Mattress Reviews

Purchasing a mattress can be an overwhelming process, as it’s difficult to know whether or not the model you choose is going to best support your needs . As mattress testers, our Sleepopolis team understands this. I spend my time in the mattress lab testing hundreds of different mattresses and mattress accessories so you have an easier time narrowing down the one that’s best for you.

On this page, I’ve assembled some resources to help your mattress buying journey. Here, you’ll find tips for finding the perfect mattress, an overview of the top online brands, deals, and unbiased mattress reviews, and a guide to all the different sleeping positions and the beds that suit them best.

How to Find Your Mattress

There are a number of things to think of when picking a new mattress. First, what position do you normally sleep in? The needs of back sleepers differ from those of side sleepers and stomach sleepers, so the “best mattress” is different for everyone. You may also consider the feel of different materials such as memory foam, or natural materials such as latex. Perhaps you sleep hot or cold, share your bed with a partner, or have a particular price range in mind.

And that’s where our Sleepopolis experts come in, to help guide you along the way. Click the buttons below to navigate this guide smoothly. You can even take our mattress quiz to help narrow down your search.

Top Brands Top Brands Sleeping Position Sleeping Position Mattress Type Mattress Type Sleeping Preferences Sleeping Preferences Budget Budget

Top Brands

Maybe you’ve seen Helix ads on Instagram or watched YouTube commercials from popular brands like Emma, Saatva, and Nectar. While reputation may proceed some of the more successful mattress companies in the game, we never let brands rest on their laurels alone.

DreamCloud Logo
Winkbeds logo
Screen Shot 2022 09 01 at 3.20.19 PM
Emma logo
Helix Sleep Logo
SO Website MattressBrandLogos BrooklynBedding
Bear Mattress logo
SaatvaLogo
SO Website MattressLogos Nectar
Puffy Logo

Top Mattress Deals

Best Deals

Product
Firmness
Score
P1051102
Saatva Mattress
Multiple firmness options
4.8/5
P1019432 1
Bear Elite Hybrid Mattress
Multiple firmness options
4.6/5
Product Image
Helix Midnight Luxe Mattress
Medium-soft: 6/10
4.3/5
DreamCloud Mattress
DreamCloud Original Mattress
Firm: 7/10
4.4/5

Best Deals

P1051102
Product
Saatva Mattress
Firmness
Multiple firmness options
Score
4.8/5
P1019432 1
Product
Bear Elite Hybrid Mattress
Firmness
Multiple firmness options
Score
4.6/5
Product Image
Product
Helix Midnight Luxe Mattress
Firmness
Medium-soft: 6/10
Score
4.3/5
DreamCloud Mattress
Product
DreamCloud Original Mattress
Firmness
Firm: 7/10
Score
4.4/5

Sleeping Position

Side Sleepers

P1057076

If you’re a strict side sleeper, you’ll likely want a softer bed, providing pressure relief at the shoulders and hip. I suggest looking for mattresses that include thick and cushioning memory foam, a material known for its body-contouring properties. 

Firmer mattresses are probably not going to be the best fit for you as the lack of sinkage could cause pressure points to form as your body digs into the structure.

See our roundup for the best mattresses for side sleeping for more information.

Back Sleepers

P1064842

Back sleepers will want a medium-firm to firm mattress that has a little lift to keep the spine in a neutral alignment and little give to provide relief at the lumbar region. Hybrid beds with a top layer of gentle foam (memory foam or latex) often work wonders for supine sleepers. 

In general, spinal alignment is going to be key across positions, not just to those who sleep primarily on their backs.

See our roundup for the best mattresses for back sleeping for more information.

Stomach Sleepers

P1065108

For those sticking with the prone position, firmness is the name of the game. Firmer beds help position the hips on top of the structure so they’re in line with the shoulders. This results in a healthy spinal alignment and reduces the chances of back pain.

Anything with a thin section of foam overtop a supportive core of either pocketed coils or high-density poly foam is likely going to work well for stomach sleepers.

See our roundup for the best mattresses for stomach sleeping for more information.

Mattress Type

Another way to categorize beds is by the overall construction. This can be a useful strategy for those who already know what materials they like, be it pressure-relieving memory foam, cooling latex, firm poly foam, bouncy innerspring, or some hybrid combination. There are also mattresses composed entirely of organic materials, perfect for those eco-friendly sleepers in the bunch.

Memory Foam Memory Foam Innerspring Innerspring Latex Foam Latex Foam Hybrid Hybrid Natural/Organic Natural/Organic

Budget

Mattresses are expensive. While an initial search online may leave you wondering how you’ll ever be able to afford a high-quality bed, I’m here to tell you one thing: it can be done. There are a lot of mattress companies out there, and many of them make good value a top priority.

Budget Mattresses

Product
Firmness
Score
P1057408
Emma Mattress
Firm: 7/10
4.1/5
P1038833
Nectar Mattress
Medium-soft: 6/10
4.3/5
P1063020
Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid Mattress
Multiple firmness options
4.5/5
P1037886
Helix Midnight Mattress
Medium-soft: 6/10
4.2/5

Budget Mattresses

P1057408
Product
Emma Mattress
Firmness
Firm: 7/10
Score
4.1/5
P1038833
Product
Nectar Mattress
Firmness
Medium-soft: 6/10
Score
4.3/5
P1063020
Product
Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid Mattress
Firmness
Multiple firmness options
Score
4.5/5
P1037886
Product
Helix Midnight Mattress
Firmness
Medium-soft: 6/10
Score
4.2/5

Sleeping Preferences

There are a number of other sleeping preferences to consider beyond your sleeping position and your ideal mattress construction. There’s a lot of narrowing down that can be done by simply following what feels good to you, or by considering your needs. Whether you sleep with a partner, like a firmer feel, suffer from back pain, or sleep hot, I’ve got recommendations for you. Each of these roundups was curated by our Sleepopolis sleep experts, listing top brands that we’ve tested firsthand in our mattress lab.

Our Mattress Review and Rating Process

We want to be as honest and transparent with our readers as possible, so we thought it might be helpful to provide you with some insight into our mattress review process. While we definitely do our fair share of lounging around on these beds, a mattress review entails a lot more than simply stretching out on a new model.

Over the course of testing hundreds of different mattresses, we’ve developed a system that allows us to understand a bed from the inside out so that you, by proxy, can too. Below are some of the things we look for.

Mattress Materials

First and foremost, we’re concerned with the materials used. A good mattress will have a thick enough comfort layer to remain comfortable for sleepers of most sizes. In our opinion, impeccable design and a thoughtful material selection go hand-in-hand.

Materials 101

  • Most common types: memory foam, latex foam, innerspring, and poly foam.
  • Feels: range from contouring pressure relief (memory foam) to cooling bounce (latex foam), buoyant lift (innerspring), and firm support (poly foam)
  • Will affect: sinkage, firmness, and pressure relief
SO MattressReviews Materials

Comfort

Speaking of comfort, we want to make sure a bed feels pleasant from the moment you lie on it, so we need to know: Does it relieve pressure? Does it reduce pain? Will a sleeper feel stuck in the layers?

We use a number of different tools to answer these questions, my favorite of which measures the pressure exerted by a sleeper while lying on a mattress.

bear hybrid back

Comfort Tips

  • Pay attention to how a mattress feels at your shoulders and hips, two of the most sensitive parts of the body
  • Sleep with a partner? Consider a best with “split firmness,” which features two different feels side-by-side

Support

Wanting a bed to be comfortable doesn’t mean we don’t also want it to have fantastic support. It’s important to not confuse support with firmness as a mattress can be incredibly soft and still be super supportive. After all, support really just means that a bed is keeping a sleeper’s spine in alignment while in a normal sleeping position as demonstrated in the photo below.

Support Pointers

  • Most common types: memory foam, latex foam, innerspring, and poly foam
  • Feels: range from contouring pressure relief (memory foam) to cooling bounce (latex foam), buoyant lift (innerspring), and firm support (poly foam)
  • Will affect: sinkage, firmness, and pressure relief
birch luxe side

Cooling

We also want to know how cool the bed sleeps. Though many companies tout their mattresses as “sleeping cool,” what they really mean is that they don’t get hotter than room temperature. That’s why we inspect for gel infusions in heat-absorbing memory foam (pictured below), phase change fibers in covers, and the inclusion of naturally cooling materials such as latex foam or innerspring.

SO MattressReviews Cooling

Cooling Insights​

  • Most common types: memory foam, latex foam, innerspring, and poly foam
  • Feels: range from contouring pressure relief (memory foam) to cooling bounce (latex foam), buoyant lift (innerspring), and firm support (poly foam)
  • Will affect: sinkage, firmness, and pressure relief

Brands

These nitty gritty design details aside, we’re also committed to learning as much as we can about each company we include on our site. What kinds of trial periods do they offer? Are their warranties legit or merely smoke and mirrors? Do they give back to charitable causes? How easy is it to return a mattress you no longer want? Getting to the truth behind the claims enables us to put the power back in your hands.

After all, your mattress shopping experience should (and must) be all about you.

Brand Facts

  • Most common types: memory foam, latex foam, innerspring, and poly foam
  • Feels: range from contouring pressure relief (memory foam) to cooling bounce (latex foam), buoyant lift (innerspring), and firm support (poly foam)
  • Will affect: sinkage, firmness, and pressure relief
birch luxe cover

All Mattress Reviews

See All Mattress Reviews