It’s a tale as old as time, fashion trends from the past are recycled and become the new hot thing of the year. What was once considered “old-fashioned” and “overhyped” is suddenly the next big thing.
Fashion is a carousel; it keeps on going round and round. One of Gen-Z’s current obsessions has been Y2K trends: With a pinch of nostalgia and a dash of simpler times before technology took over our lives with AI. One item that has made a huge, unexpected comeback is wired earphones.
Everyone and their mothers are reverting to wired earphones these days. From celebrities like Bella Hadid, Lily Rose Depp and Shahid Kapoor to people on the Delhi Metro, wired earphones can be spotted everywhere.
Wired headphones now make you look extremely cool and effortless with an air of “Look at that super mysterious and nonchalant girl walking around campus with her iced oat milk matcha latte and wired earphones.”
Why wired earphones aren’t all that
However, in terms of the actual listening experience, wired earphones will still never be better than wireless, and this is a hill I will die on. I, like many others, was influenced to ditch my Bluetooth earphones and switch to wired after seeing it all over social media and across campuses, but I absolutely hate it.
The wires get tangled all the time and are the biggest headache ever. Their jacks are also often not compatible with modern-day phones, so you end up spending more money buying a cable adaptor. And let’s not kid ourselves, they are not durable. Its rubber coating is super delicate and tears in no time. And the mic button is so inconveniently placed because what do you mean you still have to hold it up to your mouth every time you want to speak into it? And who hasn’t accidentally pressed on it and paused or skipped forward to the next track in the middle of a jam session?
Sure, wired earphones look really aesthetic while you’re sitting in your favourite café or for a photo op, but they’re inconvenient when it comes to daily life. How is one supposed to work out properly or walk across the room while still listening to music connected to your laptop with these things on? The lesser price of these earphones is not worth all this hassle. There are so many Bluetooth alternatives within a similar or just slightly more expensive price range that are much more worth it.
And of course, credit where credit’s due, wired earphones do make it harder to accidentally leave them, in the auto, you don’t have to suffer in agony in case you forgot to charge them, and they are obviously a great accessory to aura farm with.
Despite claims that radio frequencies are supposedly frying my brain, and the noise-cancelling feature might make me deaf at some point, I refuse to be a sheeple.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)