I've considered the move to wired not for quality but for the sad state that Bluetooth pairing headphones has become. Theycan't just be headphones anymore; They require their own app and pairing protocol. They want 19 different touch points and permissions to implement a handful of never used features I get people being frustrated at why they can't just do what copper did for the last century.
Wired headphone sales are exploding
61–70 of 752 posts
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#62I never got on board with wireless headphones. * Having to charge them is a PITA * Having to pair them is a PITA * Having more points of failure is a PITA * Paying more is a PITA On the other hand: * Wires are fine
It's hard to lose one or both of your wired earphones.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#63For me AirPods are one of the greatest products I’ve ever owned. I resisted them for years and recited the usual tropes about wired being better. But after being gifted a pair years ago, I realized how wrong I was. I spend a lot of time at the gym or walking with headphones in and music, podcasts, or audiobooks on. It’s so much better not having any wires when you’re moving. I can’t imagine doing these actives anymor…
I've got a fairly cheap pair of Soundcores and I use an Android phone. Never really had a problem. Pair them once and they reconnect flawlessly, I only have to charge the battery case like once a month, and the earbuds themselves last more then an entire day. Mine get a lot of use, and I've never had an earbud die on me.
There are a couple of minor annoyances for sure, like the car grabbing my phone when it turns on, but that's not a huge deal. And the annoyance of having a cord dangle around while I'm walking the dog or doing dishes or whatever the hell I'm doing far outweighs it.
All of that said, if I wanted audio quality to sit and actively listen to music, I'd go wired no question. But I don't really care when 95% of my listening is audiobooks and podcasts.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#64I do wonder if this is in part to Spotify educating people with their very much in your face notifications when you set your player to lossless quality mode. They inform you bluetooth won't pass the signal with enough fidelity and to go wired.
I don't think many people thought their expensive Airpods/Bose/Sony were not capable of handling lossless and may feel left out or missing something.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#65As soon as they started talking about celebrities and it being a fashion statement they lost me on this being a real resurgence.
For about a month we had videos of people getting in fist fights over fucking Stanley tumblers of all things, those stupid Labubus popped off too, and God knows how many other things come and go in like a month. Unless theirs a sustained long term resurgence in the market, it's probably just another tiktok fad.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#66I wonder what percentage of the people driving this trend have either only had AirPods (they make me dizzy, and I think the sound quality is terrible), Beats (even worse) or no-name $20 bluetooth headsets.
I have a nice high-end set of Sennheisers that cost ~ $150, and they're much better than my old wired set (both in-ear, both noise isolating, similar prices).
The bluetooth ones win because they eliminate cable noise. I can actually jog with them. In quiet rooms, they're very comparable, except the bluetooth set has a built in EQ, which works around the fact that iOS / Android still inexplicably do not let you adjust treble and bass.
The bluetooth headset market has been stuck in this weird spot where fashion mostly dictates. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that fashion now dictates wired headsets.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#67I do wonder if this is in part to Spotify educating people with their very much in your face notifications when you set your player to lossless quality mode. They inform you bluetooth won't pass the signal with enough fidelity and to go wired. I don't think many people thought their expensive Airpods/Bose/Sony were not capable of handling lossless and may feel left out or missing something.
Isn't aptx lossless an old and very standard thing?
I haven't bought headphones in years, and my current set support it.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#68There are two tiers of bluetooth devices. There are the Apple and Samsung devices (and Bose and other high-end brands), which just work. Then there are the rest, which are terrible.
I wouldn't lump the high-end audio brands in with Apple.
They often produce models that cost 25% as much and perform much better than the comparable Apple offerings.
I think Apple is in a "fashion tier" that's distinct from "high quality" or "high end".
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#69Please let this mean that they'll start bringing back the headphone jacks to phones. usb-c is too unstable, and I prefer not having to deal with charging more devices and with pairing shenanigans when switching devices.
It'll never happen but I'd love to see a new analog audio connector designed with portable audio and extreme durability in mind make a debut. The old 1.44mm connector is nice for its ubiquitous nature, but its internal footprint is large and it's prone to contact issues over time (I'm sure most of us have had a device/headphone pair where the jack had to be rotated into a "sweet spot". I'm not well versed in the worl…
What’s 1.44 mm connector in this context? Common sizes for headphones are 2.5, 3.5 and (lately) 4.4 mm
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#70Please let this mean that they'll start bringing back the headphone jacks to phones. usb-c is too unstable, and I prefer not having to deal with charging more devices and with pairing shenanigans when switching devices.
You can get phones with headphone jacks still. You have to shop carefully, because it eliminates a lot of options. My current phone is a moto g stylus 5g 2023... to get a headphone jack, snapdragon cpu, and reasonable cost, I had to also accept a stylus that I only use to fidget.
Probably need to start shopping again soon cause updates stop in June.