Good news: Wired earbuds are back as they’ve always been

Wired headphones The trend is back in 2026, with everyone from Steph Curry to Bella Hadid wearing the pair.

I don’t go anywhere without mine. I’m not trying to get inWiredIt-Girl“trend, and I’m not feeling nostalgic about the year 2000 (well, Maybe a little). I’ve been a fan of wired earbuds long before they became popular in the 2020s Anti-technology product. And I’m sure I’ll keep using them after celebrities and influencers move on to something else.

You have always prioritized Practical application When it comes to technology. In my humble opinion, they’re no more practical than wired earbuds.

Iconic until they weren’t

Wired earbuds dominated the 2000s, thanks to MP3 players such as iPod. This contract is iconic iPod silhouette ads They showed people listening to their tunes, the white wires bouncing up and down with every movement. Wired earbuds have been an integral part of the MP3 experience. (Wireless headphones He’s been around Since 2004But whether those things are good is another story.)

In 2016, Apple mobilized “courage” To kill the iPhone’s headphone jack. The design decision was intended to help improve the device’s water resistance, while moving everyone toward a future free of the tyranny of wires. If you don’t want to use a headphone jack dongle with your new iPhone, you should buy one Airpods.

I couldn’t care less about the future the AirPods were promising — especially now that I learned they were $160. At the time, I was still using an iPod Touch with a headphone jack as my primary music player. Apple’s wired earbuds were simple and effective, with no latency or pairing issues. If I needed to replace it, it would only cost me $20.

Sure enough, those wires sometimes got tangled inside my jeans pocket. But at least I didn’t have to worry Losing my earbuds. I remember seeing a meme about AirPods, shortly after they debuted: “I don’t have AirPods yet, and I actually dropped one in a storm sink“.

But here’s the real standout advantage of wired headphones: you don’t have to charge them. never. You can connect it to your phone or computer and it will work. Infinite battery life.

Do we really hate wires so much, even if it means having to charge another device?

What do you mean I have to charge my headphones?

Stop me if this sounds familiar: Your phone’s battery is in the single digits, and you have a long drive home without a charger. You go to a coffee shop, take your laptop out of your bag, and find it’s out of stock. You’re boarding a plane, and then you realize you forgot to charge your Nintendo Switch.

Oh, and your earbuds are low on battery. In fact, one is low on battery and the other is dead.

In the days of smartphones, we had separate devices for taking photos, making calls and listening to music – and we had to make sure each device was charged. Now we have one device that can do it all, but we have new accessories that also need to charge: Smart watches, Smart rings, Smart glasses The latest artificial intelligence tools (Pins, anyone?). I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to charge a pair of headphones on top of that.

I especially don’t want to be stuck in a situation where I can only listen to music with one ear. A common complaint about wireless earbuds is that One of them always runs out of battery Or it stops working before the other.

Each wireless earbud has its own lithium-ion battery. It’s the same type of battery that powers your phone or electric car, and over time, it becomes less efficient Hold a charge. Even for two apparently identical earbuds, battery life can vary.

If one of your wireless earbuds is running low quickly, you might consider fixing the problem by replacing the battery. Think again. AirPods are Notoriously difficult (Read: impossible) to take apart without damaging it, due to the ultra-compact design with glued-on components. there Some exceptionsHowever, most wireless earbuds cannot be reassembled after disassembling them. You just have to buy new ones.

Wired earbuds are actually perfect

I’ll admit that when I got my first iPhone without a headphone jack, I was worried about how I would listen to my tunes. I didn’t want to use the dongle every time I had to plug in my earbuds.

Fortunately, there are some Affordable options Which are connected to modern phones. Apple makes wired earbuds with Lightning and USB-C connectors, and I can confirm that they are just as good as the original 3.5mm plug version.

I know it’s convenient to pair the wireless earbuds with a smartwatch during a gym session and not have a cord getting in the way of your reps. I know that trends and movements like Wired It-Girls come and go. But I hope this lasts for a while, because I want my favorite album or podcast to play without lag.

I don’t want to charge another device; I don’t want to worry about losing $100-plus down storm drains — and I couldn’t ask for a better solution than wired earbuds.

When Steve Jobs was Apple’s CEO, he liked to highlight the simplicity of new technology by saying: “It just works.“Wired earbuds are exactly that: frictionless and easy to use. Twenty years ago, they were great. Today, they still are.