An ode to wired headphones

An ode to wired headphones
Photo by freestocks / Unsplash

I’m going to start by saying that I love my AirPods and I have had my head turned by the AirPods Pro. I’ve no doubt that their success as a product—despite the flack they took over their looks when launched—is down to the simplicity of how well they work. Open the case, put them in your ears, and you’re away.

They also remove the annoyance everyone has/had with headphones; cables. But headphone cables are actually one of the best things about headphones and are a feature not a design choice.

Headphone cables solve all of the downsides of wired headphones. Firstly, there’s no batteries in cabled headphones so you don’t have to worry about them dying on you mid-song. You also won’t have to replace them every couple of years as the rechargeable battery in wireless earphones loses capacity.

Wired headphones also won’t get interrupted by other signals in the same way wireless earphones can. They also deliver the audio signal straight from your device to your ears and, if you’re a nerdy audiophile, with higher quality sound.

I’ve had a pair of Bose QC15s for almost 10 years and, yes I know they require a AAA battery to power the noise cancelation, they still sound as great as the day I got them. My love for them and their longevity is in part because of the replaceable battery and that I can trust the signal being carried along a sometimes annoying cable. I don't see my AirPods lasting 10 years.