Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA bargain on a fantastic mattress.
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2013
I've now owned this bed for more than a year and do love it. I've never spent so little on a mattress and this is clearly the best I've ever had as far as sleeping comfort. I used to have some joint pain, particularly in my hips, that entirely went away when I switched to this mattress. I did have to switch to a fairly thin pillow, from a thicker memory foam I had been using with my previous innerspring mattress, otherwise I woke up with a sore neck.
That said, I am in the process of replacing this mattress. This does sleep a bit hot, and my girlfriend and I tend to be hot on a regular mattress. Also, it isn't great for cuddling, you tend to get stuck together in a hole from the memory foam. Bedroom activities are similarly impacted by the memory foam. A latex topper might help this, but that is another $300 for king-size.
SUMMARY
I've been very happy with this mattress on a steel frame. At $500/king (price has gone up since I bought), it's less than half what I paid for my previous bed 20 years ago, and was less than a quarter of mattress+box spring sets that I was looking at from Simmons. But I'd call it every bit as comfortable. It's a steal at the price, but I'd be hard pressed to say it is any less comfortable than the Simmons memory foam mattress I nearly bought at the store.
For sleeping solo, I'm not sure you can get a better bed.
My issues with it largely revolve around sleeping with someone else.
OVERVIEW
I mostly sleep on my side. I've had some issues with hip and shoulder pain in both my previous bed and my girlfriend's bed. I tend to sleep hot and also tend to only be comfortable in a fairly limited temperature range, between 65 and 75F. I have some arthritis in my hips and on a firmer beds end up with hip and shoulder pain. During the night I change positions many times usually. Previously I've had good innerspring mattresses, mostly Sealy Posturepedic. This is my first memory foam mattress but I put a 3" memory foam topper on my previous mattress, mostly as a test to see if I would be too hot.
FIRMNESS
I read many Amazon reports of excessive firmness, and I was a bit worried about this. Because often on firm beds I wake up sore. The manufacturers site rates this middle of the road, but a number of people called it firm in Amazon reviews.
I'm not sure exactly what to call it... I've slept on firm spring mattresses before, and this isn't anything like those. I'd call those hard. But when I'm laying in this mattress it feels firm, but NOT hard, not painful. I guess I'd say that I feel well supported.
I decided to go with this rather than the Linen Spa mattress that is listed as less firm. That mattress doesn't have the gel foam, which I really wanted because I tend to sleep hot. I also decided that because I've heard it said that you should buy a mattress that is on the firm side and if you decide it is too firm add a topper. I haven't added a topper to this.
After a year of sleeping on it, I wouldn't call it too firm at all. Especially once the bed warms up, it tends to be a bit faster to react to movement and a bit more supple.
TEMPERATURE
I do tend to be hot when sleeping in a traditional innerspring mattress, and I also don't sleep well if it's much above 75F or below 65F. So I've been concerned about memory foam because of frequent reports I've read that people tend to complain about them being hot.
I found the gel foams which are supposed to help with sleeping hot, and I had previously had an "ISO-Cool" mattress pad that is also supposed to help. I don't think I would say that they keep you cool. I do sleep a bit hotter on this than on other beds, which I have managed by using thinner bedding.
Especially if you sleep with someone else who is warm, this may be a bit too much.
PAIN RELIEF
I have a bit of arthritis in my hips and before I got this bed also had some recent issues with my other bed with waking up with my shoulder that I was sleeping on sore, or that arm asleep. The hip pain at times has woken me up, but was resolved by putting a pillow between my knees. An easy remedy, though a bit of an annoyance because I tend to switch sides a number of times during the night.
This mattress has basically solved all these problems. My hip pain while sleeping has gone away, even without a pillow between my knees, and it also has stopped occurring during the day, even when I stand for an extended period of time. In the months I've had this mattress, I've only had one instance where my arm was funny from sleeping on it "wrong".
NECK PAIN
I previously had some fairly big memory foam pillows and found that they were causing serious neck pain on this mattress. I've switched to a thinner pillow and that has resolved that issue. I would recommend trying different pillows if you run into neck pain.
MEMORY/CHANGING POSITIONS
While this is a mixture of lower density foams (4 pound gel layer over 3 pound layer, compared to others that are up to 7 pound foam), it still does hold one position after you change position. It responds fairly quickly, maybe 10 or 20 seconds, but sometimes when I roll from my side to my back, I feel like I'm laying on a slope for a bit. Some of this I think is real, but I also think I imagine I'm still on a slope after it has evened out for maybe another 30 seconds.
This is only when I'm not yet asleep, I've never found it waking me up or anything.
But you do definitely sink into it a bit and changing positions can be a bit more difficult than on an innerspring mattress, if you know what I mean. Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more. Scooting over to cuddle takes more of a deliberate motion than just a squirm or a scoot...
BACK SLEEPING
Previously, I have rarely if ever slept on my back and recently I've found it painful after as little as 15 minutes laying on my back in my previous bed. This mattress is much more comfortable when laying on my back, though I still find that I prefer to sleep on my side. I think less because it's uncomfortable and more because it's what I'm used to.
FOUNDATION
I got a fairly inexpensive steel frame for this mattress and really love it. The king size base is two twin bases that bolt together, so it has 12 legs instead of 6. It is super sturdy. I'll often flop down into bed now, and the bed doesn't move. I usually can't feel my girlfriend getting up or in to bed, where my previous bed I'd notice if the cat jumped onto it.
There is no box spring, it's just the mattress on the foundation. I'm quite happy with it.
SMELL
I unpacked it and then went to have dinner for half an hour. As I was walking towards the bedroom, the smell was quite overpowering. I opened the windows to help air it out. I didn't really find the smell objectional, but it it was quite strong right after unpacking. That night I slept on it and had no problem.
Over the next couple of days I kept the windows open and the smell reduced dramatically. It was still present but with a mattress pad and sheets on it I really didn't notice it while sleeping on it. After about 2 weeks it was more or less gone. After 2 months, I don't recall the last time I noticed the smell.
UNBOXING
It comes in a surprisingly small box, considering the end result. They recommend either 24 or 48 hours for it to fully expand, but I ended up unpacking it at 8pm and then sleeping on it that night and found it quite comfortable. Before I went to sleep I measured it and it was around 10 inches. The next night it was a solid 11" but I wouldn't quite have called at 12" and the sides of the cover were still a little slack.
Since then it seems that the cover has gotten more tight, so I imagine that at some point it got up to the full 12".
WARRANTY
The warranty is 25 years which seems like a long time for a $500 mattress. We will see how long it lasts... But in general, reviews of memory foam mattresses are that buyers are slightly less satisfied with them when new compared to innerspring mattresses. But people tend to stay about as happy with memory foam over the years, where innerspring mattresses people tend to get less happy with. There definitely have been reports of some brands of memory foam mattresses developing indentations where you sleep, but I couldn't find any data for this brand. I took a chance partly because the Amazon reviews were quite positive, partly because it was inexpensive. So far I haven't been disappointed at all, but it's only been a few months.
However, note that the warranty says it may be void if there are any stains on the cover. That seems a little draconian, but I imagine it protects them from someone spilling a bottle of nail polish remover on it, which I could see just destroying the foam. But on the other hand, I have seen minor instance of stains getting through the mattress pad and I hate to think about that voiding the warranty.
