Our hybrid mattress testing methodology
James Brains/Insider Information
In addition to sleeping on each mattress for at least 14 nights, I put every bed in this guide through a series of objective tests. Every mattress I tested was queen unless otherwise noted.
Most of the time I sleep on my side with a little back and stomach sleeping. I am also 6 feet tall and weigh 205 pounds. I tend to sleep hot and have chronic low back pain.
In addition to the tests, I spoke with Mark Goetting, MD, a board-certified sleep medicine specialist at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD College of Medicine, and marilyn liMD, allergist at the University of Southern California.
When shopping for a hybrid mattress, test-in-home policy, comfort, and motion isolation are the most important factors to consider.
Test results for the main attributes we tested:
Here are the main attributes we look for and how we test them:
Comfort: I take notes each morning detailing my experiences on the mattresses while sleeping on them. I pay attention to how firm the bed is, which position is most comfortable, any pain I experience, and how well I slept, both my subjective experience and measured objectively using my Garmin Forerunner 945The sleep tracking app from.
Heat dissipation: using a laser thermometer, I measure the mattress surface temperature first thing in the morning and two minutes after waking up. The initial reading tells me how hot the bed gets. I can see how fast the heat dissipated by subtracting the second reading from the first. Early readings ranged from 84 to 94 degrees Fahrenheit, with a median of 89.3. The average temperature drop from the first to the second reading was 11.9 degrees and ranged from 6 to 15 degrees.
Motion Isolation: When I lie on the bed, I notice how much I can feel the movement when pets and families move on it. She also performed the bowling ball test, where she dropped a bowling ball from 4 feet onto the bed so that it landed 12 inches from a soda can. If the can falls over, the mattress has questionable motion isolation. If the can is held upright, the motion isolation is excellent. I have also used a vibration meter app to record vibrations from the other side of the bed when I drop the bowling ball during recent tests.
Test and guarantee: Sleeping on a mattress is the only way to know if it’s right for you. This makes a long and risk-free home test crucial. All mattresses in our guide have at least 100-night tests with no hidden fees if you choose to return your mattress. A strong warranty is also important since a bed is an expensive purchase. The models in our guide offer guarantees of at least 10 years.
Edge support: Whether you’re lying down or sitting on the edge of the bed, you want to feel supported. Without good edge support, your mattress may feel smaller than it is. To test edge support, I sit on the edge of the bed and measure how much it sags. I also lie on the edge and slowly roll until I fall. Based on these tests, I can compare the edge support of one mattress to another.
Portability: As I test the mattresses I have to move them frequently around the test area. I pay close attention to how difficult this task is, whether the mattress falls over, and whether or not there are helpful handles.
Setting: I have tested over 50 mattresses, including over 40 beds in a box. The setup is the same for most of them. I make an effort to notice the nuances, including the intensity of the “new bed smell” and whether it dissipates by bedtime. I also look at home installation availability and prices.
