is particularly suitable for smartphones equipped with MagSafe or magnetic cases.

The Tea Pro connects via USB-C and provides balanced 4.4mm and stereo 3.5mm outputs, with support for PCM and DSD512 audio up to 768kHz. It also has a Bluetooth 5.4 input with aptX HD, aptX Adaptive and LDAC as well as the obligatory SBC and AAC. The built-in battery promises up to 8 hours of CD-quality listening over USB-C and 11 hours using AAC over Bluetooth.

Although there is Bluetooth on board up to 96kHz PCM, for best results you want to use this device as a wired DAC/amp. Bluetooth performance isn’t bad by any means, but the Tea Pro offers higher-resolution audio via USB-C.

FiiO TT13 review: price and release date

• Released August 2025
• Priced at $199 / £199 (around AU$375)

The Khadas Tea Pro launched in August 2025 at a recommended price of $199 / £199 (around AU$375) and is available with a choice of two cables: USB-C to USB-C or Lightning to USB-C for older iPhones and iPads. Although it’s twice as expensive as the original and well-received Tea, it’s a very significant upgrade with significantly better sound quality, better Bluetooth, a built-in display, and more headphone options.

Khadas Tea Pro review: features

• MagSafe Attachment
• Bluetooth or USB-C
• Excellent high-resolution support

While it’s compatible with almost anything with a USB port, the Tea Pro is clearly aimed at MagSafe iPhones (starting with the iPhone 12) or phones in magnetic cases. This allows it to clip securely to the back of your phone and provides a solid connection both directly and through a compatible phone case.

There are two headphone jacks here: a balanced 4.4mm output delivering up to 180mW at 16.5Ω and a 3.5mm jack delivering up to 100mW at 16.5Ω. There is also a built-in microphone for voice calls. If you have headphones with their own mic connected to the 3.5mm jack, the headset mic will take priority over the Tea Pro mic.

The ESS ES9039Q2M DAC supports sampling rates up to 768 kHz PCM and DSD512, with a signal-to-noise ratio of up to 122 dB. A Qualcomm QCC5181 supports wireless features, with support for SBC/AAC/aptX/aptX Adaptive/aptX HD/LDAC over Bluetooth 5.4.

There are seven EQ presets for different music genres, and you can also set your own EQ via the 10-band custom EQ. This provides adjustable gain from -12 dB to +12 dB.

The internal battery is 2,100 mAh and promises up to 11 hours of listening time depending on the audio format you use: 11 hours with AAC via Bluetooth and 8 hours of CD audio via USB-C. The Tea Pro can also charge from your phone when its battery is low if you enable device charging in its settings menu.

Features rating: 5/5

Khadas Tea Pro test: sound quality

• Good in Bluetooth, better in USB
• Wide soundstage and good clarity
• It’s best to ignore EQ presets

The Tea Pro delivers a neutral sound, and with high gain, it delivers impressive propulsion performance on my open-back BeyerDynamics; I would have liked to push them a little harder, but the power is more than sufficient for reasonable listening levels. The bass is generally clear and well-defined and the highs are airy without being harsh, and things only started to get uncomfortable when the iPhone and Tea Pro were at their highest volume levels on very bright or bassy tracks.

As fun as the Tea Pro is over Bluetooth, it’s even better with a USB-C connection. It’s stronger, more defined and roomier, like Robyn’s. Dopamine offering more punch than via wireless. There’s a nice wide soundstage, with tracks like the remastered U2 Zoo Station sounding like widescreen and Talk Talk’s New grass offering impressive lightness.

The Tea Pro is very good for a portable DAC/amp, although I noticed a difference on tracks like Little Simz and Obongjayar’s Point and kill this showed the relative lack of headroom compared to a desktop device: on my desktop DAC/amp, the serpentine bass was noticeably clearer and more distinct, the whole track seemed much airier, whereas on the Tea Pro the bass was less defined and the track a bit boxy. I found the built-in EQ presets made this more apparent, dampening the sound. I much preferred leaving the EQ completely off on my best headphones, although I had to cut the treble for IEM listening to reduce the harshness they are prone to.

Sound quality: 4/5

Khadas Tea Pro review: design

• Very apple-like appearance
• A small screen in a big piece of glass
• A bit tricky when mounted magnetically

The Tea Pro is a beautiful thing. It has a decidedly Apple look, with a very thin 7.85mm machined aluminum body, curved edges, and two large sections of black glass: the status display area, which looks large but contains a fairly small 0.95-inch AMOLED display, and a smaller diamond displaying the Tea logo. This bottom pad is both functional and decorative, as it ensures that your phone won’t wobble when you place it on a desk or other flat surface.

Buttons are kept to a minimum. On the left, there’s a power button and a menu/confirmation button, and on the right, volume up and down controls. The Tea Pro’s slim size makes them a little difficult to access when the device is connected to your phone, but it’s not impossible. This is no problem if you connect with the included 10cm USB-C cable.

Inevitably, adding a magnetic element to your phone adds weight, but the Tea Pro isn’t too bad: at 96g, it’s lighter than Apple’s similarly sized MagSafe power bank.

Design rating: 4/5

Khadas Tea Pro review: ease of use and setup

• Simple pairing/connection
• Simple menu system
• Small text displayed

Pairing via Bluetooth is effortless and the menu system is simple: it gives you access to filters, EQ, high and low gain options, device settings, headphone options, and more. However, the text is exceptionally small, so it’s handy that you can also access the settings via the companion iOS/Android app.

Usability and configuration rating: 4/5

Khadas Tea Pro Review: Value

• Great sound and premium appearance
• Expensive for a portable DAC
• Some competitors are more powerful and much cheaper

It’s clear that part of the price here is the aluminum body and heavy use of glass: competing DACs/headphone amps cost much less but look and feel much less special. If you’re willing to pay more for solid construction and a sleek look, then this is a good choice with excellent iPhone attachment and good compatibility with other devices as well.

Value rating: 3/5

Should I buy Khadas Tea Pro?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Khadas Tea Pro Review: Also Consider

The Cassette 15-themed FiiO KA is cute, fun, sounds great, and costs half the price of the Tea Pro, offering both 3.5mm and balanced 4.4mm outputs with a desktop mode that produces much higher power than the Tea Pro can deliver. The iFi Go Link 2 is even cheaper and especially good if all you want to do is add wired headphones to a USB-C device like a phone or tablet.

How I tested Khadas Tea Pro

• Open and Closed Wired Headphones and IEMs
• Lossy streaming, lossless FLAC and Logic Pro projects

I spent a week listening to the Tea Pro through my usual headphones: BeyerDynamic DT990 Pro open headphones and DT770 closed headphones at home and at work, and IEM SoundMagic E11C outdoors and on public transport. I listened to lossy and lossless streaming and uncompressed FLAC on my iPhone 16 Pro.

• First revision: May 2026
• Read TechRadar Reviews Guarantee

Donor

Writer, broadcaster, musician, and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about technology since 1998, providing sage advice and weird opinions to all manner of magazines and websites, and penning over twenty books. His latest, a love letter to music called Small Town Joy, is on sale now. She is the lead singer of the spectacularly obscure Glasgow rock band Unquiet Mind.

Related