Skullcandy Dime 3

Skullcandy Dime 3

By Skullcandy · Budget Wireless Earbuds · Audio & Electronics

  • 6mm driver diameter, 16Ω ± 15% impedance, 104dB ± 3dB SPL, 20Hz - 20KHz frequency response
  • Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint pairing to two devices
  • 20 hours total battery (8 hours in buds, 12 hours in case)

Lowest price seen
~$29.99 (approx.)
from $29.99 at Amazon

Prices are snapshots. Check the current price with the store.

Problems, parts and running costs

Summary

A budget true-wireless earbud with multipoint, a pass-through mode, Tile tracking and three EQ presets, but no companion app at all. Check the controls and your main use first: there is no app for EQ or firmware updates, and the microphone is only reliable indoors.

Strengths

  • Multipoint to two devices, a Stay-Aware pass-through mode and built-in Tile finding are rare at this price.
  • Bass is powerful without distorting at higher volumes in Music and Bass Boost modes (PCMag).
  • Tom’s Guide rated it among the best cheap wireless earbuds, praising call quality and the EQ presets.
  • The case is one of the smallest SoundGuys has measured, and the fit is light and secure.
  • IPX4 on the buds, solo-bud use and three EQ presets add flexibility for the money.

Weaknesses

  • No companion app, so the three presets are the only EQ, controls cannot be remapped and firmware cannot be updated.
  • SoundGuys measured 6 h 48 min of battery against the 8 h claim.
  • Passive isolation scored 1.0 out of 10, in the bottom 10 % of SoundGuys’ catalogue, and there is no ANC.
  • The microphone is fine indoors but muffled on high frequencies and unusable in wind.
  • Owners report the buds not powering off or charging reliably in the case, especially when the case is drained.
  • The controls need eight memorised press combinations, with no track skip and no app to change them.

Verified specifications

ModelS2DCW-R740, released September 2023.
Drivers6 mm. Impedance: 16 Ω ± 15 %. Sound pressure level: 104 dB ± 3 dB. Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz. THD: under 3 %.
Bluetooth5.3, with multipoint pairing to two devices.
Rated battery20 h total, 8 h in the buds and 12 h in the case; a 10-minute charge returns 2 h of playback.
Measured battery6 h 48 min in the buds (SoundGuys) and about 7.5 h (Tom’s Guide).
ChargingUSB-C; the buds fill in about 1 hour and the case in about 2.5 hours (SoundGuys).
Water resistanceIPX4 on the buds only; the case carries no rating.
Weight34 g for the earbuds and case together.
Case dimensions59 × 39 × 23 mm (2.33 × 1.55 × 0.90 in), about 0.91 oz.
Earbuds1.06 × 0.77 × 0.73 in, 0.14 oz each.
Ear tipssilicone in three sizes, 11 mm to 14 mm.
EQthree fixed presets, Music, Bass Boost and Podcast.
FeaturesStay-Aware pass-through, built-in Tile finding, Clear Voice Smart Mic, sidetone, and use either bud solo.
Controlsphysical buttons, with no track-skip control and no remapping.
CodecSBC is the best-supported reading; Apple’s AAC is not confirmed.
Warranty1-year limited in the US.
In the boxearbuds, charging case, ear gels S/M/L, USB-C cable, user guide.
Full research notes and sources

Features and the missing app

What separates the Dime 3 from other budget earbuds is what it includes, not how it sounds. Multipoint pairing to two devices, a Stay-Aware pass-through mode and built-in Tile finding are all confirmed on Skullcandy’s own pages, and the multipoint rules are documented: starting playback on one device pauses the other, and a call on the second device takes priority.

The consequential decision is that there is no app. Skullcandy’s support page says the Dime 3 will not pair with the Skullcandy app or the Skull-iQ app. That means the three presets are the only EQ you get, the button scheme cannot be remapped, and firmware updates are impossible. There is also no track-skip control, and wear detection is disputed: Tom’s Guide lists none, while a SoundGuys spec table says auto pause is present. PCMag judged the control layout unreasonable to memorise, and SoundGuys described it as eight combinations that must be learned by heart.

Battery, charging and the case

Skullcandy rates 20 hours total, 8 in the buds and 12 in the case, with a 10-minute charge returning 2 hours. In practice SoundGuys measured 6 hours 48 minutes of continuous playback and Tom’s Guide about 7.5 hours, so plan around the lower number. SoundGuys timed about 1 hour to charge the buds and 2.5 hours for the case.

The documented catch is the case. Skullcandy’s own troubleshooting notes that a fully drained case means the buds will not register being placed in it, will not power off and will not power on when removed. That is the mechanism behind the most-corroborated owner complaint. Leaf&Core reported the same problem and saw total life fall to 14 hours partly because buds were draining while seated in the case, and a one-second press-and-hold is the fix Skullcandy offers when the buds or case will not charge. Threads in r/Skullcandy and r/Earbuds collect reports of the same auto-on and auto-off behaviour and of poor pairing. Reddit blocks direct reading, so these are search-result excerpts, and nobody has published a failure rate; treat the case behaviour as a known annoyance to test in your first week.

Sound, isolation and the microphone

The sound is bass-forward rather than neutral. SoundGuys’ measured curve sits above its preference curve from about 2 kHz to 10 kHz and rolls off sharply above 16 kHz, and it scored the earbuds 6.6/10. PCMag found the low end powerful but free of distortion at higher levels and the mids crisp. Leaf&Core was much harsher, rating the sound 3/10 for compressed mids and highs. Treat the split as a difference in expectations at this price rather than a fault.

Two measured weaknesses matter more than the tuning. Passive isolation scored 1.0 out of 10, in the bottom 10 % of the 254 earbuds SoundGuys has catalogued, and there is no active noise cancellation, so these are not earbuds for loud places. The microphone is the other weak point: fine indoors on PCMag’s test, but SoundGuys found it muffled on high frequencies and unusable in wind, and one Leaf&Core caller asked what was wrong with the mic within a minute.

Is it worth it?

Skullcandy’s US page listed the Dime 3 at a regular price of $34.99 on 2026-10-04. Its launch MSRP was $29.99, and PCMag, SoundGuys and Tom’s Guide all reviewed it at $29. Best Buy listings for the black variant ran $24.99 to $36.62 for new units, and SoundGuys says it has been seen at $18 during major sales.

At $18 to $25 the package is hard to beat: multipoint, a pass-through mode, Tile and IPX4 rarely appear together this cheaply. At $34.99 the problem is Skullcandy’s own lineup. The newer Dime Evo at $49.99 adds a companion app, a custom 5-band EQ and 36 hours of total battery, and PCMag points buyers who need an app and AAC at the $39.99 JLab JBuds Mini or the $49.99 Phiaton BonoBuds Lite.

The earbuds are sealed with a 1-year US limited warranty and no parts channel, so a failure means replacement, not repair. Buy them as a spare pair, a gym-bag pair or a first set, not if calls outdoors are your main use and not if you need isolation in loud places.

Which model this is

This page covers the Skullcandy Dime 3, model S2DCW-R740, released in September 2023. Do not mix it up with the original Dime, the Dime Evo or the Dime 360, which have different batteries and features. The listing this page follows is ASIN B0CFCQVZS6.

Sources

Manufacturer:

Independent reviews:

Owner reports:

Retail:

Buying guides for this category

Related products