via Skullcandy
Skullcandy’s Dime wireless earbuds are a simple and basic, yet powerful, pair of earbuds that are ideal for the gym or runs. If you aren’t looking for flashy features and just want something that will stay in your ear with a low profile, light weight, and decent looks — all with excellent quality audio, these earbuds are what you’re looking for.
They aren’t expensive, and they shouldn’t be. For “true wireless” headphones, these are one of the better bang-for-your-buck options out there in the market.
Initial Impressions
Right out of the box, the first thing I noticed was their simplicity. There is nothing extra about them. Their build quality is about what you would expect for a low price pair. The packaging is compact, they come with a charging case as most true wireless earbuds do, an extremely short microUSB charging cable (which I find rather inconvenient), and of course the earbuds themselves.
The case itself is made of plastic that snaps closed but also seems to have magnets helping to hold it together, which is great for protecting the earbuds if you were to drop them. Because of this, the case definitely has no problem staying closed when it needs to, which is something I’ve found that some other similar earbuds struggle with.
They have a shape similar to that of the AirPod Pros, but a bit larger.
Fit/Comfortability
For long periods of listening, these are definitely not your go-to, and it’s not only because of their battery life. After about 2.5-3 hours of nonstop listening, they began to feel a little bit uncomfortable, which conveniently lined up with them starting to run low on battery.
For a 45-120 minute work out session or run? They do great. No complaints there, which is why that’s one of the only uses I would recommend them for.
The fit is pretty solid as well, I can’t complain much about their “noise isolating” fit. It does its job as advertised. Despite not having ANC (active noise-cancelling) I found that they were doing a great job blocking out the various sounds at the gym while I was trying to focus, even on lower volume.
They are sweat-proof and water resistant, but as I began to sweat I found that the right side earbud wanted to keep falling out, even when I wasn’t moving my head much.
It seems that clenching your jaw combined with a little bit of sweat makes it hard for them to remain in. However, I am not entirely sure if this is due more to the earbuds or the shape of my ear canal. Either way, it’s undoubtedly important that you use the proper size of ear gel to help them stay in.
Sound Quality
For a small pair of completely wireless earbuds for under $30, the sound quality of the Skullcandy Dime earbuds is undeniably fantastic. There’s plenty of bass involved and in general the whole spectrum of frequency sounds very clear.
There were never any problems with skipping, and it seems to me that the overall quality is comparable to that of higher end earbuds like my own Samsung Galaxy Buds. As mentioned before, the noise isolating capabilities are also satisfactory solely due to the seal that the earbuds create with your ear canal.
On low volume they do well to help you focus, and for a small pair of headphones, they can get impressively loud for the most intense jam session. Without a doubt, you get more than you pay for as far as sound quality.
Features
Skullcandy advertises the earbuds to be IPX4 water resistant. This means that they will have no problem handling sweat or rain, and might even be okay if you wanted to wear them in the shower but I wouldn’t suggest trying it. If that appeals to you, definitely do more research on that before deciding to take that risk.
The earbuds also have built in microphones for phone calls, a flashing light to display the status of the earbuds when you are charging or pairing, and a button on each earphone to do various things like pausing and playing music without using your connected device.
The buds also have a nice auto connect feature that I didn’t expect which allows them to connect to your phone automatically upon removing them from their charging case.
Pitfalls
For their price, I really can’t complain too much at all about these headphones. There’s no question that they are a great value. However I do have a couple small criticisms of these.
The microphone quality seems to be a slight issue. When talking on the phone with them in-ear, I have no problems hearing, but on the one phone call I did have I was having trouble being heard. Now in my opinion, you’re lucky to even have a microphone on these earbuds, so it’s not a big red flag on these specifically.
Another small issue is the buttons. Now this is just personal preference, but the buttons are rather tactile and difficult to press in comparison to my Galaxy Buds which only require a tap on the surface to perform a function. You can still easily use the buttons while they are in your ear but you definitely have to apply some pressure.
As I discussed previously, the battery life and comfortability over long periods are my two final issues with the earbuds. By no means are they unmanageable, but if you want to use them during a long session of cramming at the library, there are probably better options out there for you.
Final Thoughts
In summary, if you’re just looking for an inexpensive pair of headphones that will get you through the gym with powerful audio quality and above average noise isolation, the Skullcandy Dime Earbuds are a dominant choice. For under $30, with a decent style and from a well-known brand, you can’t really ask for much more out of them.
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