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."
Grusin isn't alone. After five straight years of declining sales, wired headphone purchases exploded in the second half of 2025, according to the analytics firm Circana, and revenue from wired headphones was up 20% in the first six weeks of 2026.
"It feels like a lot of people are almost turning on technology because it's becoming so advanced," Grusin says. "I think there's a general group mindset where we're like, 'I don't like how this feels' and we're all kind of returning to the last place we were comfortable."
'It's becoming a class thing'
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. Don't take my word for it. Ask actor Zoë Kravitz.
"Bluetooth does not work," Kravitz said in a recent interview, and it's not just headphones, but Bluetooth connections in general. "It's ruining important moments. Imagine the amount of times that you're with someone on a date, you're trying to set a vibe, and then you have to forget the network. On a date!"
In fact, wired headphones are now a must-have fashion accessory in some circles. There's a popular Instagram account on the subject called Wired It Girls, dedicated to women looking chic and unbothered with cables dangling from their ears, from regular people to celebrities like Ariana Grande and Charli XCX.
Wired headphones have become so ubiquitous among the rich and famous that some see these tangles of plastic and wire as a cultural symbol. One social media user posted a viral tweet with photos of actors Robert Pattinson and Lily-Rose Depp sporting wired earbuds. "It's becoming a class thing," they said. "Wearing wireless 24/7 tells me you don't own any land."
Of course, there's something freeing about untethered, wireless listening. But batteries die at the most inopportune moment. Tiny earbuds get lost. Devices won't pair.
"People say it's easier, but it never feels easier to me," says Ailene Doloboff, a dialogue editor in the film business in Los Angeles. "With Bluetooth it's always one extra step."
Wired headphones join a list of seemingly obsolete technologies that have roared back in recent years, just as we tumble into the next digital era. People young and old are adopting retro products such as DVDs, cassettes, ancient tube TVs and even typewriters. At a recent concert, I saw a guy in the audience recording the show not with a phone, but a 16mm film camera from the 1970s.
"I don't know why, but we all collectively had this switch. I think the presence of AI is making people more on edge," Grusin says. "Which is ironic, in a way. I'm uncomfortable with technology so I want to use a different piece of technology. But maybe plug-in headphones feel as close to analogue as we can get."
Dongle trouble
If you go wired, the question is how you'll plug the things in. But you can now buy wired headphones with a built-in USB or Lightning cable connection. Or you can use headphones with the traditional 3.5mm jack via an adaptor for the charging port, often called a "dongle", a word so undignified I spent years refusing to try one.
