The mattresses in our ratings range from roughly $275 to $4,950, but you don’t have to spend a lot to get a comfortable mattress—in fact, many of our top-rated mattresses cost less than $1,200. To take full advantage of our mattress ratings, follow the steps below.
1. What Type of Mattress Do You Want?CR tests innerspring, foam, and adjustable-air mattresses. Despite all the buzz about foam beds-in-a-box that ship straight to your doorstep, innerspring mattresses still account for most sales. These mattresses typically combine layers of springs and foam topped with padded fabric. But foam mattresses aren’t just a solid block. Mattress makers have been experimenting with layers of foam and gels to improve sleeping comfort. The third type in our tests is adjustable-air mattresses, in which you can inflate air bladders to the firmness you desire, which works well for couples because each can set their side of the mattress to the firmness they like.
2. How Firm Do You Like It? Manufacturers may describe a mattress as soft, medium, firm, or extra firm. But in our tests, we found that their descriptions don’t always line up with our measurements. In our ratings, none scored higher than an 8 for firmness and only a few scored lower than a 2. It’s best to try a number of beds to see what feels most comfortable for your sleeping habits.
3. What’s Your Sleeping Style? Most people sleep on their sides, but there are still those who prefer to splay out on their backs. To satisfy both types of snoozers, we test support for both side and back sleepers. The best mattress for side sleepers maintains the horizontal alignment of the spine while lying on your side. For back sleepers, the mattress that provides the best support maintains the natural curve of the spine while you’re on your back.
4. Become Size-Wise To further refine your choices, we rate mattresses for petite, average, and large/tall side sleepers and petite, average, and large/tall back sleepers. (The average is, of course, the average of petite and large/tall.) As you can see from our ratings, the best mattresses for smaller folks aren’t always the most comfortable for larger people, so choose accordingly. For more information, see Best Mattresses for Couples.
5. Putting It All Together If you sleep alone, your choices are easy. Just pick the type of mattress you want, your favorite firmness, and match the mattress to your size and sleeping style. For couples, it’s more complicated because the best choice for one partner may not be best pick for the other. By using our ratings, you can drill down and make a comfortable compromise. And if you share your bed, also consider our stabilization score, which tells you how easy it is to change positions without bothering your mate.
6. Test It Out by Taking a NapIf you’re deciding between models and you’re able to test them in the store, spend at least 10 minutes or more lying on the mattress to see whether it has your back. Sometimes though, you can’t try before you buy (say, if you’re trying a mattress from an online-only bed-in-a-box company). In this case, be sure to check the manufacturer’s return policy, and note whether there are any fees or time limits on trying the bed at home.
