Skullcandy Dime 3 True Wireless Headphones Review

The Skullcandy Dime 3 look similar to the Skullcandy Dime 2 True Wireless. They have a simple, sleek design with a brand logo positioned high up on each stem. They come in two colorways: 'True Black' and 'Bone'. Skullcandy also announced a limited edition selection of 'Acid Snow Camo' colorways to celebrate their 20th anniversary, which feature a camouflage patterned design in 'Black', 'Slate', 'Meta Mauve' and 'Dark Moss'.

The Skullcandy Dime 3 are reasonably comfortable. They come with three differently sized ear-tips to help you achieve a comfortable fit. They have a deep in-ear fit, which can put pressure on your ear, though, especially when you use the controls. It's also easy to accidentally hit the controls while re-adjusting the fit. Try the Anker Soundcore P25i/P20i True Wireless if you want more comfortable, wallet-friendly buds. The JBL Vibe Buds True Wireless also have a similar style but are more comfortable too.

The controls are decent. They're clicky and responsive in a similar way to the Skullcandy Dime 2 True Wireless. There's audible feedback upon connecting, pairing, or disconnecting and audio prompts for changing the EQ mode or hitting maximum and minimum volume. Unfortunately, due to the deep in-ear fit, pressing the controls can press the buds against your ear canals, which can be uncomfortable. The controls could also be more intuitive: it takes a lot of clicks to input simple commands like decreasing the volume, and there's no default command for skipping tracks. On the bright side, you can input controls from either earbud.

On either earbud:

• Single press: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and ends a call.
• Double press: Increases the volume.

• Triple press: Decreases the volume.

• Press four times: Toggles between different EQ modes (Music, Bass Boost, Podcast).
• Press and hold: Toggles Stay-Aware (talk-through) mode on/off.

• Press and hold for one second: Activates your device's voice assistant.

• Press and hold for six seconds: Resets pairing list.

These earbuds are very portable. They have a lightweight design and take up minimal space. Even when they're housed in their small carrying case, you can easily stash them in a bag or coat pocket.

They come with a good, lightweight carry case with a braided strap so you can easily attach it to a keychain. There are two openings where you can place the buds. The buds stick out of these openings somewhat, and an LED light on each stem lights up to indicate they're charging.

Like the other earbuds in the Dime series, they have a good build quality. They're made of dense, durable-feeling plastic and certified IPX4 for resistance against water splashes. However, the clicking mechanism used to input controls on the stem feels a little flimsy, and the ear tips feel weak and prone to damage over time.

These buds have good stability. Once you get a good fit, they'll stay in place during moderate exercise, so you don't need to worry about them falling out while jogging around the block or listening at home.

• Skullcandy Dime 3 earbuds
• Charging case
• USB-C to USB-A charging cable
• 3x tip size options
• Manuals

The Skullcandy Dime 3 have a fairly neutral sound profile, with a warm bass that doesn't overwhelm mid-range instruments. Their treble range reproduction is slightly overemphasized and helps bring out detail in voices and lead instruments, though a sharp peak in the mid-treble can make sibilants sound bright. While you can't adjust the sound profile via an app, you can cycle through three EQ presets (Music, Bass Boost, and Podcast) using the integrated controls.

The Skullcandy Dime 3 have amazing frequency response consistency. Once you get a good seal with the included eartips, you'll experience consistent audio delivery every time you use them.

The headphones have remarkable bass compliance. The response is almost flat across the entire range, giving your audio plenty of thump and rumble. Users who need a bit more bass can activate the 'Bass Boost' EQ mode to add some extra boom to their mixes.

Their mid-range target compliance is superb. The response is quite flat across the entire range. While a slight dip in the low-mids thins out vocals slightly, they still have plenty of detail and clarity. On tracks like Shania Twain's That Don't Impress Me Much, both the electric guitar and the lead vocals sound balanced and present in the choruses amid dense layers of pop production.

The treble target compliance is outstanding. Most of the range is balanced, but there's a peak in the mid-treble that adds brightness and sizzle to sibilants, which can sometimes be piercing.

These earbuds have an amazing peaks and dips performance. They generally follow their own sound profile well across the bass and mid-range regions, but a couple of peaks in the low- and mid-treble can make sibilants, like S and T sounds, a little harsh and piercing. The drivers are also slightly mismatched in the bass region, as well as the low- and mid-treble areas. This can make audio can feel a touch lopsided at times.

The Skullcandy Dime 3 have a great imaging performance. Most of the Skullcandy headphones we've tested have had a good imaging performance, which indicates the manufacturer's quality control and ergonomics. Our unit's weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold, resulting in tight bass and transparent highs. The left and right drivers are reasonably well-matched in amplitude and frequency, but there's some phase mismatch in the mid-range. While this is difficult to hear in real-life content, it can make it harder to perceive where voices and instruments are coming from within the stereo image. That said, imaging performance tends to vary between units.

These buds have an awful passive soundstage performance, which is normal from in-ear headphones. In-ear designs allow for very little interaction with the outer ear, resulting in a soundstage lacking the immersive quality of open-back headphones. Audio seems like it's coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed around you.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance is good. While there are a few peaks in the high-bass and low-treble at normal listening levels, they'll be tough to hear for anyone who's not an astute audiophile. Otherwise, all frequencies fall within good limits, and the resulting audio reproduction is clean and pure.

These are the settings used to test these headphones; our results are only valid in this configuration.

The Skullcandy Dime 3 have an alright noise isolation performance. They don't have ANC, but their in-ear design provides a degree of passive isolation, which can help block out higher-frequency sounds like fridge hum along with some mid-range sounds like background conversations. However, they offer very little isolation against bass-range noise like engine rumble.

These headphones do a sub-par job of blocking out everyday sounds, but that's to be expected since they don't have ANC. Bass-range sounds, in particular, will make their way into your audio, so these aren't a good choice for using on a train or plane. They'll fare better in an office, where the mid-range chatter of your colleagues and the high-pitched whine of a nearby fan are noticeably reduced.

They have an outstanding leakage performance. Even at high volumes, the level of leaked audio is very low and concentrated in the treble range, where it sounds tinny. Even if you're cranking your tunes in the office, others around you won't be able to hear what you're playing.

The integrated mic's recording quality is disappointing. While your voice is understandable, it lacks body and sounds distant.

The mic has an alright noise handling performance. These buds use AI-assisted technology to help isolate your voice against background noise and this means their performance is better than their predecessor in this regard. This technology does a great job of tackling consistent sound, like background chatter at the office. However, your voice will easily be drowned out if you're in a place with loud, inconsistent noise, like on a busy street.

The Skullcandy Dime 3 have a satisfactory battery performance. The manufacturer advertises eight hours of continuous battery life, with two additional charges from the case. We measured slightly more than this, but battery life tends to vary based on use. The manufacturer claims the quick-charge feature will add two hours of battery life with a quick ten-minute charge. You can even play audio from one bud while the other one charges. Frustratingly, these buds lack the power-saving features found in the Skullcandy Dime 2 True Wireless, so they won't turn off automatically after a certain amount of inactivity.

These earbuds are incompatible with the Skullcandy app but are compatible with the Tile app, which you can use to locate your buds if you lose them.

You can only use these headphones wirelessly. They come with a USB-A to USB-C cable to charge their carrying case.

Their Bluetooth performance is very good. While they don't support Google Quick Pair or Microsoft Swift Pair, these buds feature multi-device pairing, allowing you to pair with up to two devices via Bluetooth. Latency via the default SBC codec is quite high, so your audio and video will be out of sync when watching videos. They also support AAC codec, which is an alternative to SBC and offers slightly better audio quality. However, you'll be disappointed if you want to stream hi-res audio with these earbuds since they don't support codecs like aptX Adaptive or LDAC, which are designed for this purpose.

These buds are only compatible with Bluetooth-enabled PCs. You can't connect them in any other way.

The Skullcandy Dime 3 come with a lightweight charging case that carries roughly two additional charges. You can charge the case using the included USB-A to USB-C cable. Sadly, it can't charge wirelessly.