Well, the Truly Wireless Earbuds market is soaring, and every imaginable brand is making them today. A trend that was started Apple has even engulfed the legacy audio brands. We now have Skullcandy jumping into the budget segment with a bunch of offerings.
The one we have is the Skullcandy Dime, the company’s cheapest pair of TWS buds in the country. During sales, these go for INR 2,399, which, compared to other offerings, can look a bit too much, but it carries the Skullcandy DNA. So should you look at the Skullcandy Dime as your next pair of TWS Buds? Let’s find out in our review.
Skullcandy Dime TWS Features
Here are some essential specifications and features of the device.
- Bluetooth Version – 5.0
- Drivers – 6mm Dynamic Drivers
- Controls – Buttons
- Earbud Weight – 4g
- Claimed Battery Life – Up to 3.5 Hours/ Up to 12 hours with the case
- Number of Microphones – 2 (each side)
- Rating – IPX4
Package Contents
- Skullcandy Dime TWS
- Extra Eartips
- Quick Start Guide
- Charging Case
- microUSB charging cable
Design
Coming in from a legacy audio brand, the Dime sport a very distinctive look. The entire construction is done in plastic, and the buds are offered in six colors in total. The case is shaped like a car’s remote and has a matte finish which comes in handy to hide all the scuffs and smudges.
The signature Skullcandy branding on the buds is visible through the case lid, which has slits on it. These also are the physical buttons that are used to control the various operations on the buds. This is the very first time we have seen such a design on a pair of TWS. The lid offers a satisfying click when opening or closing the case. The buds have a large housing that carries the drivers and battery while getting a shorter stem to fit the logic board.
The buds themselves are lightweight, and though there aren’t any official figures, we suspect they are a bit shy of 4g each. There are status LEDs on the stem of the buds, which lets you know the pairing status. While the overall design is unique, what is offputting to us is microUSB as the charging port.
Performance
The pairing process is straightforward. As soon as the buds are taken out of the case, they get into the pairing mode, which happens for the first boot. These come with a 6mm dynamic driver on each side, which somewhat upholds the Skullcandy name. The controls here are handled by pressing the Skull logo on either earbud.
A single press on either bud plays or pauses the tracks; to skip forward away, you need to hold the right earbud button down for one second. Volume is controlled with two taps— volume up on the right ear or down on the left ear. Voice assistants are summoned with three taps, and a single press answers an incoming call. The Dime comes with all the basic codes like SBC and AAC.
Since these have an in-ear design, the passive noise isolation is sound due to that grip. For the perfect seal, we would recommend going through all the size eartips included in the package one by one to find the ideal fit. While we would have liked the presence of ANC or ENC here and the Type-C port, something familiar even on cheap TWS buds right now.
They have a bass-heavy sound signature which is usually the case with budget Skullcandy products. The sound signature is perfect for listening to EDM and similar genres of music and will be particularly enjoyed by Indian audiences. Although these have impressive lows and balanced highs, vocals are crisp on them for the most part. Overall the sound stage is flat, which is the case with most earbuds these days. During our brief testing period, we were left impressed by the microphone performance, to the point that these could be best under INR 3,000 buds to have a decent mic.
As for the battery life, the claimed figure for the buds is 3.5 hours, and the total with the case is 12 hours. In our tests, we found these figures somewhat accurate. With the volume level set to 50%, the Dime lasted for a little over 3 hours, while the total usage time with the case came out to 10 hours. Both the buds and the case took about 2 hours for a full top-up.
