Wired headphones were supposed to die with the headphone jack. Instead, they're making a comeback as consumers seek out better sound quality and technology from a simpler time.
When Apple ditched the headphone jacks on iPhones in 2016, I went into exile. I wasn't about to let a giant company dictate my listening habits, so I bought an Android and plugged in for dear life. But eventually, my phone took its last breath in the same exact month that Google – one of the last holdouts – said it was getting rid of headphone jacks on its phones too. It felt like a cosmic sign of defeat. So I went back to iPhone, tossed my wired earbuds in a drawer and joined the Bluetooth hordes.
Maybe I gave up too easily. Recently, a quiet movement has grown in the shadows based on a controversial truth: wired headphones are better than Bluetooth. Sales are through the roof in recent months. You can often get better sound for the money with a wired pair, but it's not just audio snobs either. Wired headphones are a full-blown cultural trend – a resurgence some tie to a broader anti-tech backlash. Whether it's practical, political or aesthetic, one thing is clear. Wired headphones are back.
"I'm converted," says Aryn Grusin, a wired-headphone-loving social worker from Portland, Oregon in the US. A few months ago, she borrowed her fiancé's old-fashioned wired earbuds and never looked back. "I just think it feels comforting. I like that it signifies to the world that I'm listening to something."
Sound quality can be a big advantage to the wired life, says Chris Thomas, editor at large at the headphone review site SoundGuys. "This is the drum I've been beating for many years now," he says.
Wireless headphones have improved dramatically, according to Thomas, but the best often come from niche brands made for audiophiles. When it comes to mainstream products you'd find in an electronics store, he says you'll still get better sound for the money if you chose the best wired option. Plus, even the finest Bluetooth headphones may not deliver their top audio performance because of bad connections or compatibility issues with your device. "With a wire, you just plug in and it works," he says.
But sound isn't enough to explain the trend. Somehow, it seems Bluetooth has turned deeply unsexy.
