Return of the wire: In a wireless world, headphone cables are back

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."

Serenity Strull/ Getty Images

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 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.

Getty Images

Apple removed the headphone jack on its phones in 2016 with the launch of the iPhone 7, which many saw as the end of wired listening. But even Apple still hasn't given up on wired headphones. "Oh, we still sell those," the company's chief executive Tim Cook – the man who killed the headphone jack on phones – told my BBC colleague Zoe Kleinman a few years ago. "People still buy them."

I stopped by an Apple store on my way home from the office to grab a cheap pair with a USB connection for myself. An employee told me he's been selling more wired earbuds than ever before. I spent a few days with the wires. I liked the feeling. Being tied to my device made me feel a little more present with my listening, and they also sat more comfortably in my ears than the heavy buds of my Bluetooth set.

But our relationship was short. I've never managed to never lose a pair of Bluetooth earbuds. The case for my AirPods is bulky enough that I can always tell if they're not with me. Not so for the featherlight wired earbuds. They slipped out of my pocket somewhere on the streets of my neighbourhood. I hope they found a more loving home.

Determined, I thought an upgrade might make me more careful. So I visited a specialty headphones store in New York called Audio 46, tucked away in a narrow storefront. Delaney Czernikowski, who reviews headphones for the company's website, greeted me at the counter.

"A lot of people are jumping on the trend. They come in saying 'I think wired is better, I want to try them',"
Czernikowski says. "But sometimes they're worried about losing the Bluetooth convenience. I tell them Bluetooth can be very good, you don't have to lose out."

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Czernikowski let me try some of the fancier Bluetooth headphones in the store, with incredible sound quality and incredible price tags to match. They were enough to make even the most religious audiophiles drool. "But to be fair, the wired headphones, a lot of them are better and there's a lot more to choose from," she says. "And they do have nicer qualities that aren't weighed down by the need for Bluetooth technology inside."

I planned on grabbing something cheap. With about a minute of convincing, Czernikowski convinced me to try on a pair of $130 (£98) earbuds from a specialty Chinese brand with a thick, gorgeous, braided cable. "Don't compromise," she says. They sound superb for the money, but the BBC doesn't recommend products as part of our commitment to impartiality. So, you'll have to do your own research.

I handed over my credit card, bought a godforsaken USB dongle to go with the headphones and walked outside to plug them in.

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