Wired Earbuds Are Making a Comeback, and Bose Has a New Pair

After Apple took the headphone jack off the iPhone in 2016, most people switched to Bluetooth earbuds. But wired ones never went away, and The Verge says their sales even rose this year after five years of decline. Part of the reason is that they are now popular with younger people, following the return of tape decks and vinyl records. Wired earbuds also have real advantages. They do not need a battery, so they last longer than wireless ones that eventually die, and a long cable makes them harder to lose than a single earbud.

Now Bose has come back to wired earbuds for the first time in more than a decade. The new Bose Noise Cancelling Wired Earbuds cost $99 and connect through a USB-C port, so they work with current phones without an extra adapter. USB-C is also how they can offer active noise cancellation, or ANC. A traditional 3.5mm or 4.4mm headphone plug does not carry enough power for ANC, so most wired earbuds only block sound by their shape. Bose's earlier wired model with ANC, from 2013, needed a rechargeable battery in the cable. The new pair gets its small amount of power from the USB-C port.

Only a few other USB-C wired earbuds have noise cancelling. One is the $30 Belkin SoundForm ANC Wired Earbuds, which reportedly have weak noise cancelling. Another is a pair that Audio-Technica released in Asia earlier this year.

The best part, the reviewer says, is how simple they are. There is nothing to pair, charge or set up with an app. You plug them in and they work. The noise cancelling is not as good as in Bose's Bluetooth earbuds, which have three microphones on each side compared with two here, but it is solid for the price. It blocks low sounds like air conditioners and truck rumble well, but it struggles with voices. The reviewer says the sound is clear and bright, with punchy bass. The wired connection means low delay, and the earbuds support high-resolution audio.

The reviewer lists the good points as a comfortable and secure fit and a simple design. The bad points are average call quality and wind noise that can be distracting.