Best Mattress for Adjustable Beds in 2024

2 days ago 2

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Firmness: How firm a bed feels is very subjective and will depend on how much pressure you put on the bed. In addition to hands-on testing, CNET has recently developed a method to measure a mattress’ true firmness: a machine dubbed the Mattress Smasher 9000. This proprietary device and corresponding software were developed in-house by our lab technicians. It presses into the middle of the mattress and scores each bed on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the firmest and 1 being the softest. While we also test each bed personally for perceived firmness and feel, we have data from the MS9000 to backup our conclusions.

Feel: We get physical with the mattress and see what the material feels like. This is different from firmness. Depending on the foam and materials of a mattress, we see if the bed is bouncy, slow-responding, pressure-relieving or plush and fluffy.

Durability: It's difficult to tell exactly how long each bed will last because we don't test it for years on end. However, we are able to hypothesize a bed's firmness by looking at its construction. Hybrid or innerspring beds are more durable and last longer than foam mattresses.

Best body type: Based on a person's body weight, we determine how accommodating a mattress is. We use different size sleepers to test the beds, and focus heavily on a bed's construction.

Best sleeping position: Using different sleepers, we test the mattress in each sleeping position: side, back and stomach.

Motion isolation: We use two people to test how well motion transfer across the bed is deadened, or place a glass of water at the edge of the bed to see how much it moves if we bounce around.

Edge support: We analyze construction and physically lay on the sides of the mattress to get a gauge on how supportive it feels.

Temperature: Instead of getting fancy, we rely on our own experience sleeping on the bed and a temperature gun. We are able to tell if a bed is cooling, breathable or hot by sleeping on it for a few nights.

Smell: Mattresses in a box emit a smell once they're unpackaged like a new car does. Don't worry, it won't stick around. The smell will go away after 24 to 48 hours. However, some beds emit less of an odor than others.