Bose introduces its first pair of wired headphones in 11 years
What’s with the comeback?
• less than 3 min read
You may never be able to fully recapture the magic of staring out the bus window listening to a grainy YouTube-to-MP3 version of Relient K, but you can try. Amid a Gen Z retro tech renaissance, Bose announced its first pair of wired headphones in 11 years yesterday.
The Bose Noise Cancelling Wired Earbuds will be available for $99 on October 15, but preorders are live. Because traditional aux ports have been eradicated everywhere but tiny airplane TVs, the Bose headphones have a USB-C plug. The headphones must be plugged into a device to use since they have no batteries (that also means nothing to charge).
The reviews are in:
- Testers have celebrated the more durable cord and good audio quality, but found the noise canceling to be slightly less impressive than other Bose devices.
- Reviewers are lauding the pair as one of the best wired headphones on the market…which the new headphones probably should be considering they cost much more than the sub-$30 price tag such products typically sport.
What’s with the comeback? People have been clocking the wired revival since as far back as 2019, driven primarily by Gen Z and Gen A nostalgia for the pared-down tech of yore. But the trend has popped off in recent years and wired headphone sales went into 2026 up for the first time in five years.—MM
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