GoKawiilWired 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.)
Gabriel Sama/Apple
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.
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