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A weekend house cleaning spree unearthed a trove of memories and forgotten objects, including my old wired headphones. They took me back to the summer of 2018, when I first bought them. The tangled cable looked faintly odd in 2025, in a world ruled by invisible connections and seamless pairings. Yet wired headphones are no longer anachronistic; they are quietly returning into a world where people incessantly tap on screens, waiting for smartphones to sync. From celebrities like Paul Mescal and Bella Hadid to Bollywood stars Varun Dhawan and Shahid Kapoor, many have been spotted with wired headphones that were once the norm.
Over the last decade, truly wireless Bluetooth headphones have become ubiquitous. But from the mid-2000s to the late 2010s, my bags always carried a pair of wired headphones, usually found tangled with wads of paper and charging cables. Carelessness or the rush of youth meant that most of them were rendered useless within months.
Available in an array of colours—red, blue, green, and black—they were perhaps my first experience with personalised tech. Back then, going even a single day without headphones was unimaginable. Light, easy to carry, and attached to your smartphones or music players via the legendary 3.5mm jack, they kept things simple and seldom disappointed.
The death of the jack
Bluetooth headsets quietly entered the Indian market in the mid-2000s. Initially, they were single earpieces, designed strictly for calls. In the mid-2010s, they evolved into headphones for everyday consumers. By 2015-2016, Bluetooth headphones and neckbands became common. They offered solutions to simple problems: cables tangling in pockets, restricted movement while listening, tethered phones, and awkward positioning during workouts. With the digital revolution in full swing, it was an inevitable shift.
The wave was characterised by notions of freedom and minimalism. Imagine, a few years ago, one would have to physically unplug and re-plug headphones if they wanted to use them on another device. Now, modern TWS or True Wireless Stereo can handle multiple connections and seamlessly switch from smartphone to laptop to smart TV.
From a fashion statement perspective, wireless headphones offer a certain effortlessness and nonchalance. Beyond vanity, some of the practical reasons cited by most users are the superiority in sound quality, zero latency, and, most importantly, security, as a wired connection appeals to privacy-conscious users. It is Y2K-aesthetic coded and is the most subtle way of pushing individuality and authenticity.
Y2K-coded in the quietest way, it signals individuality and authenticity without trying too hard. (Image for representation: FreePik)
Yet, if you think about it, we have traded mechanical friction for software dependence. Now there is one more device to charge—and importantly, to update. This shift spelt the doom of the 3.5mm headphone jack, with the inflection point being the iPhone 7 launch without one. Apple called it a future-facing design, and subsequently, many other smartphone makers followed. From being default, the jack became a feature, with many Android devices ditching it in 2017-2019.
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Act of listening
If you look at the mere act of listening, the use of wired headphones is a small, physical act, performative, and unglamorous. I could feel the cable brush against my wrist, tugging lightly when I stood up or moved too fast. It signalled that the sound I was listening to had a source. In contrast, wireless listening is seamless; there is no friction involved, and audio simply appears and disappears, managed by batteries and firmware.
The interruptions, too, are different–a wire fails openly, whereas a wireless connection sputters or drops without warning. Latency is something that cannot be measured but can be felt, and wireless technology ensures you feel it too.
Most TWS today are marketed as reliable. While wired headphones are predictable to the point of ennui, wireless headphones are dynamic. A wired one would work until it doesn’t, and when it fails, the reason is obvious. On the other hand, wireless headphones are in constant negotiation with software, batteries, operating systems, and updates, each layer adding a minor possibility of refusal. A pairing prompt pops up when you want silence. A low-battery warning interrupts a call. Convenience is still the promise, but with conditions. Trust, in this context, is not about sound quality or features. It is about whether listening requires attention or simply allows it.
What’s behind the unmarketed comeback?
There is no big product launch, no campaign. In fact, wired headphones are re-emerging, without fanfare. Random sightings seem to have earned them the tag of a return to authenticity. They are showing up in desk drawers, backpacks, and commute routines, echoing a shared sentiment of drifting back to an uncomplicated world. Some may argue that during long editing sessions or calls that must not drop, the wire offers a kind of certainty that wireless cannot.
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Supermodel Bella Hadid with wired earphones, tiny shades, and a phone in hand. (Image: Pinterest/zzarashamss)
Increasing calls for digital detoxes or abstinence from social media run parallel to the move towards analogue or simpler tech that is easier to use, with no external threats like data leaks. Most importantly, fans of the wired headphones swear by the absence of pairing rituals, battery anxiety, etc.
This should not be seen as a nostalgia for an older way of enjoying music or an abject rejection of the wireless convenience. It is a practical response to layers of friction that have piled on around everyday tech. As devices grow smarter, more connected, and even temperamental, those that work the same every time you plug in seem more charming. The comeback of wired headphones is unmarketed, mostly because it is not driven by romanticism, but maybe more by fatigue.
All of this runs counter to the culture where technology is constantly in progression and embracing the new is not only the norm but mandatory. Wired headphones symbolise a change: users no longer engaging with tech that constantly demands updates and upgrades.
