Good News: Wired Earbuds Are Back and Same as Ever

Wired headphones are back in style in 2026, with everyone from Steph Curry to Bella Hadid sporting a pair. 

I never go anywhere without mine. I’m not trying to get in on the “Wired It-Girl” trend, and I’m not nostalgic about Y2K (OK, maybe a little). I was a fan of wired earbuds long before they became a fashionable 2020s anti-tech tech product. And I’m sure I’ll continue using them after the celebrities and influencers move on to something else.

I’ve always prioritized practicality when it comes to tech. In my humble opinion, it doesn’t get much more practical than wired earbuds.

Iconic until they weren’t

Wired earbuds dominated the 2000s, thanks to MP3 players like the iPod. That decade’s iconic iPod silhouette ads showed off people grooving to their tunes, white wires bouncing up and down with every movement. Wired earbuds were both an integral and celebrated part of the MP3 experience. (Wireless headphones have been around since 2004, but whether those were any good is another story.)

In 2016, Apple infamously mustered the “courage” to kill the iPhone’s headphone jack. The design decision was meant to help improve the device’s waterproofing, while pushing everyone toward a future free from the tyranny of wires. If you didn’t want to use a headphone jack dongle with your new iPhone, you had to buy AirPods.

I couldn’t have been less interested in the future AirPods were promising — especially after 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 zero latency or pairing issues. If I needed to replace them, it would only set me back $20. 

Sure, those wires sometimes got tangled up inside my jeans pocket. But at least I didn’t have to worry about losing my earbuds. I remember seeing a meme about AirPods, shortly after their debut: “I don’t even own AirPods yet, and I’ve already dropped one down a storm drain.”

But here’s the real standout feature of wired headphones: You don’t have to charge them. Ever. You plug them into your phone or computer, and they just work. Infinite battery life.

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

What do you mean I have to charge my headphones?

Stop me if this sounds familiar: Your phone battery is in the single digits, and you have a long trip home without a charger. You get to a cafe, and you pull your laptop out of your bag to find it out of juice. You board an airplane, and that’s when you realize you forgot to charge your Nintendo Switch.

Oh, and your earbuds are low on battery. Actually, one of them is low on battery and the other is dead.

In the presmartphone days, we had separate devices for taking pictures, making calls and listening to music — and we had to make sure we charged each one. Now we have one device that can do it all, but we have new accessories that also need charging: smart watches, smart rings, smart glasses and the latest AI gadget (pins, anyone?). I don’t know about you, but I don’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 in one ear. A common complaint about wireless earbuds is that one of them always runs out of battery or 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 your EV, and over time, it becomes less effective at holding a charge. Even for two seemingly identical earbuds, the battery lifespan can vary.

If one of your wireless earbuds is draining quickly, you might think to solve the problem by getting a battery replacement. Think again. AirPods are notoriously difficult (read: impossible) to disassemble without damaging them, because of an ultracompact design with glued-in components. There are some exceptions, but most wireless earbuds can’t be reassembled after they’re taken apart. You just have to buy new ones.

Wired earbuds are already perfect  

I 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 a dongle every time I had to plug in my earbuds. 

Thankfully, there are some affordable options that plug into modern phones. Apple makes wired earbuds with both Lightning and USB-C connectors, and I can confirm that they’re just as good as the original 3.5mm plug version. 

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

I don’t want to charge one more device; I don’t want to worry about dropping $100+ down a storm drain — and I can’t ask for a better solution than wired earbuds.

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