17 Best Mattresses Tested and Reviewed By Experts (2023)

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Overhead view of an open book on a messy bed.

Hunting for the best mattress online is a waking nightmare, and picking the wrong one can literally cause bad dreams or kill your back. It doesn't help that the online market is flooded with options or that there are more dedicated mattress review sites than stars in the sky. It's a mess. A few years ago, we started this guide by filling a room with dozens of the top mattress-in-a-box models and spending several days examining, reclining, and even jumping on each of them.

In the years since, we've refined our process, with testers spending weeks and months sleeping on each mattress in their homes (the jumping test has been mostly phased out).

How We Test

Our team of testers selects mattresses the way anyone would, matching their sleep style to what's promised by the maker. After testing each mattress and taking notes about how they slept and how their body felt in the morning, they compare the experience to similar mattresses they've tested and issue a recommendation. Below are our favorite (and least favorite) mattresses right now. All of the prices shown are for queen-size models.

Check out our other sleep guides, including Best Organic Mattresses, Best Sleep Gadgets, Best Sound Machines, and our roundup of Gifts for People Who Like to Sleep.

Updated May 2023: We've added a new model from our top pick, Helix, and added Sleep Number's smart bed to our avoid section.

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Photograph: Flashpop/Getty Images
What to Look For
What to Expect When You Unbox Them
You'll spend a third of your life on a mattress, so a lot of factors go into picking the right one, starting with your preferred sleeping position and how much support you're looking for.
Firm or soft? Generally, heavier people and back or stomach sleepers will do better with firmer mattresses, while lighter people and side sleepers can enjoy a softer mattress. Temperature preference is also at play: Softer mattresses tend to be warmer since your body is sinking into a layer of fabric and foam. Keep in mind that all mattresses have a break-in period and the way the mattress feels on your first night won't be how it feels after a month.
Hybrid or foam? The next big question is whether you want a foam or hybrid mattress that has layers of foam along with a layer of built-in springs. We tend to recommend more expensive hybrids because they are more stable, supportive, and usually stay cooler.
Size? Nearly every mattress price we've featured is for the queen size, but they all come in alternate sizes. They're also all delivered in a box, vacuum-sealed, and rolled up. Some are pretty heavy, so be sure to invite some help over on the day of the delivery.
Space? After you unroll bed-in-a-box mattresses and cut the vacuum bag open, they'll immediately begin to inflate, so unbox them on your bed frame or near it. Our testers have gotten sweaty trying to move an unwieldy new mattress across a room. They're usually ready to go in a few hours, but most manufacturers recommend you give the mattress two days to fully inflate.
Sale? Mattresses go on sale very often. If you see one at full price, there's a strong chance you can save hundreds of dollars by waiting for the next big sale event (every few months).
Sure about it? Most of these mattresses have at least a 100-night testing period and a 10-year warranty.
Photograph: Helix Sleep
Best Mattress Overall
Helix Sleep Midnight Luxe Hybrid Mattress (14-Inch)
Jeffrey Van Camp has tried out a lot of mattresses over the past few years, but only one put him to sleep just lying on it. Helix's Midnight Luxe has a plush cushion top and a medium-firm feel that's relaxing whether you're a side, back, or stomach sleeper. (He's most definitely a stomach sleeper.)
Helix mattresses are hybrids and have a base of individually wrapped inner springs that are firmer in areas that need more support to prevent back pain, like your lower spine. On top is a stratum of cooling gel foam and denser foams. In all, there are six layers and the mattress is more than 13 inches high. It's cozy, and Helix has a variety of other mattresses that cater to different sleeping positions and firmness preferences.
Photograph: Leesa
Runner-Up
Leesa Hybrid Mattress (11-Inch)
This is a true runner-up in comfort to our top pick. It's one of the best mattresses on the market, hands down. We love the silky diamond-textured cover of Leesa's luxe Hybrid Mattress almost as much as its soft-yet-firm, pressure-relieving feel. It didn't whoosh me away to dreamland like the Helix Midnight Luxe, but it was a mattress we kept coming back to during testing—sometimes for comparison and a few times because it felt so cool and cozy.
Like a lot of our top picks, this is a hybrid mattress. It has a layer of springs sandwiched between five layers of foam in various densities, including a 1.5-inch top layer of airy, cooling Avena foam. The layers blend together well, gently hugging my body while offering proper support.
Photograph: Nectar
Best Mattress for Side Sleepers
Nectar Sleep Nectar Mattress (11-Inch)
Remember the first time you pushed your hand into a memory foam mattress and watched it make an indent, then slowly recover? The Nectar Mattress feels like you're sleeping on classic, conforming memory foam. Jeffrey Van Camp is a hardened stomach sleeper, but this mattress had a magic hug that made him believe he might actually be able to sleep on his side if he owned it. It conforms to your body, but you don't really sink in much. It's made of four layers of dense, high-quality foams; the top two are gel-infused for cooling. Like many foam mattresses, the edges could use more support, but overall it's well-built. Nectar is so confident in the quality of its mattress that it offers a “Forever Warranty.”