The 6mm dynamic drivers on the Skullcandy headphones come with three sets of silicone ear buds: 14mm, 12mm, and 11mm. The short-stemmed buds are easy to wear with the standard 12mm. The plastic does feel a bit cheap and the seams are a bit rough – especially in the middle of the stem – but the buds fit my ears very well and the plastic inside is smooth. Fortunately, that rough seam doesn’t come in contact with the ears, so it doesn’t affect comfort. Frankly, Skullcandy has done what Marshall should have done with the ill-fitting and crudely finished Marshall Minor III. The company’s budget constraints show with the Skullcandy Dime 2 case and its microUSB port instead of the current USB-C port. It charges anyway, so that’s just annoying at worst and not a deal-breaker. The Dime 2 case has slots that expose the buttons on the buds, but it’s unclear why. Since the buds are turned off when put in the case, you can’t start Bluetooth pairing mode when the buds are in the case. Basically, the protection from dust, dirt and shock is just less. Otherwise, the case is very compact and has a magnetic and a snap-on lid. The lid itself can only be bent very little. If one spot is a bit weaker, the hinge can easily break. Still, the buds snap firmly into place with strong magnets, and Skullcandy includes a small lanyard to attach them to a keychain. The included tool for opening the SIM card tray is good for threading the lanyard, as it is very small. The Dime 2 connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth 5.2. After setting up the Dime 2, the buds maintain a stable connection over 10 meters with walls and doors in between. The headphones pair quickly with my last used device. In our test with constant music playback at 75 dB(SPL), the Dime 2’s battery lasted 3 hours and 3 minutes. If there is anything to complain about with the Dime 2, it is the battery life. While most people don’t listen for 3 hours straight, some of us do. Think audiobooks, podcasts, and long work days wearing your Buds around the office. Skullcandy also doesn’t offer a quick charge feature to recharge the battery. It takes an hour to fully recharge the Buds. This battery life is workable if you only wear the Buds for a short workout or commute to work.
