If you’re in the market to buy a new pair of headphones, you may be conflicted about whether to buy wireless or wired headphones. While the latter has its quirks, here are nine reasons why wired headphones are better than wireless.
1. They Are Cheaper
Granted, wireless headphones are more convenient, but they make you pay a lot more to enjoy that convenience. This is simply because making a pair of wireless headphones is more costly than making wired ones.
The added components that make wireless headphones wireless inflate their bill of materials, i.e., the price of all intermediate goods required to create the final product. The higher this cost, the more you have to pay as a consumer.
2. They Last Longer
While there are exceptions to this claim, wired headphones tend to be more durable than wireless ones because they have fewer components inside their body that can break after a potential fall.
This reduces their chances of taking substantial damage and makes them able to handle more abuse than their wireless counterparts. In fact, some high-end wired headphones are so well-made, they can last you a lifetime.
3. Wired Headphones Are Lighter
A by-product of not having any extra components in their body is that they lighter than wireless ones. If you use your headphones extensively, you know how important comfort and weight are when it comes to headphones.
Since headphones sit on top of your head, sometimes for hours at a stretch, they need to be lightweight and comfortable to avoid listening fatigue.
The heavier your headphones, the more discomfort you will feel after a listening session. You will find yourself wanting to take them off more frequently as they cause your neck to hurt and your ears to sweat.
4. Wired Headphones Don’t Require Charging
In this day and age where pretty much every gadget comes with a battery, having yet another thing to recharge from time to time is a major pain.
On the other hand, wired headphones don’t need to be recharged as they come with an audio plug; the convenience of “plug and play” is nothing to take for granted.
Also, since you don’t have to recharge them constantly, they help you save some electricity and reduce your power bills just a little bit. While that may not be a big point of consideration for you, it’s an added benefit nonetheless.
5. They Don’t Have Latency Issues
Wireless headphones have come a long way, and the latency they used to have is slowly mitigating over the years. That said, wired headphones will always outperform wireless headphones when it comes to sheer performance.
This has nothing to do with their price and everything to do with physics. Even the most expensive wireless headphones can’t outdo cheap wired cans in terms of latency.
You may not notice the delay when casually listening to music, but if you are a gamer, you are well aware of how prominent those milliseconds can be.
6. They Have Better Sound Quality
You may love your Airpods Max but have no idea of all the wired headphones out there that can offer way better sound quality for the same or lesser price. This is because when compared to wired headphones, wireless headphones are still a relatively new invention.
Since wired headphones have had such a long time to evolve, they are a tried and tested gadget. Wireless headphones, as great as they are, tend to fall more towards the experimental side. But if you are looking for the best sound possible, you have a better chance at finding it in wired headphones.
7. They Are Ideal for Professionals
There’s a reason why pretty much all professional-grade headphones are wired. Well, there are actually a bunch of reasons, but the biggest one is that wired cans are simply more reliable and are designed to be specialized as opposed to wireless ones that are made for the masses.
For professionals like artists and audio engineers, headphones are a work investment for mixing and mastering tracks, not a tool for recreational listening. This means they need to work as expected every single time and must be tuned in a very specific way.
Most consumer-grade headphones are tuned to have fun and upbeat sound, i.e., a “V-shaped” sound signature. The sound signature is designed to manipulate the sound in a way that is pleasing to hear at the cost of losing accuracy and detail.
Professional wired headphones tend to have a flat or balanced signature to ensure maximum accuracy and precision of sound reproduction. Musicians can’t afford not to know how their track sounds; they need it to be as true-to-life as possible.
8. They Are Easy and Cheap to Repair
This one is fairly straightforward. As wireless headphones have more components in their body, they are harder and more complicated to fix.
That’s not to say that wired headphones are a bargain to fix, of course. Depending on how high-end your headphones are, the repair prices vary. But by a general rule of thumb, repairing wireless headphones requires more work.
9. They Are Less Harmful to the Environment
Wired headphones are significantly less harmful to the environment due to their longevity, repairability, and absence of degrading batteries. They also tend to be less likely to suffer from planned obsolescence than wireless ones as they are purely hardware.
A decent pair of wired headphones under $100 can easily last you roughly three to six years or even more if you take good care of them. A pair of wireless headphones for the same price will almost definitely not last as long because their battery capacity will continue to decrease over time.
10. Wired Headphones Are a Better Investment
In the age of wireless electronics, buying wired headphones can sometimes seem like taking a step backward. But as many audiophiles will tell you, they are very underrated. Even if you are not an audiophile or artist, wired headphones are still a better bang for your buck by most standards.
Yes, they are a bit inconvenient due to their cables, but you’re getting a lot of value in return for the hassle. From the better sound quality and longer life to not having to recharge them and face latency, wired headphones are a bargain and worth your money.
