Best Mattress in a Box 2024, Expert Tested
GQ RecommendsWe played Goldilocks to find the beds that suit all your highly specific needs.By Lori KeongDecember 5, 2024Save this storySaveSave this storySaveAll products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.The best mattresses, despite recent conjecture otherwise, don’t require a chemistry PhD to sniff out. They just require a little time and patience, plus some savvy to wade through all the many newfangled beds-in-a-box out there. Not only can a shippable internet mattress be yours in a few clicks these days, but you can also avoid all the snafus that come with perusing brick-and-mortar stores: high prices, scheduling deliveries, creepy salespeople asking increasingly invasive questions about how you sleep, etc.The Best Mattresses, According to GQThe Best Hybrid Mattress: Helix Midnight Luxe, $2,374 $1,899The Best Mattress for Side Sleepers and Back Sleepers: Casper Wave, $3,125 $2,495The Best Memory Foam Mattress: Leesa Original, $1,299 $1,039The Best Budget Mattress: Allswell, $349The Best Eco-Friendly Mattress: Birch Luxe Natural, $3,249 $2,599The Best Cooling Mattress: Cocoon by Sealy, $1,389 $899The Best Soft Choice: Soft WinkBed Mattress, $1,799 $1,499The Best Super-Firm Choice: Airweave Advanced Mattress, $6,000 $5,100There’s just one catch: You can’t try it out first before having the thing shipped to your house and lugged up the stairs. Thankfully, most bedding companies that are truly worth their salt offer no-risk returns (more on that below), even a full calendar year after your purchase date. But it's always nice to have a clear sense of what you're getting into before you add an expensive, hemmed-and-hawed-over mattress to cart. Which is where we come in. Over the past few years, we've tested out dozens (more on our criteria below), and will continue to bring you new findings as we test out more throughout the year. Here are the curated results of all our finely-tuned intel: the best beds for every price and every sleeping style.JUMP TO: The Best Hybrid Mattresses |The Best Mattresses for Combination Sleepers | The Best Memory Foam Mattresses | The Best Budget Mattresses | The Best Eco-Friendly Mattresses | The Best Cooling Mattresses, The Best Soft Choices | The Best Super-Firm Choices | How to Compare Mattress Types | How to Measure Comfort and Support | How We Tested | How We Chose These MattressesThe Best Hybrid Mattress: Helix Midnight LuxeAt its onset, Helix made fully customized mattresses, which we wrote about a couple years ago. In those days, every company had a one-size-fits-all solution, so this was a revolution. And as the one-size-fits-all brands became, okay, a-few-sizes-fit-all brands, Helix changed too. Helix offers six different versions of mattresses at two price points (a “standard” and a “luxe”), giving a solid option for just about every type of sleeper. In fact, even if you don’t buy a Helix, it’s worth taking this nice mattress quiz just to get a better sense of what type of mattress will work best.The Best Hybrid Mattress: Helix Midnight LuxeHelixHelix Midnight Luxe$2,373 $1,780 HelixThe Helix Midnight Luxe, a hybrid mattress with a coil base and a luxurious memory foam top, was a runaway favorite among GQ staffers. It’s just so damn comfortable ("nice pillow top, but not too soft, with a healthy but forgiving spring," noted one enthusiastic tester). Several staff members also praised the mattress' coolness, which can be attributed to a breathable woven stretch knit cover that keeps it from overheating.If you're someone who has slept on memory foam mattresses for a few years, you might have forgotten the appeal of a coil base, which adds a little bounce and, maybe just as importantly, a little familiarity for those new to the memory foam mattress world. The mattress is medium firm and perfect for stomach and side sleepers: just enough “give” to distribute the pressure on your shoulders and hips, but not so much that you feel like you’re in sinking sand. Still, we found that a range of types of sleepers enjoyed it. The obvious downside is the price, but if you’re looking for the most comfortable bed, start here.Helix also recently expanded its collection to include an “Elite” version of this beloved Midnight mattress, which takes the same hybridized technology of the Luxe and dials it up with 16 inches (compared to the Luxe's 14) of pressure-relieving foam, plus the same comfort layers of coils as a foundation. That steep height makes it slightly more onerous to dress (since most 16-inch mattresses need special deep-pocketed sheets to avoid the dreaded puckering on top), but if you're a hot sleeper, the advanced cooling on the souped-up version is worth checking out first-hand. Our tester loved the Elite so much that we awarded it with a GQ Sleep Award this year, but considering that it's nearly $1,400 more expensive than the original, we'd still recommend the Luxe as the best mattress for most people. B
All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
The best mattresses, despite recent conjecture otherwise, don’t require a chemistry PhD to sniff out. They just require a little time and patience, plus some savvy to wade through all the many newfangled beds-in-a-box out there. Not only can a shippable internet mattress be yours in a few clicks these days, but you can also avoid all the snafus that come with perusing brick-and-mortar stores: high prices, scheduling deliveries, creepy salespeople asking increasingly invasive questions about how you sleep, etc.
The Best Mattresses, According to GQ
- The Best Hybrid Mattress: Helix Midnight Luxe,
$2,374$1,899 - The Best Mattress for Side Sleepers and Back Sleepers: Casper Wave,
$3,125$2,495 - The Best Memory Foam Mattress: Leesa Original,
$1,299$1,039 - The Best Budget Mattress: Allswell, $349
- The Best Eco-Friendly Mattress: Birch Luxe Natural,
$3,249$2,599 - The Best Cooling Mattress: Cocoon by Sealy,
$1,389$899 - The Best Soft Choice: Soft WinkBed Mattress,
$1,799$1,499 - The Best Super-Firm Choice: Airweave Advanced Mattress,
$6,000$5,100
There’s just one catch: You can’t try it out first before having the thing shipped to your house and lugged up the stairs. Thankfully, most bedding companies that are truly worth their salt offer no-risk returns (more on that below), even a full calendar year after your purchase date. But it's always nice to have a clear sense of what you're getting into before you add an expensive, hemmed-and-hawed-over mattress to cart. Which is where we come in. Over the past few years, we've tested out dozens (more on our criteria below), and will continue to bring you new findings as we test out more throughout the year. Here are the curated results of all our finely-tuned intel: the best beds for every price and every sleeping style.
JUMP TO: The Best Hybrid Mattresses |The Best Mattresses for Combination Sleepers | The Best Memory Foam Mattresses | The Best Budget Mattresses | The Best Eco-Friendly Mattresses | The Best Cooling Mattresses, The Best Soft Choices | The Best Super-Firm Choices | How to Compare Mattress Types | How to Measure Comfort and Support | How We Tested | How We Chose These Mattresses
The Best Hybrid Mattress: Helix Midnight Luxe
At its onset, Helix made fully customized mattresses, which we wrote about a couple years ago. In those days, every company had a one-size-fits-all solution, so this was a revolution. And as the one-size-fits-all brands became, okay, a-few-sizes-fit-all brands, Helix changed too. Helix offers six different versions of mattresses at two price points (a “standard” and a “luxe”), giving a solid option for just about every type of sleeper. In fact, even if you don’t buy a Helix, it’s worth taking this nice mattress quiz just to get a better sense of what type of mattress will work best.
The Best Hybrid Mattress: Helix Midnight Luxe
The Helix Midnight Luxe, a hybrid mattress with a coil base and a luxurious memory foam top, was a runaway favorite among GQ staffers. It’s just so damn comfortable ("nice pillow top, but not too soft, with a healthy but forgiving spring," noted one enthusiastic tester). Several staff members also praised the mattress' coolness, which can be attributed to a breathable woven stretch knit cover that keeps it from overheating.
If you're someone who has slept on memory foam mattresses for a few years, you might have forgotten the appeal of a coil base, which adds a little bounce and, maybe just as importantly, a little familiarity for those new to the memory foam mattress world. The mattress is medium firm and perfect for stomach and side sleepers: just enough “give” to distribute the pressure on your shoulders and hips, but not so much that you feel like you’re in sinking sand. Still, we found that a range of types of sleepers enjoyed it. The obvious downside is the price, but if you’re looking for the most comfortable bed, start here.
Helix also recently expanded its collection to include an “Elite” version of this beloved Midnight mattress, which takes the same hybridized technology of the Luxe and dials it up with 16 inches (compared to the Luxe's 14) of pressure-relieving foam, plus the same comfort layers of coils as a foundation. That steep height makes it slightly more onerous to dress (since most 16-inch mattresses need special deep-pocketed sheets to avoid the dreaded puckering on top), but if you're a hot sleeper, the advanced cooling on the souped-up version is worth checking out first-hand. Our tester loved the Elite so much that we awarded it with a GQ Sleep Award this year, but considering that it's nearly $1,400 more expensive than the original, we'd still recommend the Luxe as the best mattress for most people. Both are backed by a 100-night sleep trial and a generous 15-year warranty, so you can't go wrong either way.
Aviya may not be a household name in the bedding market yet, but its beds are favored by a number of five-star hotels that help weary travelers get a stellar night's sleep before rising and grinding the next day. As right of center medium-firm hybrid models, these beds use a springy foundation of innerspring steel coils covered by multiple layers of soft, but dense foam. The result is a blissfully bouncy, yet supportive sleep experience, which is made even sweeter by enhanced edge support in case your partner or relentless cat ends up pushing you right to the furthest corner. Our tester has slept on the luxury firm option for the better part of a decade, though you can also opt for slightly more plush or firm alternatives, too. She's never had any problems with it losing its buoyancy, though the edge support could be better. The mattress is guaranteed for 10 years in case one of the springs decides to roam free after one too many sleepovers, and it's a pretty reasonable price compared to other brands on this list.
The Best Mattress for Side Sleepers and Back Sleepers: Dreamcloud Hybrid
Dreamcloud's been around since 2017, and in that time they've released three mattresses that aim for a luxury experience at a manageable price point. The latest two are variations on the brand's original hybrid mattress, which typically runs for around $1300. For a mattress that's a combination of foam and innerspring coils, it's not surprising that the original hybrid falls in that medium-firm sweet spot of being just comfy enough to keep most average-weight people happy, and just supportive enough that your lower back won't stage a protest in the mornings. It's most likely a fit for someone who's a side sleeper or a back sleeper (or both). Our tester called it a “a dreamy combo of pillowy and supportive,” with a design that's “nice to look at even before you put the sheets on.”
It's taller than a lot of mattresses out there at 14 inches, which is a boon for people who want a little more elevation (but also a disadvantage for sliding fitted sheets on without a struggle, as our tester found). There's a plushy cashmere cover to it that feels soft to the touch, but if you're worried about overheating with that kind of material, know that there's also a gel memory foam layer right beneath it that's designed to keep you cool. We also tested one of the brand's upgrade models below, but if you're looking for a first-rate mattress for well under $1,000 (on sale, at least), we think this has the best value of them all and still offers great support for combo sleepers.
Saatva specializes in high-end mattresses, and its luxury firm option feels every bit as ritzy as the name implies. Shipping wasn’t the speediest (a week to two weeks), but the brand's free white glove delivery service got the bed easily up to our tester’s third-floor walkup without any snags or odious off-gassing upon arrival. We tested the brand’s crowd-pleasing, medium-firm model—which uses a bed of pocketed innerspring coils topped off with three inches of plushy pillowtop—though there are options if you’d prefer a firmer foundation.
Our tester appreciated that the queen-size mattress provided ample space for himself, his partner, and 30-pound Goldendoodle, with little to no motion transfer upsetting their sleep in the middle of the night. Combined with the striking off-white color of the bed, he called this mattress a stylish, “dreamy combination of cushion and support,” one that didn’t trigger any back pain and allowed him to sleep comfortably on both his back and his side. Blessedly, the mattress comes with a lifetime warranty for tune-ups down the line, plus a full year's worth of testing to put it through its paces.
The Best Memory Foam Mattress: Leesa Original
Leesa's best-selling original mattress is composed of three layers of foam, but doesn’t feel anything like the cheaper bricks of memory quicksand. It provides the best parts of the material—solid support, a really comfortable give—while staying cool and keeping just a little bit of bounce. This one feels like a true medium, plushy yet supportive in a way that made our tester want to fall asleep the moment he laid on it. If you're looking for something with a slightly firmer foundation to it, we'd suggest the Tuft & Needle below.
At around $900 for a queen size, Tuft & Needle’s Original Mattress is a great value. Made with two layers of foam: a comfort layer of softer foam and a base layer of denser foam, it strips out all the bells and whistles and gives you a luxurious bed at a comfortable price. One of our side-sleeping testers who has suffered from shoulder pain in the past found the Tuft & Needle to be the ideal combination of give and support. The mattress' foam contains a cooling gel to keep things from overheating, too (but don’t worry, this does not actually feel like a waterbed of goo).
That top layer of foam leans on the firmer side, which makes it just a hair less preferable for the way most people sleep (a combination of side and back), but your weight might also play a role in how much “firmness” and sinkage you really feel with it. Tuft & Needle’s offerings are available at some Lowe's stores, at least, which might make it easier to go out and lay down on one if those 100-day trials strike you as bothersome.
The Best Budget Mattress: Allswell Hybrid Mattress
It’s easy to forget that what you're sleeping on is just fine—or that it was just fine before it got a little old and lumpy. It might feel like your only options are to stay with your old mattress or upgrade to something that’s close to $1000. But there are a range of cheaper options that are worth considering for your starter apartment or mostly abandoned guest room. If you're on a shoestring budget, we’d suggest the Allswell mattress. At $329, it offers the best value in mattresses that you'll find anywhere.
Allswell, a brand run by Walmart, is a hybrid consisting of an innerspring base and a memory foam top. It’s thinner and less supportive, but, surprisingly, it’s still pretty comfortable. Nearly all our testers were shocked when they discovered how affordable this mattress was. "This is the kind of bed you'd be excited to jump on if you were a kid," said one editor who visited our mattress showroom. That a mattress this cheap comes with a limited 10-year warranty and a 100-night risk-free trial, is well, crazy.
The Best Eco-Friendly Mattress: Birch Luxe
Our team of testers wasn't blown away by the original Birch mattress, finding it a bit too squishy for its firm-leaning promises. But we returned to give the eco-friendly brand another go, and came away with a much rosier outlook on the souped-up Birch Hybrid Luxe.
Unlike the OG, this model is made up of a few layers of organic cotton and wool piled over a synthetic latex pad and innersprings, like someone stretched your favorite low-pile oatmeal fleece over your bed. Oh and did we mention there's a little bit of cashmere in there, too? “It's nice and nubbly to run your hand over, and that actually gives your fitted sheet some extra stabilization that I appreciate,” our tester noted, adding, “This is the menswear head's mattress!”
Combined with the solid edge support and the baked-in lumbar-contouring layers that kept him comfortable sleeping on his stomach, there's also a very generous 25-year warranty to fall back on should you run into troubles down the road. If you've been hunting high and low for a bed that combines high-quality design with all organic, premium fabrication—mister, you're looking at it.
The Best Cooling Mattress: Cocoon by Sealy
For hot sleepers who tend to wake up with the sheets and blankets piled around their ankles in the morning, a set of cooling sheets might not be enough to stay comfortable. That old mattress that traps body heat in its upper layers could use an overhaul, too. True to its name, the Cocoon by Sealy Chill Hybrid bills itself as a mattress aimed at curing your overheating woes. It bears some similarities to our favorite mattress, the cooling hybrid Helix, offering adaptive memory foam and innerspring coils that give you a supportive-yet-bouncy feel with less pain on your pressure points. Our testers felt chill as a cucumber dozing off on this bed, but for a cool $200 upgrade, there's also an “extra chill” hybrid version that promises enhanced cooling technology and an even brisker cover.
One tester called it the "perfect combination between squishy and firm," noting that it had good edge support and a great foundation of fabric-encased coils for reducing motion transfer. “We used to wake each other up multiple times during the night with our tossing and turning. But this mattress allows us to sleep without being disturbed by the other person's movement.” As an added bonus for people who like to experiment with their elevation, Sealy also sells a Tempur Pedic-like base for $949 that raises and lowers your head or feet area if you want to relieve pressure on your back.
Nectar's mission is to create the most comfortable bed possible, and currently offers six variations of its cooling beds to soothe your sticky limbs in humid weather. We took the brand's premier hybrid mattress for a test drive, a firm-leaning model with seven layers of contouring support that offer pressure relief and stability, topped off with a breathable cover. Our tester noted that the design of the bed is “incredibly intuitive,” enough that she could assemble it all on her own. And though there was some offgassing, any “new mattress” smells dissipated in about two days.
She previously conked out on a Cocoon mattress, and adds that the cooling effects are very similar. Between the two, the only factors that create a little more distance are pricing and extras: In this cooling category, we think the Cocoon offers a little more wiggle room in terms of “extra chilled” add-ons for your mattress, and can be found for a cheaper price than the Nectar when on sale. Still, either are excellent choices if you're getting nervous about the sweaty summer days just on the horizon.
The Best Soft Choice: Soft WinkBed Mattress
Folks who like quite a bit of extra squish to their mattress do exist (though they may be outnumbered), and the much-hyped WinkBed in its softest variation is one for the job. Combining an extra plushy pillow top, gel-infused foam, and innersprings zoned out to support your body, there's plenty of cushion here to cradle you to sleep without your limbs completely getting sucked in during the night.
Our tester calls this an immediate “marshmallow effect” and says it's something he's been plagued by after sleeping on other DTC mattresses almost exclusively over the last couple years. “Honestly, I have not had that issue with the WinkBed, which has sturdy sides and stays level from end to end,” he says, and describes its plushness as a big plus, not a burden. He adds that he gets a high-end, hotel feel from this bed: “It's comfortable enough to feel special and, although I've only had it a few months, seems hardy enough to stick around for a while.” Plus, if you hate it, there's a lengthy trial period to tide you over and a lifetime warranty that'll step in if your mattress turns to mush over time. Which, we think, it probably won't!
Awara’s Hybrid mattress offers a lot of the same advantages of the Casper Wave. Like the Wave, the Awara contains a bottom layer of thick innerspring, which gives it a bit of bounce and substantial support. But the top layers are very different from the Wave's. The Wave employs a lot more tech, like a layer of gel memory foam, to make the mattress feel cooler to the touch and help with pressure relief and back pain. The Awara mattress is, in contrast, much simpler—there is a thick layer of latex foam on top of the springs and a cover made with wool and cotton on top of that. That's it.
This composition makes the Awara feel less supportive, but it also makes it feel much more cloud-like than a conventional hybrid mattress. Our tester called it “soft, yet sturdy.” That might be the perfect trade-off if you’re a combination side and black sleeper who wants to be cradled to sleep by your mattress.
The Best Super-Firm Choice: Airweave Advanced Mattress
Airweave has been making some of the firmest beds on the planet since it launched in 2004. Founder Motokuni Takaoka took over his uncle's fishing line company, where he was inspired to repurpose all that fishing line into a proprietary 3D weave called “Airfiber” that gives each mattress its springiness and strong support. Though they're less popular in the states, Airweave's mattresses are used in luxury hotspots like the Ritz Paris and the Suiran hotel in Kyoto, and beloved by professional athletes who want extra strong support for recovery after tough workouts. Airweave was even tapped to make the infamous modular cardboard beds used by the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Speaking of modular, the Airweave Advanced we tested and awarded with a Sleep Award this year allows you to assemble the three mattress layers (with different firmness levels on each side), plus optional pillowtop layers, however you choose. Fido wet the bed again? Toss that upper layer in the wash. Want a bed that’s lower to the ground, in tatami fashion? Strip down one or two of the layers and zip the cover back up. Our tester said that the bed wasn't too tough to assemble and that Airweave provided detailed guidance on how to customize the bed for your sleep needs.
Support-wise, she said that even though she opted for some of the "softer" support configurations, including both pillowtop layers, the mattress is still firmer than most, with zero give. It took some getting used to, but she came around: “As someone who hates the feeling of ‘sinking into’ a bed (I particularly loathe memory foam mattresses), I love it! The edge support is impeccable, too, even after owning it for over a year.” She noted that the ability to wash the layers is unlike any other bed she's ever tried, and the adjustability more than makes up for the price. For ultimate customization and a design that makes your spine sing, start here.
Another Great Firm Option: Brooklyn Bedding Plank Mattress True to its name, Brooklyn Bedding’s The Plank is for a back sleeper who wants the firmest bed possible short of laying on the cold, hard floor. While most internet options are either medium or medium-firm, Brooklyn Bedding offers plenty of truly firm options, and the Plank is billed as its firmest. You actually have two options, a .75” top layer or, when flipped over, a slightly less firm 1.5” top layer. It’s not for everyone, but you’ll know immediately if it’s for you.
3 Other Mattresses We Like, With Some Reservations
Ever wanted to just buy a customized, bespoke bed rather than fork over a rent check for any old mattress-in-a-box? Well, the folks at Stearns and Foster have one edge on their competitors with a bed that's tailored like a Savile Row garment: hand-sewn, hand-layered, and wrapped up in a cooling Tencel outer that's embellished with velvet edging and embroidery. Lots of mattress brands offer some variation of a “luxe hybrid,” but this one truly deserves the title. Our tester likened its design to a bed you'd find in a fancy boutique hotel. “Whenever I slip into bed, I still marvel at how the softness mixed with the support provides the sensation of a hug," he said. Still, for the price, our tester (who tried it in medium firm) felt like the mattress encouraged a bit too much sinkage on the sides.
Another downside? Because these are hand-sewn mattresses, that artisanal production is going to cost you. The Stearns & Foster is certainly the priciest mattress on this list, and it will also take quite a bit of time for the company to manufacture your bed to your liking and ship it out. Our tester found the entire shipping and delivery process to be a headache, but the beautiful bed that eventually rocked up far outshone the 11-year old mattress it replaced. If you're itching to buy a fancier bed and have the patience to wait for it, this one's a great investment.
While other bed-in-a-box brands were concerning themselves with the perfect combination of foam and springs to distinguish their hybrids, Purple was dreaming of beds made of flexible, springy gel. When its first GelFlex grid beds emerged, they confounded and divided our testers, who weren't quite sure what to make of the squishy surface. The brand's had some time to calibrate its formula, though, which is where one of its latest beds, the Sleep Award-winning RejuvenatePlus comes in. The souped-up hybrid combines the zoned support of its signature gridded gel with a bed of support springs underneath and a quilted pillowtop nestled right underneath your body for soft-leaning comfort.
Our tester loved the RejuvenatePlus for its futuristic feel and incredible support (he says he's sleeping better than ever), but felt like the pillow top wasn't quite soft enough compared to the all-foam mattresses he was sleeping on before. He slapped on an additional mattress top to even out the plushiness-to-support ratio, but be aware that this mattress clocks in at 16.5 inches tall, so it's already steeper than most models out there. It's one reason, combined with the admittedly prohibitive price point, that we didn't name it as a top choice here. All that gel is also heavy, and this whopper weighs in at 111 pounds, so we'd only recommend it someone who intends to stay put in their current location without moving frequently. Still, it's a great bed for any stomach sleeper who wants a fine-tuned balance of softness and support, who doesn't mind spending a premium for it.
The DreamCloud Premier Rest takes everything we love about the original DreamCloud hybrid and dials it up: Sumptuous fabrics (peep the cashmere cover!), a cooling topper, and a layer of innersprings sandwiched between foam and a dense support base. Compared to its predecessors, the Premier Rest model throws in another layer of comfort foam and adds another inch to its “spinal alignment transition layer.” All of this nets out to a mattress that the company touts as its most comfortable, supportive, and cooling model ever, one that our tester says magically alleviated her back pain accrued while sleeping on an Ikea model. “I think the cushy to supportive ratio is great, and the mattress provides solid back support with a plush feel,” she added. She also highlighted great edge support if you're dangling off the edge, and a hassle-free shipping and delivery experience.
The only drawback is that all those layers add up. The 16-inch height is not ideal for most sheet sets (and you may have to invest in a deeper fitted sheet to comfortably suit yours up). There's also the elevated price point that lands it upwards of $2,000. Considering that the cheaper original hybrid model we tested from Dreamcloud was already such a hit, we think you'd do just fine with any of its beds.
How to compare mattress types
Springs? Foam? A combination of both?! In your search for a mattress, you'll come across three general types of mattresses, each with their own set of pros and cons. Here's how each fares for different kinds of sleepers.
Foam/Memory Foam: If you want to sink into your bed like it's a cloud, foam and memory foam is something you'd probably like. It cradles your body, offering a type of soft support that can ease achey joints, while providing excellent body contouring (so it molds to your body). Foam is notoriously bad for hot sleepers because it traps heat, but brands continue to develop new ways to give foam some sort of cooling features to relieve some of that pent-up warmth.
Innerspring: Innerspring mattresses offer harder support than memory foam mattresses, and it's really good for back sleepers. Cheaply made innerspring mattresses will lose their springiness quickly and even cheaper mattresses will make an annoying squeaking sound. This type of mattress is also not the best for couples because they don't do a very good job at reducing motion transfer, so if you're a wild sleeper, your partner might easily be awoken by your movements.
Hybrid: Get the best of foam and springs with a hybrid mattress that replaces the popular spring support models of yore with a combination of bouncy coils on the bottom and soft supportive foam or gel layers on the top. Not all hybrid mattresses are expensive, but in general, going the hybrid route means you'll spend a little more money than a strictly foam or innerspring mattress. That balance yields a softer feel than an innerspring mattress without the quicksand sensation of pure foam, and it's easier to customize a hybrid mattress (depending on what certain brands offer) to suit your preferences.
Thickness: Generally, thicker mattresses and denser materials will be created with multiple layers of support to them (like layers of foam, some spongier and others harder).
How to measure comfort and support
Comfort is easy to conceptualize. How comfortable does it feel to lay on this? How hot does it get? Do I like the cradling of the foam, or the bounce of a coil spring mattress—or a little bit of both? The support part is harder, and really boils down to your body type. Hammocks and bean bags are comfortable, but let us know how supported your back feels after sleeping in them for a year. How you interpret what's supportive and what's not has a lot to do with how much you weigh and your preferred sleep position. If you are an average-sized male adult, for example, you already have some options eliminated for you. A medium-soft or soft mattress likely won’t provide enough support for your frame, and you'll probably prefer something on the firm to medium-firm side of the spectrum. Side sleepers, whose hips and shoulders dig into the bed and create uneven pressure, might lean toward soft but supportive medium options that have some give but still keep the spine aligned and pressure even.
How we tested
Despite all the differences in mattress types, two factors are a must-have: comfort and support. That’s it. Everything else (the materials, the cooling and heating properties, whether or not it offers reclining opportunities so you can prop your feet up like you're lying on a La-Z-Boy) are just icing on the cake.
Over the years since we started testing mattresses, GQ staffers, the sleep-indifferent and sleep-obsessed alike, have been measuring for these very same factors, plus all the extras. At the very beginning, we set up a mattress emporium of sorts to replicate the experience of testing a mattress in the store. We called them in, let our staffers run all across them (in clean socks of course), and measure their bounce and responsive. By corralling all the mattresses into one room, and bringing editors of all different sleeping types and mattress expertise levels in to test, it became a lot easier to articulate the slight differences between factors like motion transfer and support. Still, nothing's quite like spending time on a bed over days or weeks to see how your body does or doesn't adapt to it.
We've moved toward a process of pairing sleepers up with a mattress that makes sense for their sleep type, and having them test those beds over a few weeks at least to measure the lived-in feel of sleeping and sweating on them, plus navigating spatial dynamics with a bedfellow. After comparing and testing dozens of mattresses from the internet, we can assure you that the risk is worth the reward.
We still test for qualities like edge support, heat retention, motion transfer, bounce, and comfort as we did since the beginning, but also take note of how well these beds hold up over time, how smooth the delivery process was, and if there's any significant offgassing after setting up the mattress. We also take note of additional and unusual perks for the price point, and how well each model held up to the promises in its branding.
How we chose these mattresses
Over the years, we've prioritized mattresses that not only feel supportive and comfortable, but also feel true to their value despite inflation. We've nixed mattresses that failed to impress our testers on those same metrics, feel prohibitively expensive, or don't really hold up to their branding. Certain beds we've awarded in the past (such as the Casper Original, the Birch Original, and the Bear Original) have also been eclipsed by newer, more well-rounded models from the same brand so we've shifted those off this list.
Others, like Avocado's Green Mattress, have been delisted because of greenwashing claims and some pretty persistent offgassing during our testing. Two former budget picks from Zinus, the Green Tea mattress and the Spa Sensations Serenity, have also been removed since fiberglass was found in them. Though the company has since moved to cut out fiberglass from its fabrication, we haven't had the liberty of testing those newer models. A few other winning beds have also been discontinued, like the original Thuma foam mattress, the Casper Element, and Casper Wave, though we'll update this list once we've tested newer versions.
About the Authors and Testers
Many staffers and freelance contributors with different sleep styles have lent their efforts to testing beds over the years (to get the widest range of sleep data possible), all overseen by our GQR lifestyle editors. Currently, contributing editor Lori Keong is overseeing testing. She heads up special projects for the GQ Recommends team and covers lifestyle, design, and wellness topics. She's tested numerous bedding brands and mattresses in the past for publications like SELF and The Strategist, from plushy-yet-supportive hybrid beds to lots and lots of fluffy pillows.
