On April 1, “20 yuan antique wired headphones are popular” became a hot search topic.
While other headphones are still looking for deep noise reduction, long battery life, and no sense of wear, they want to be integrated with you. Wired headphones, an old item that has been eliminated for almost 10 years, are invited by young people. With a white wire, two plastic earplugs, and a price of dozens of yuan, they stand at the top of the fashion contempt chain. In the eyes of young people, wireless earphones have all disadvantages except being wireless, while wired earphones have all advantages except being wired. "No need to charge, no need to worry about losing, no need to pair, just plug it in and listen. The sound quality is better than a thousand-yuan headset."
Wired headphones are favored by young people as a trendy item
Who would have thought that wired headphones, which were almost laid to rest, would become a hot fashion item in 2026.
While those born in the 1990s are still puzzled by the outdated products they used in the past, those born in the 2000s have already regarded them as new gadgets. Someone got a wired headset for the first time and was shocked: "It turns out this thing doesn't need to be charged."
Previously, Li Ronghao also expressed that he likes to use wired headphones because they don’t need to be charged.
Once wired headphones become popular, you have to start styling them. Some people perform manual electroplating, stickers, and wire wrapping modifications on white wire earphones, and forcibly turn a wire into DIY jewelry. Earphones have also changed from a tool for listening to music to a part of fashionable clothing. "In the past, I was afraid that they would break, but now I am afraid that they will not look good enough."
Nowadays, social platforms are full of ideas for wearing wired headphones. Some people have even started styling the headphones, putting stickers and electroplating on them. If the wire is too long, wrap it around the neck. If it is inconvenient to store, just hang it on the belt. There are even brands that specially launch wired headphones that "cannot listen to music" and sell them as necklaces. They don't even need the function, just the wire.
Wired headphones are becoming popular, are they retro or trendy?
If it’s not fashionable enough, just make up for it by dressing it up; if the style is too old, the atmosphere is too good. Following the trend of electronic products has become the biggest expense, but young people have found that the cheapest ones actually produce the most films.
"Spending more than 100 yuan on a pair of wired headphones can be used to listen to music, serve as an accessory, take photos, and decompress. It is much more cost-effective than buying a Bluetooth headset. After all, if you lose the latter, you have to buy another one."
Wired headphones, an antique that has long been outdated, are now regarded as treasures by young people. "I've been using wired headphones because I'm too lazy to charge Bluetooth, period."
Some people even began to wonder about its design, "The texture is perfect, and the sound quality is also perfect. I tried the national karaoke like it comes with a sound card. This is not a headset, this is a work of art."
And once you try the sound quality of wired headphones, you can’t go back. "Listening to Bluetooth headphones, wired headphones are called listening to music. Now think about it, since I started using Bluetooth headphones, the amount of music listening has dropped sharply."
But what really attracts young people is not just the sound quality, but the social rejection of "too busy to chat".
Bluetooth headsets are often blocked by your hair, and others can't tell whether you are listening or not. But wired headphones are different. The white wire sends a signal from far away: Do not disturb. You don’t need to speak, it’s time for others to recognize you. When you only hang one card, it is equivalent to putting the open business card on the bright side. Okay, you can strike up a conversation.
People whose impression of wired headphones is that "buying a mobile phone comes with a gift" will inevitably be confused by its entry into the trend circle. However, for this generation of young people, this old item is the most worry-free antidote.
The picture quality of the CCD camera is not as good as that of the mobile phone, but it is connected to the core of childhood dreams; although the outdated Kindle turns pages slowly, it is cheap and the ink screen is still resistant to scratches. Wired headphones may seem clumsy, but they actually solve the simplest needs: they don’t need to be charged, you can listen to them just by plugging them in, and you don’t feel bad if you lose them.
After all, what young people love is not outdated, but practical.
(Yangcheng Evening News·Yangcheng Pai synthesized from China Blue News and Sanlian Life Laboratory)
