I tried out some super-cheap wired headphones – they put the bass in ‘bargain basement’

The Sony MDR-ZX110 are an absurdly cheap pair of wired headphones from the audio giant. Sitting at the absolute opposite end of the spectrum to its premium, cutting-edge WH-1000XM6 wireless headphones, these are seriously old school, coming with few features, an undeniably economy build and wired, analog sound. But given they cost just $12.99 / £15, I couldn't resist giving them a test and seeing whether they're worth your time.

There's something deeply nostalgic about the MDR-ZX110. Honestly, they take me back to my youth, when music came from scratched CDs or hilariously low-quality 32kbps MP3s, and headphones were something you spent less money on than going to the pub. Buying cheap cans and replacing them every few months when I inevitably broke them felt way more economical than the hundreds of dollars many of us spend nowadays.

But when I ...