How Small Are the Best 2026 FiiO Dongle DACs?

How small is small?

It can be tough to tell from photos, with limited ways to reference the size of items. For portable DACs, the more compact they are, the easier it is to use them daily and the more time you will spend listening with them.

Here at the Motet Distribution (fiiocanada.ca) office, we lined up all these popular FiiO portable DACs for a size comparison, so you can see just how small - or not - they really are. 

The KA1 is on its way out (still currently available in the Outlet section). As you can see in the photos, its is a different shape from the smoother new KA11, but it is just as compact! It is incredibly small, and uses an excellent DAC chip too.

The KA11 is sleek, tiny and also barely there in use, perfect for a tablet with a side usb jack. These run pretty warm in use and its totally normal - we have many here, use them often and they are meant to run warm. 

The FiiO KA3 steps up a size, since it has both 3.5mm and Balanced 4.4mm outputs, so the body is wider. It also has an RGB indicator light, glowing white, blue, green or red to indicate the bitrate of the music it is receiving.

The newest and best FiiO portable DAC is the FiiO QX13 Dongle DAC, with its larger body and colour screen. This jumps up in dac quality, power and audio quality. There are 3 click buttons below the screen, an EQ in the app, vu meters and a variety of themes for the display. A slim case is included as well!

We included the FiiO BTR17 here more for size comparison. It adds bluetooth input so it does not need a usb connection, but the housing is considerably larger than the QX13. It is still palm sized, fitting in any pocket or small space in a bag. 

BTR17 can be a flexible option for some who do not want anything connected to their phone. With a newer android phone, connecting over LDAC bluetooth to your phone, the performance is excellent, and you can use it wired when you choose as well, so this can be a great option to a higher end wired DAC.