Most on-screen products are a styling decision. This one was written into the script before anyone was cast. The costume designer has confirmed that the pilot specified Mabel wearing sunglasses and Beats headphones — as characterisation, not product placement. What the script did not specify was a model number, and that gap is where every shopping guide to this item goes wrong.
Below: what is actually confirmed, what is only fan-identified, and why the honest answer to "where do I buy them" is more complicated than a link.
The script asked for them
The confirmation comes from Dana Covarrubias, the show's costume designer, in an interview with E! News. The first episode's script called for Mabel in sunglasses and Beats headphones, and Covarrubias explains what they were doing: the items were about "trying to keep the world out."
That is a genuinely useful piece of information, and it reframes the object. The headphones are not an accessory chosen to look good on camera — they are a wall, written into the character before the wardrobe department got involved. A young woman in a building full of people she is avoiding, wearing something that announces she cannot hear you.
Covarrubias has described the balance she was working with: part of the character wants to stand out, part wants to hide. Bright red over-ear headphones do both at once, which is why they work and why they became the show's most recognisable object.
The brand is confirmed at script level. The model is not.
What is confirmed, and what isn't
This is the distinction we exist to make, so we will be precise about it.
| Claim | Status |
|---|---|
| The script specified Beats headphones | Confirmed — costume designer, on the record |
| They were characterisation, not decoration | Confirmed — same source |
| The specific model is the Studio3 Wireless in red | Fan-identified only |
Screen-identification sites name the Studio3 Wireless in red for the first episode. Those sites do good work, but they are pattern-matching from footage, not reporting a confirmation — and neither the production, the designer, nor the manufacturer has ever stated a model number that we could find.
We are reporting the identification and labelling it for what it is. If you buy on the strength of it, you are buying on a visual match, not on a confirmation.
And the model is discontinued anyway
Here is the part that makes the whole question academic, and it is verifiable rather than a matter of opinion.
The manufacturer has retired the Studio3 line. We checked their own site: the Studio3 Wireless product URL now redirects to the Studio Pro, in every region we tested.
| Region | What happens |
|---|---|
| US | /headphones/studio3-wireless → redirects to /headphones/studio-pro-wireless |
| UK | /uk/headphones/studio3-wireless → redirects to /uk/headphones/studio-pro-wireless |
A brand redirecting a product URL to its successor is the clearest signal a product line is over. There is no Studio3 to buy from the maker, in any colour.
The current equivalent is the Beats Studio Pro:
| Market | Price |
|---|---|
| US | $349.99 |
| UK | £349.99 |
| Australia | A$529.95 |
That is the honest answer to "what do I buy": not the screen model, which you cannot get new, but its successor at $349.99.
On secondhand: refurbished and used Studio3 listings do exist — a "Renewed" listing on the large marketplace is live. We could not read prices or stock from any marketplace at our location, so we are not going to invent a range. If you want the exact red Studio3, secondhand is the only route, and you will have to price it yourself.
One thing to check if you go that way: the red matters more than the model. Beats has released red colourways across several generations and several product lines, and a red pair from the wrong generation will look closer to the screen object than a black pair of the right one. If a listing photograph shows the correct shade and an over-ear shape, that is doing most of the work the model number was supposed to do.
What to actually do
If you want the look: red over-ear headphones. That is the whole visual. At a distance nobody is reading a model number, and the identifying features are the colour and the over-ear silhouette — not the logo. This is one of the rare screen items where a cheap alternative is genuinely equivalent for the purpose.
If you want the brand: the Studio Pro at $349.99 is the current line. It is not the screen model, and we would not tell you it is.
If you want the exact object: secondhand Studio3 in red, priced by you, with the caveat that the model identification itself is fan-sourced. That is two layers of uncertainty on a used purchase, and we would think hard about it.
If what you actually liked was the idea: the character's headphones work because they are a boundary, worn indoors, in a building full of neighbours. That reading does not need a brand at all. It is the most transferable thing in this article, and it costs nothing.
Why this case is worth understanding
There is a general lesson here that applies well beyond one pair of headphones.
A confirmed brand is not a confirmed product. A costume designer saying "the script called for Beats" is strong evidence — it is a primary source, on the record, with a stated reason. It still does not tell you which of a dozen models, in which year, in which colourway. Shopping guides routinely collapse that gap and present a specific SKU as though the production had named it.
And products die. Even a correctly identified item from a show still running becomes unbuyable. The identification was made when the model was current; the model is now gone; the guides linking to it have not been updated. We would rather tell you the line was discontinued than send you to a page that redirects.
That decay is not unusual — it is the normal state of this category. Consumer electronics turn over on roughly a two-to-three-year cycle, while a series runs for years and streams indefinitely. A show that started in 2021 is still bringing new viewers to a first episode whose props stopped being purchasable some time ago. The gap between when a thing was filmed and when you see it is the single biggest reason screen-shopping guides go stale, and it is why every price and stock claim we publish carries the date we checked it.
The practical habit that follows: when a guide names a product without a date, assume it was true once. Check the manufacturer's own site before you check a marketplace — a redirect, as here, tells you more in one click than a dozen resale listings will.
FAQ
What headphones does Mabel wear in Only Murders in the Building? Beats — confirmed at script level by costume designer Dana Covarrubias, who says the pilot script specified sunglasses and Beats headphones. The specific model is identified by screen-matching sites as the Studio3 Wireless in red, but that has never been confirmed by the production or the manufacturer.
Can I still buy them? Not new. Beats has discontinued the Studio3 line — its product URL now redirects to the Studio Pro in every region we checked. The exact red Studio3 is a secondhand purchase only.
What is the current equivalent? The Beats Studio Pro: $349.99 in the US, £349.99 in the UK, A$529.95 in Australia.
Why did the character wear headphones? As characterisation. Covarrubias describes the sunglasses and headphones as being about "trying to keep the world out" — a deliberate wall between the character and the building she lives in.
Was it product placement? The costume designer's account is that the script called for them before wardrobe was involved, and she describes their purpose in character terms. We have found no statement describing a commercial arrangement.
Is a cheaper alternative fine? For the look, yes — genuinely. The identifying features are the red colour and the over-ear shape, not a logo. This is one of the few screen items where that is honestly true.
How confident is the Studio3 identification? Moderately. It comes from screen-matching sites rather than from a primary source. We report it as fan-identified rather than confirmed, which is how you should treat it before spending money.
Is the show still running? Yes. The fifth season aired through autumn 2025, and a sixth was commissioned, with production under way in 2026.