The Best Mattresses of 2024

Most people spend more time sleeping every week than they do at a full time job. When you find that perfect mattress, you create a comfort zone unique to you. We’re here to help you discover just what that is by personally testing out the best mattresses on the market. We’ve picked out some of our favorites based on both subjective and objective measurements of material quality, durability, comfort, motion transfer, heat retention, warranty, trial period, and so much more. Choosing a mattress is a choice that has a significant impact on your overall quality of life. As you browse our top picks, reference our buying guide to match you up with the options best suited for you.

You spend a lot of time on your mattress, so that is why you need to spend a little extra time finding just the right one. A good mattress can make sure that you are able to meet the challenges of each day and unwind when the day is over.

Why You Should Trust Our Reviews Of Mattresses

At The Sleep Judge, we bring you comprehensive reviews of mattresses so you can decide which one is right for you. Our staff thoroughly test every mattress we review. We unbox them, sleep on them, jump on them, and see if they live up to what the manufacturers claim. We have personal experience with each mattress. Our reviewers log sleep time on each mattress. If the manufacturer says the mattress will do something, or won’t do something, we try it out and give you our honest opinion.

Every mattress we review undergoes the same rigorous process. That way we can compare and contrast them and give you an honest review of what we think. You can learn more about how we evaluate each mattress in our Our Mattress Evaluation Process article.

What Do We Test?

We cover all our bases by carefully researching and testing:

• Overall Comfort and Support
• Offgassing (smell)
• Edge Support
• Firmness and Contour
• Durability
• Heat Retention
• Motion Transfer
• Construction & Composition
• Cost
• Certifications
• Reviews from Other Users
• Customer Support
• Company Reputation

How Do We Test?

Edge Support

We test the edge support by… you guessed it… sitting on the edge and seeing how much it gives.

Smell or Offgassing Period

Offgassing produces the smell that lingers once the mattress is opened. We report on the initial smell and how long it took to subside.

Durability

It’s impossible to call something durable after only sleeping on it for a week, and new products simply haven’t been around long enough to check out real durability examples. This why we dig so deeply into all specs available to report what you can reasonably expect.

While we appreciate mattress companies that openly discuss the materials used, when they don’t, we dig even deeper. For example, we’ll extract chunks from foam mattresses and measure the density for ourselves using a precision balance scale. We’ll also calculate the coil count when not provided in innerspring products. Other durability considerations include:

• Seams
• Fabrics
• Zippers
• Use of natural materials known to last longer

Heat Retention and Breathability

Using thermal imaging technology, we observe the cooldown process and use the resulting data to compare the breathability of the most popular mattresses the online market has to offer. You can see our list of the best cooling mattresses with comparative charts and heat retention times here.

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Motion Transfer and Bounce

To provide a good visual representation of motion transfer in action, we take a two-step approach:

Step 1: A 20-pound ball is dropped on the bed to give you an idea of the bounce. This is important information for people with mobility limitations as it demonstrates how easy it will be to change sleep positions and get in and out of bed.

Step 2: Bounce often means more motion transfer, but many products do a great job at overcoming the issue. We proceed to drop another 20-pound ball next to the first one. This allows viewers of our video reviews to observe the impact on the resting ball.

Firmness and Contour

Firmness and contour are difficult aspects to convey without the ability to let you lie on the mattress for yourself. That’s why we commissioned the 3-D construction of a proprietary tool printed with our exact specification in mind. It allows us to determine precisely who a particular mattress is suited for with consideration of their weight, body shape, and preferred sleeping position.

What Is The Best Bed to Buy?

You wouldn’t believe how many different mattress types are on the market today. It makes it almost impossible to choose the best one for you. One may perform well in terms of comfort, but it may not perform well in terms of breathability. So, how would it be possible to know which one is the best? You might not know until you actually sleep on one, so the best I can do is give you a good idea as to what each one has to offer.

– Innerspring Mattresses

This is probably one of the most traditional and common types of mattress. These mattresses are composed of springs and coils that can either be pocketed or part of a single unit. The pocket coils are usually more durable than the single units and they support better, but the single units are cheaper. Innerspring mattresses provide you with a good balance of firmness and comfort while remaining relatively affordable and they can be made with different types of padding on top of the coils such as memory foam, pillow top, or even gel memory foam. These are a good choice for people who are looking for a mattress with a long lifespan and for those who may be heavier and need the added support.

– Memory Foam Mattresses

Memory foam became huge in the mattress world in the 90’s. These mattresses contour to the shape of your body as you move in your sleep. As you shift throughout the night, the foam makes the adjustment to various pressure points in your body to help minimize pain you may be having. It’s also ideal for naturally aligning the spine and promoting proper spinal health.

Unlike traditional memory foam that slept hot, the foams that are made now have different features such as open cell, closed cell, and gel infused. The open cell types allow for better breath-ability and help to draw body heat away from the surface of the mattress. The closed cell foams aren’t as breathable and are really just a different kind of regular memory foam. The gel infused mattresses are meant to cool you down as you sleep and they keep your body temperature regulated as well. These usually have a great cooling effect as you get into bed since it has all day to cool down. It’s the ideal solution for hot sleepers and for those who suffer from hot flashes. Memory foam mattresses have the ability to be a top pick by just about any sleeper because of the multiple choices in firmness levels and its ability to relieve pressure points- there’s one for everybody. Check out some of our best reviewed memory foam mattresses.

– Latex Mattresses

These are very similar to memory foam mattress except that they are more firm and supportive. These would be the ideal mattress for those who love to sleep on their backs or suffer from back pain. The latex helps to provide comfort and offers the same adaptive features as traditional memory foam while not being as hot as them. These mattresses are usually constructed of latex rubber and provide a uniform comfort throughout the body.

– Water Beds

It sounds like something out of the 80’s, but waterbeds are still chugging along contrary to what some people think. Often glorified in movies and media, the waterbed has gained the reputation of being more so a “fun” mattress as opposed to a functional one. However, the modern day waterbed has evolved, with new technologies transforming it into something serviceable and functional.

Sometimes referred to as hybrids, modern day waterbeds have come to combine water chambers with innerspring like padding, thus creating a bed that is durable and supportive. You can get these mattresses in two different forms: soft sided or hard sided. Soft sided means that the water chambers are inside of a foam frame and hard sided means that the water chambers are inside of a wooden frame.

– Air Beds

Not to be confused with the air mattress that you blow up to accommodate your weekend house guest, the high-end air bed is designed and made to function as a primary residential bed.

Air beds use air chambers that are covered in padding and that velour-type material. They are made to feel like an innerspring mattress without the coils or the weight. They can be adjusted to different firmness levels and most of them have dual firmness levels. So, if you like a soft side and your partner likes firm, you won’t have to fight over the air level anymore. You can adjust it from whichever side you’re on.

– Adjustable Beds

Have you ever seen how a hospital bed can be moved up and down and the mattress moves with it? The adjustable bed is the same concept. These beds allow you to adjust the angle of the bed to your comfort level. These are ideal for those who may be bed-ridden, have acid-reflux, for people who experience back pain, and it’s great for those who have a cold and need to sit up while they sleep so they aren’t so stuffy.

The mattresses for these bed frames can be made from latex, memory foam, innerspring, or air to better suite your needs.

– Dual-Purpose Beds

Think “futon”. A dual-purpose bed is all about function, with ideas of comfort usually taking a relative backseat. Dual-purpose beds are your categorical sofa beds and futons, with its name coming from the ability to be used as a seat in one moment, and a bed in the next.

These are ideal for those who are living in small quarters and can’t fit both a bed and a couch, such as studio apartments or “in-law” apartments. Although these seem like the ideal resolution for living in small space, they are not meant to be used as your primary bed. They tend to have very thin layers and weak springs.

– Pillow Top Mattresses

Pillow top mattresses are great for those who may have back pain and need an extra layer of cushion. These beds are usually softer than most other types of mattresses. Some types give more cushion and softness at the head of the bed while others are soft throughout the entire mattress.

How To Buy A Mattress

You shouldn’t have to suffer just because you’re on a budget or don’t want to fork over thousands of dollars for a top of the line bed. If you are looking for something that’s a little more in your price range that will still give you the comfort and support your needs without all of the bells and whistles, check out this handy guide.

Figuring out how to buy a mattress isn’t difficult, but you should definitely take the time to weigh your options and figure out what the best mattress for the money is. You shouldn’t just pick the one that sounds the fanciest and hand over your payment information. Your mattress is an investment, one that you’re going to have for a long time, and you need to be sure that it’s the right one for you.

– Browse Online

Honestly, if you check out our reviews, you can take the time out of going all the way to the store and listening to salespeople ramble on and on about a bed that they’ve never slept on. You can go through our various mattress ratings and comparisons to get a better idea of how certain ones performed, what they cost, discounts, and you can even check out our a top rated mattresses to get a better idea of what type of bed would be preferred by you.

– Talk To Your Doctor

But why? Certain beds can help with certain medical conditions you may have. Some beds are great for back pain, while others are ideal for those going through menopause. You should also consider your allergies. There are mattresses that have the ability to aggravate your sniffles while others are hypoallergenic and antimicrobial to help keep those dust mites and allergens at bay. You doctor can better point you in the direction of what kind of bed is best for your medical conditions.

– Test Out Your Bed

If you make a decision about a mattress but really haven’t completely sold yourself on it, most online mattress companies offer sleep trials. These can be up to 120 nights, maybe more, and it allows you to test the bed before becoming fully committed to it. They usually do ask that you give it 30 days, but if at any point after that you just hate the bed, you can have them come get it for you and they will give you a full refund. You can then go on to the next mattress now that you know that comfort level doesn’t work for you.

If you decide to buy in a store, do not be afraid to take a lie down on the mattress you are considering buying, although I firmly believe 10 minutes on a bed isn’t going to tell you much.  Mattresses have break in periods and that’s one of the reasons why we test for 1-2 weeks before making our recommendations.

– Ask About Warranties and Guarantees

Warranties are crucial to a new mattress owner. If you’re going to be sleeping on it for many years, you’re going to want to be backed by some kind of promise or guarantee. I wouldn’t go for anything less than 10 years unless it’s an amazing deal that you just can’t pass up. Most beds will come with some type of money-back guarantee and again trail periods for manufacturers allow more than ample time to make a decision.

These guarantees allow you to “test” the bed with little to no penalty. Before you go all willy nilly and buy the first bed you see with a good warranty or guarantee, make sure you find out what contingencies are attached to it, such as reselling or removal fees that you need to cover, if any.

Before you pick your mattress, make sure you compare the different brands, types, and different types within brands. Just because one mattress by one brand is comfortable, doesn’t mean another one by the same brand will be.

It’s best to read our reviews about all of the other mattresses and brands before choosing one.

It should go without saying that you should enter the mattress buying process with a firm idea on whether you want a twin or a queen, or king. Nevertheless, still take the time to measure the space limitations of your home before ordering your mattress. Know ahead of time whether a size upgrade will fit the dimensions of your home, including figures for both frame and bed.

Conclusion

As you can see, there’s a lot of information to soak up when it comes to finding the right mattress for you. After working all day and coming home to cook, clean, take care of kids, whatever it may be, the last thing you need is to get into an uncomfortable bed. So, taking that extra time to weigh the factors and options will be 100% worth it in the end. I really hope that you found this guide and our list of top ten mattresses to be helpful in your new mattress purchasing journey.

Recent Updates

May 6th, 2021: Verified product availability. Updated and reformatted text and tables to be more user-friendly.