Skullcandy Dime review: compact, powerful, cheap
A TEST REPORT from Nils Ahrensmeier 
on April 13, 2021, 10:00 p.m. | Write a comment
With the Skullcandy Dime, the American headphone specialist "Skullcandy" brings affordable TWS to the European market. We tested them.
The Skullcandy Dime are simply designed. The headphones are small and therefore ultra-compact. This also applies to the case, which can be attached to a bunch of keys with a lanyard. The compactness is also reflected in the weight, at 28 grams the case is very light. The headphones are in the "AirPods Pro“ design, which makes the headphones appear unobtrusive.
Furthermore, the processing is according to the price. The case is closed by a magnet, which ensures that the headphones do not fall out. This makes it harder to open. Plastic is used as the material, which does not feel very high quality considering the price.
The Skullcandy Dime are reminiscent of the AirPods Pro, this leads to a very good wearing comfort. (Picture: TechnikNews)
Jump to section
Wear comfort and sound of the Skullcandy Dime
Due to the compact design, the headphones sit very well and firmly in the ear. The first ear tips fit well (at least for me) and don't squeeze. The headphones do not have active noise cancellation (if you want some from Skullcandy with ANC, you can do my test with the Indy A.N.C. read), but due to the tight fit, the TWS shield a lot of noise.
What is most convincing for the price is the sound and that is ultimately the most important. Despite the small size, the headphones are well balanced, but according to the brand, the bass is slightly emphasized. In terms of audio codes, the headphones only offer SBC; especially with video games and videos, this leads to a small offset between image and sound.
But that doesn't matter when listening to music. The bass itself is strong and goes deep. Outstanding with such cheap headphones and especially with hip-hop and pop songs, this leads to a pleasant listening experience. At higher volume, however, noise can be heard in the highs. There was none on the phone Probleme, my interlocutors could understand me well. For the price, however, the sound experience is impressive.
The Skullcandy Dime sit very firmly and protectively in the ear. (Image: TechnikNews)
The headphones offer few features, but this is also in line with the price. The headphones can, however, be controlled via a button on the TWS. A single press on one of the two TWS stops or starts the music or accepts or ends a call. Holding the button down briefly jumps to the next title on the right-hand side and one title back on the left-hand side. Press it twice to decrease or increase the volume. The voice assistant (i.e. Siri or the Google Assistant) can be started by pressing it three times.
The operation basically works very well, but pressing is sometimes difficult. Either the headphones are pressed into my ears or I have to hold on to the headphones. At least this means that the input is accurate; incorrect inputs are usually present on touch surfaces. With IPX4, the TWS are also protected against splashing water (sweat) on all sides. So suitable for sport.
send email now
The connection is made via Bluetooth 5.0, this ensures a very stable connection. I did not have any crashes during my test period of about two weeks. The headphones are booted into pairing mode after being charged for the first time and removed from the case, and the headphones are then displayed in the Bluetooth settings. These can be switched off by long pressing the button on the TWS or by placing it in the case.
The headphones support both stereo (both headphones) and a mono mode (only one). So far, this has not been a matter of course with cheap TWS.
Battery
The battery is probably the biggest criticism for me. The headphones only last about three hours (and a few minutes), which quickly wears off with many video conferences. The case also charges for about an hour using an outdated micro-USB cable. This is included, but is relatively small. In the case, the headphones are recharged approx. 2½ times, resulting in a battery life of 11 ½ hours. If you only use the headphones “from time to time”, you won’t Proproblems, but the headphones are not intended for many video conferences.
The Skullcandy Dime unfortunately still use the old Micro-USB standard. (Image: TechnikNews)
Conclusion
The Skullcandy Dime offer a lot of headphones for just 39,99 euros. They are small, light and therefore very compact. My headphones also sit very well and block out a lot of noise. To promise an "ANC-Lite". The sound is very good for comparatively cheap headphones and the buttons on the headphones also allow extensive control. However, the battery suffers from its compactness; with three hours of battery life, long video conferences are not possible (without charging in between). The connection remained stable; the audio codecs with low latency are only missing for watching a lot of films or mobile gaming. But if you want cheap and wireless headphones for listening to music or just very compact earphones, the Skullcandy Dime gives you attractive TWS in terms of price / performance.
- The Skullcandy Dime buy
We would like to thank Skullcandy for providing the test device. This did not affect the test result.
