Although it is Skullcandy’s second cheapest line of wireless headphones, Dime has attracted great attention from users. This line of headphones is small and very convenient so that they can follow the user anywhere. By 2023, this product line has reached its third version – continuing to promote the exterior design advantages of previous generations, as well as continuing to improve internal technology.
The box of the headset is quite small, with a very prominent orange tone. The front has the important features of the headset printed, including 20 hours of use, IPX4 water resistance and environmental listening feature (crosstalk).
All technology brands today are aiming to protect the environment, so there are no rubber bags in the Dime 3 box, the ear cushions are tucked into the hard paper inside.
Besides 3 sets of different sized rubber cushions, Dime 3 also has a short USB-C charging cord. The headphone accessories are all printed with Skullcandy’s signature skull logo, and are also ‘private parcel’ products, not accessories like other brands.
Overall, this pair of headphones does not have too many changes in external design. We still have a very compact pair of headphones from the earpiece to the charging box, with a matte plastic finish to prevent dirt and fingerprints.
The most noticeable difference is that the key chain is made of a large piece of fabric, which is also a more prominent orange color than the black of the previous version.
A great upgrade: Dime 3 uses a USB-C port instead of the micro USB of generation 2. This is a more popular charging standard today, and can share charging cords with smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
Headphones must be said to be ‘tiny’! Dime 3 still follows the headphone design with a tail, but the tail is made very short and the bulge is not too large.
Another change in the design of the headset is that the button on the outside, instead of being a small, hard-to-press ‘dot’, has become the entire back. The company also calibrated the pressing force quite moderately, hard enough to not accept any action if you raise your hand to adjust the position of the headset, but also soft enough to not feel like you are ‘pressing the headset deep into your ear’.
With a neat design, as well as an affordable price, Dime 3 doesn’t have too many special design details. The entire headset is made in the same color, with a small skull logo on the back to know that these are Skullcandy headphones!
The headphones have an IPX4 water resistance standard to better withstand the weather, but you should not leave the headphones wet for too long and especially do not immerse the headphones in water.
In terms of technology, Dime 3 has increased usage time to 20 hours (8 + 12 hours) compared to only 12 hours (3.5 + 8.5 hours) of the previous generation. This is still not a very outstanding battery life on the market today, but it has also overcome a pretty big weakness of previous generations!
Besides, the headset also has crosstalk mode to quickly communicate with people around without having to take off the headset, multi-point connection capability and Tile search technology. Because this is a pair of headphones that can be hooked to a key chain, we can also use the Tile feature to search for the key chain in case it is lost, replacing the task of Apple Tag, quite cool!
In terms of sound reproduction, the Dime line, including the Dime 3, is not a line of super deep bass or clear V-shape headphones like other products from Skullcandy. Instead, the company equipped this pair of headphones with a more mixed sound quality, although still rich and warm to create excitement for the music. The bass has just the right amount of bass – and for those of you who are familiar with Skullcandy’s sound quality, it will be a bit lacking.
It still creates a highlight because the mid-bass is powerful, but you shouldn’t expect too much that the drums in Pop and Hip Hop can go deep, harshly and create a super explosive atmosphere!
Modulating the bass range will also have advantages in reproducing the mid range. Dime 3’s mid is not bright at all, but it is placed in the most ‘prime’ location so it is clear and coherent. The female singer’s voice in the song Light It Up is quite clean, the level of detail is not surprising, but it is also at the ’round and clear’ level. This type of sound, as mentioned, can be heard very well, but to go deeper into each genre of music, it will lack the personality and excitement of the more expensive TWS headphones from Skullcandy as well as other other brands.
Of course, if you feel that Dime 3’s sound quality is not ‘sufficient’, you can use more EQ. With Dime 3, I feel that presets that increase bass, or increase both low and high (V-shape) will bring the sound quality more into the ‘right orbit’ of Skullcandy, creating a dynamic atmosphere but will also be a bit dull ‘lost’ if listening to slow music like Jazz, Fold, Ballad…
Skullcandy Dime 3 In-Ear Wireless Earbuds, 20 Hr Battery, Microphone, Works with iPhone Android and Bluetooth Devices – Bone/Orange Glow: Buy it now
A more complete product
To look at it overall, the two upgrades I think are most interesting about Dime 3 compared to the previous generation are the sharp increase in usage time and the switch to using the USB-C standard. In fact, these two upgrades are very useful, making the battery and charging experience of the headset much more comfortable than the Dime 2. Besides, the price of the headset has not changed compared to the previous version, so it will definitely continue to be another successful product line from Skullcandy!
