Sure, we laughed at the flip phone even five years ago but now it’s fashionable to sport one, thanks to Samsung’s big bet on the category. Sure, vinyl was declared to be on ventilator a few years ago but now almost all big releases are being given the LP format. Sure, wired earphones were in a tangled-up-in-blues state but now it’s being sported by celebrities. Agreed it’s a trend, which by nature is fleeting but the point is: Earphones are not dead.
If celebrities are sporting them then there needs to be an Instagram account celebrating the trend, which is just what Wired It Girls is doing, posting one picture after another of those two little knobs sticking out of their ears at a time when wireless earbuds are hot items.
Bella Hadid, Lily-Rose Depp, Zoe Kravitz, Squid Game star HoYeon Jung… they are out and about rocking a pair of sound cans that are at times one-tenth the cost of many wireless earbuds. Even Jake Gyllenhaal doesn’t want to feel left out. Wired It Girls is holding up the trend well and has made Gyllenhaal a honorary member. What gives?
Price, of course, is crucial but these are stars we are talking about and to them Rs 500 is a drop in the coffee cup. There are several advantages corded headphones have to offer. First, and this applies to many people, earphones are difficult to misplace because they will be found somewhere or the other tangled up but wireless pods can roll over and roll out of your lives easily.
More importantly, it gives out a vibe... a unique way of saying that you’re busy. Wearing AirPods or Samsung Galaxy Buds, the sound cans are well hidden and people keep approaching to strike up conversations. When you have a corded option, there’s no way these can be missed. It’s — in a way — the equivalent of ‘do not disturb’ on the phone.
Not always pricing makes users decide on a purchase. Consider latency issue. Many inexpensive wireless pods in the market are unsuitable for streaming movies or playing video games because what the video plays is at times delayed by a very noticeable millisecond by the time sound reaches your ears. With wired headphones, there are no latency issues. You may not notice the delay when listening to music, otherwise, it’s there.
And, of course, they sound great. Wired headphones have evolved over a long period of time and offer the best sound possible. Wireless headphones are still evolving and may not always offer the best sound.
Then why are we using wireless pods? In 2016, Apple killed the 3.5mm headphone jack on its phone and replaced it with AirPods, which undoubtedly look cool, sound great but are also costly. Besides, it opened up a new device category for the company. Samsung caught on to the trick on its flagship phones. And then other companies followed.
This will probably segue into the next question about how does Bella Hadid use a wired earphone on her iPhone, which must be the latest model? The iPhone doesn’t have a headphone jack but it does have a Lightning port, and there are some companies that have developed headphones (Pioneer’s Rayz anyone?) that connect directly to an iPhone’s Lightning port. Second, get Apple’s Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter, which will let you connect wired earphones.
Speaking of Bella Hadid, she is one person who has a lot to do with the wired headphone remaining fashionable. She has been using it for years and when a Vogue article appeared in 2019 about her “bringing back the humble wired headphone”, many laughed. But in a short span of time, the trend has caught on, especially during the pandemic when people have mostly stayed home and have wanted something comfortable in their ears during video/audio calls. The wired earphone is light and very comfortable.
As for the other “retro” (for the lack of a better word) trend that’s going strong... the flip phone, especially Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3, which Alia Bhatt is promoting heavily. Since we are talking about Gen-Z trends, there is also an upswing in the number of voicemails being sent. Many are leaving voice messages instead of typing out their thoughts, forcing you to listen to what is being said.
Perhaps the wired headphone trend won’t last long but it proves yet again that what’s old will become new again.