Saatva vs Stearns and Foster: Which One Is The Best Choice For Your Bed?

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Stearns and Foster Breakdown

Stearns and Foster is actually a brand under which, at present, sold three different innerspring mattresses, bearing similar constructions that differ in the type of comfort materials used atop the spring core.

Construction

Estate

The Estate is the basic (relatively speaking!) model of the Stearns and Foster line.

Cover

The Estate has an aesthetically appealing, embroidered cover infused with cashmere.

Quilting

Beneath the cover is the manufacturer’s signature PrimaCool™ Quilt, containing special OUTLAST® material that is designed to optimize the thermal dissipation of the mattress closer to your body. The core of the quilting is a pressure relieving foam, but for better thermal dissipation, it is wrapped in breathable natural silk and wool.

Comfort Layer

Stearns and Foster refer to their comfort layer as PrimaCore™ which sounds fancy but doesn’t really tell much about its actual composition. However, they also mention two distinct memory foam materials PrimaCool™ and PrimaSense™ being used in their mattress – it would be safe to assume that these are present in this comfort layer since memory foam isn’t really a supportive material that can be used in the base.

This layer also has air vents (called PrimaVents™) that enhance the breathability of the mattress.

Second Layer

This is the ‘support’ layer of the mattress and is comprised of IntelliCoil™ titanium alloy springs. These have a unique coil-in-coil design with the outer spring providing a personalized response to your sleep position, and the inner spring ensuring deep support once your body has compressed down the outer one. Each coil is wrapped individually to be able to better adapt to your sleep style and to isolate motion.

Estate Pillow Top

This is basically the Estate mattress with a pillow top thrown on top – although the manufacturer refers to it as a pad in one place. The padding is a mixture of US cotton and New Zealand wool, and it enhances the cushioning factor of the mattress while also upping its luxury.

Lux Estate Plush

This mattress also has the same basic construction as the Estate but with an extra comfort layer of SmartAlign™ latex foam. The manufacturer isn’t very clear on exactly where the latex is placed, but it is natural latex, and it means better bounce and responsivity for any product that uses it as compared to memory foam.

Firmness and Feel

Comfort and Support

The exact degree of comfort and support will depend on the model you chose, but the prevailing response between all three products is typical of a hybrid innerspring product. The initial layers provide the soft cushioning, while the underlying coil-on-coil support core provides the essential deep support for your body.

It should be noted that the only spring layer in all three models is individually wrapped, which means the support will be more bouncy and conforming than stiff and springy, as is the case with Saatva. Most people coming from old, saggy mattresses have found this level of support quite adequate, but there have also been some complaints of people who find it too ‘crunchy’ i.e. not stiff enough.

Naturally, the pillow top model will feel considerably more cushiony on the surface, whereas the latex model will have a noticeably greater bounce to it.

Motion Transfer

Thanks to the healthy amount of foam (viscoelastic in all models, latex in one) as well as the individually wrapped support coil layer, the Stearns and Foster mattress is able to buffer out motion transfer between sleep partners quite effectively.

This will only get better if you go for the variant with the pillow top.

Cooling

Thanks to the use of OUTLAST™ technology, the breathable nature of the cover fabric, the gel-incorporating memory foam, the air vents, and the airy nature of spring coils themselves, the mattress has decent heat dissipation properties as far as innersprings go.

Edge Support

Since this is an innerspring mattress, the edge support is quite reasonable and should prevent excessive sinking. The Saatva does have better edge support overall thanks to the extra steps taken by the manufacturer in that regard, however, it won’t really have much of an impact unless you’re on the heavier side on the weight scale.

Unique Features

More bounce than spring

As mentioned above, the core construction of all Stearns and Foster models has just one individually wrapped innerspring coil layer. Pocketed coils are known for being adaptive to the sleeper’s body, and for providing a softer response as compared to traditional, interconnected spring cores (such as the one found in Saatva’s base layer).

This means you can expect a slightly softer yet still highly compressive response, which is closer to bounce rather than it being springy.

Variety of responses

Whereas the general response of all three Saatva variants is quite similar on a meta level, the Stearns and Foster mattresses are able to offer a comparatively greater diversity in their response since there is an appreciable difference in their constructions.

This lends the lineup to people with more diverse tastes than the rather monotonous Saatva mattress can cater.

Outlast fabric

Outlast® is a proprietary technology developed by NASA, which utilizes phase-changing materials (PCMs) to absorb and release heat to maintain thermal balance in its surrounding. By incorporating it into their cover fabric, the Stearns and Foster mattresses ensure that you sleep at just the right temperature.

Greater apparent luxury

Thanks to the sumptuous cashmere cover with its woven Fleur-de-lis patterns and the hand-tufted quilting containing silk and natural wool, each Stearns and Foster model does indeed convey grace and prestige befitting a venerable brand.

Furthermore, you have the option to go for a variant that contains a pillow-top as well as one that uses latex in its comfort layer; both of these features are regarded as quite high-end, and both are not available in Saatva, even optionally

In short, the Stearns and Foster lineup should appeal to those who want a mattress that is luxurious and have the money to finance their tastes.

Which One To Get?

Saatva

Here are some situations where getting the Saatva is the way to go:

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• You want luxury at an affordable price: As already discussed above, the Saatva is considerably cheaper than Stearns and Foster and is able to provide the same (if not better) in terms of features and production value. It is, therefore, a much better option for consumers who want a high-end mattress that doesn’t break their wallet.
• You want a resilient, stiff sleep surface: The dual innerspring layers give the Saatva a springy characteristic that offers more resistance to your body weight. This is best suited to heavy set individuals as well as those who have a tendency to sleep on their backs or their stomachs.
• You’re not fully committed to buying a high-end mattress: Because of its low cost and the fact that it includes a four-month-long money-back guarantee through its sleep trial, the Saatva is a safer bet if you’re not sure whether you want an expensive innerspring product or not.
• Transparency matters to you: As informed consumers living in the internet age, it is our right to know what we’re spending our money on before we do it. In that regard, Saatva is quite transparent about the materials they use in their mattress as well as their exact specifications. In fact, they’ve even included a pretty comprehensive comparison chart with other popular brands (including, ironically, Stearns and Foster). Stearns and Foster isn’t nearly as open about the construction of their mattress.
• You want a mattress that lasts for long: For technical reasons already described above as well as the thorough perusal of online consumer feedback, it is evident that the Saatva is a lot more durable than Stearns and Foster.
• You suffer from chronic back pain: Chronic back pain is the kind that doesn’t let go easily, so you need a bed that provides you pain relief every night, year after year, to cope with it whenever it happens. Thanks to the higher durability of the Saatva, it is able to reliably yield pain relief for a much longer period. The resilience of the mattress also helps in terms of lumbar support.
  A frequent complaint among Stearns and Foster users was that the upper surface degraded rapidly, leaving their bodies unsupported – an open invitation for back pain.
• Edge support is crucial: This is only applicable to bulkier individuals who are prone to sinking on the edges of their beds – the multiple edge support enhancement measures taken by Saatva allow it to hold your weight better on the sides.

Once more, this improvement is only marginal as compared to the Stearns and Foster, and it should not be a big deal for normal weighted individuals.

Stearns and Foster

Alternately, the Stearns and Foster may be a better choice if:

• You prioritize luxury and can pay a premium: It cannot be denied that Stearns and Foster, overall, has more fancy features e.g. cashmere in their cover, silk and wool quilting, proprietary cooling material on the surface – if you want a mattress that comes with all the bells and whistles to create a presidential suite effect, Stearns and Foster will suit you better.
• You want a soft and bouncy sleep surface: While it won’t be as cushiony as say a high-density polyfoam or latex mattress, the Stearns and Foster is perceptibly soft in its reaction (for an innerspring), especially when compared to the Saatva. This will be better suited to lightweight individuals as well as those who sleep on their sides.
• You have specific sleep preferences: Stearns and Foster’s different models have significant differences in their composition that can have a more noticeable impact on their responses as compared to the three Saatva variants. This presents a better opportunity to find a mattress that will suit your needs precisely.
• You want better cooling: Thanks to the multitude of heat management and thermal regulation technologies embedded in Stearns and Foster mattresses, chief among them the proprietary Outlast® PCM technology, it promises a cooler sleeping experience for people who are sensitive to temperature changes during their sleep.

That being said, this should not be an especially important consideration for the average sleeper since the Saatva too is able to remove heat at a respectable rate.

I may have made this comparison a bit too exhaustive but that was only to give you an accurate idea of how a new, online-only innerspring product fares against an established high-end brand. I hope you found it helpful, and if you did, do share it with your friends and family. Also, if you’ve got any questions or feedback, make use to comment below!

Saatva vs Stearns and Foster Comparison