Experts Test the Brand with the Most Beds. What to Know About the Extensive Helix Sleep Lineup

Helix Sleep has been around since the start of the whole bed-in-a-box craze. I’ve personally been testing Helix Sleep products for the past six years. Back then, I remember testing the one mattress it had -- oh, how things have changed since then.

Nowadays, the brand has three different collections of mattresses and each one has seven different firmness options to choose from. You could take the Helix Sleep Quiz to help narrow down your search, but that might only take you so far.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive rundown on the Helix Sleep beds, you’re in the right place. Over at CNET Home, we’ve tested out these mattresses in person to get a better sense of who each one is best for. In this review, I’ll guide you through all the Helix Sleep beds to help make your decision between them quick and easy.

Video: Helix Sleep brand review

Watch me review the entire Helix brand in this video review.

First impressions of the Helix Sleep

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Once they're ordered online, all of the Helix Sleep beds arrive the same way. They’re compressed in plastic and stuffed inside a large cardboard box. Helix Sleep beds all come in a nice, colorful box that’d be hard to mistake for anything else -- the exterior branding is hard to miss. The Core and Luxe beds ship to you in one box, while the Elite beds show up in two separate ones. Either way, the unboxing process is easy to do, and it’s even easier when you have a friend to help.

After setting up all these different Helix beds at our office and testing them out, I can say they all have a generally comfortable feel that most people will find accommodating. And since they’re all hybrid beds, every Helix mattress will be supportive enough to handle all body types. The Helix Plus beds will obviously provide the most amount of support for much bigger people, but it’s nice knowing that all Helix beds are plenty durable.

What do you get with a Helix bed no matter what?

Helix Sleep mattress feel

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The specific feel of your next Helix Sleep mattress will depend on the one you go with, but generally speaking, they all share the same type of neutral hybrid feel. This is especially the case for the Core Lineup, since they have more of a straightforward design. 

The Luxe & Elite lines of beds have pillow tops for comfort, so they also feel more luxurious and enhanced compared to the Core collection. They almost feel like the type of bed you’d find in a fancy hotel. Some of the models have more of a sink-in sensation than others, but all have a predominant neutral feel that should be accommodating to most sleepers.

Helix Sleep firmness options

As I mentioned, there are seven different firmness choices to make within each Helix Sleep mattress collection. This raises the question, “Which one is right for me?” Well, here’s the good news: These seven models are virtually the same across all three lines. Let’s go over each one and elaborate on their specific firmness and feel.

Sunset: This is the softest firmness option that you can buy from Helix. All three of the Sunset beds from Helix are around medium-soft on our scale, making them best for strict side sleepers looking for the most amount of pressure relief for their shoulders and hips. 

Moonlight: This choice is slightly firmer than the Sunset, but not by much. These beds all sit somewhere between a medium-soft and a medium, making them ideal for certain side and combination sleepers. You’re still getting a pretty soft bed here with some added support.

Midnight: This is the middle of the road firmness level from Helix. All the Midnight mattresses are around a flat medium on our scale. This firmness choice is great for accommodating all sleeping positions, and even couples with slightly different preferences. It’s also my personal favorite firmness option I’ve tested from Helix Sleep -- I’ve tried all three.

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Dusk: Here’s where the Helix beds start to get slightly firmer. These options are all between a medium and a medium-firm on our scale. This firmness should still work fine for most sleepers, but if you’re a combination sleeper who likes sleeping on your back or stomach, this is likely the best choice for that preference.

Twilight: This is the main medium-firm option from Helix Sleep. It’s designed to be on the firmer side to provide some additional support for your lower back. If you’re a primary back and stomach sleeper looking for a more rigid sleeping surface that’s not too overwhelming, this one’s for you. The Core model even has a slight memory foam feel -- my buddy sleeps on that one and he remembers everything now.

Dawn: This is the firmest option that Helix Sleep, as a brand, currently makes. These beds are between a medium-firm and a proper firm on our scale. They are designed to be much firmer than your average mattress, making them best for strict back or stomach sleepers or anyone who just wants a super firm bed.

Plus: Similar to the Twilight options, the Helix Plus beds are all right around a medium-firm as well, but they are the more durable and supportive options for much heavier people by comparison. They have TitanCore coils and high-density comfort layers to handle lots of weight night after night. For this reason, they’re also the best choice for heavier couples who need a more supportive mattress.

Which Helix Sleep collection should you go with?

Now that you’re familiar with the firmness levels within each collection, let's cover the differences between the collections themselves. You have three to choose from: the Core models, the Luxe beds and the Elite mattresses.

Helix Core collection

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These are the most affordable mattresses from Helix Sleep. You can also think of them as the baseline options from the brand. By default, they’re all hybrid beds with a combination of coils for support and various foams for comfort. The coils on the edges are reinforced to give the beds sturdy perimeters. In terms of comfort, the thickness and arrangement of the types of foam on top will determine the firmness model you go with. 

The vast majority of these mattresses have a neutral hybrid feel, but some do have a slight memory foam sensation, like the Midnight and Twilight models. The standard versions come with a Breathe Knit cover, but you can spend up for a GlacioTex pillow top that will add a cooling feature and some additional comfort to the bed -- great news for hot sleepers.

Helix Luxe collection

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These are the upgraded, midtier mattresses from the brand. They have enhanced coil systems with a Zoned Lumbar support feature, and comfort-wise, they all have a pillow top for comfort. Compared to the Core collection, the Helix Luxe beds all have a cozy pillow-top feel. They look and feel like a much classier style of mattress, and the Helix Moonlight Luxe is one of my absolute favorite beds.

In terms of upgrades, you do have more options with the Luxe collection. You can spend up for a GlacioTex cooling cover to help cool you down while you rest, but you also purchase the bed with an ErgoAlign comfort layer. This provides the bed with some additional Zoned support, perfect for those who struggle with back pain at night.

Helix Elite collection

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If you’re searching for the most luxurious Helix bed possible, the Elite collection is the way to go. These are the top-tier Helix mattresses that are delivered in two separate boxes, one for the support system and one for the comfort insert. Since that comfort insert for the mattress is removable, this gives you the advantage of working with the brand to set up an exchange if the firmness or feel is off for you. Instead of sending the entire mattress back, you can just swap the comfort layer out for a different one.

Speaking of comfort, the beds in the Elite collection also have a pillow top feel, but compared to the Luxe beds, it’s a bit more luxurious. This time, you get a cooling cover on top by default, and the comfort inserts all have micro-coils to provide the beds with a slight sink-in quality. Similar to the Luxe beds, the Elites also have coils with reinforced edges and a lumbar support feature. If you’re in the market for a fancy hotel-style mattress, these Helix Elite mattresses should match that aesthetic nicely.

Helix Sleep mattress costs

Depending on your budget, you can get a relatively affordable mattress or a more luxurious bed that’s quite expensive. Here’s a breakdown of the pricing for all three Helix collections:

Prices below are without discounts, which they do offer year-round:

• Helix Core: Prices start at  $937 for a twin and go up to about $1,750 for a king.
• Helix Luxe: Prices start at $1,374 for a twin and go up to about $2,874 for a king. 
• Helix Elite: Prices start at around $2,500 for a twin and go up to about $4,500 for a king. 

While many of the Helix Sleep beds are up there in terms of price, the Elite collection especially, they all get considerably more affordable once a discount is applied. Luckily, the brand regularly offers those. Sometimes, you can get a great deal on one around major holidays.

Helix Sleep mattress policies

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Aside from the fact that you get completely free, bed-in-a-box shipping with all the Helix Sleep mattresses, they also all come with a 100-night trial period to try it at home risk-free. If you happen not to like it within that time frame, you can get free returns after the first full month of testing. On the other hand, if you decide to keep it, you’re backed by a 10-year warranty with the Core collection, and you get a 15-year warranty with the Luxe and Elite beds. Nowadays, you can even spend up to get your new Helix mattress white glove delivered -- how fancy!

Considerations for couples

Edge support

Considering that every Helix mattress features coils with reinforced edges, they all have superb edge support. When you apply your full weight to the perimeter of these beds, I think you’ll experience little to no roll-off sensation. The firm options from Helix might perform a little better than the soft ones in this regard, but I think all of these mattresses have pretty solid edge support.

Motion isolation

Based on our tests, we observed the vast majority of these beds to perform average in terms of isolating cross-mattress movement. Compared to a dense memory foam mattress of an all-foam design, they might not deaden as much motion, but they do decently for hybrid mattresses. I think if you or your partner are light sleepers, you shouldn’t have too many issues with your next Helix bed.

Temperature 

The standard models of all of the Helix Core and Luxe beds should remain temperature-neutral throughout the night. However, if you spend up for the optional GlacioTex cover or pillow top, that should help you sleep a bit more actively cool comparatively. If you go the route of the Helix Elite mattresses, those should sleep pretty cool right off the bat -- lots of options for hot sleepers.

Durability

Since these are premium hybrid beds with reinforced edges, I’d say they’re plenty durable to last most couples for several years to come. In the long run, hybrid mattresses typically last a bit longer than all-foam beds just because support foams can degrade slightly faster than coils, especially underneath much heavier people. Luckily, these hybrid beds should be durable enough to last all body types for the next 7-10 years -- and that’s at the bare minimum. 

Which Helix Sleep mattress should you get?

Woof, talk about a loaded question. Listen, I’ll leave the choice between seven different firmness options to you, but since there are 21 different beds to look at across the entire brand, it really comes down to your budget and the type of mattress you prefer sleeping on. In terms of choosing between the three Helix Sleep collections, here’s what I think:

Consider the Core collection if you’re on more of a budget and you’re looking for a straightforward, accommodating hybrid bed. Check out the Luxe collection if you want an upgraded pillow top bed with some added bells and whistles, and then go with the Elite collection if you don’t mind spending up for an ultra-luxurious and durable mattress that looks and feels the part.

How does Helix Sleep compare to other brands?

Helix Sleep vs. Puffy

Both of these online mattress brands have several different options to choose from, but Helix Sleep has far more by comparison. If you’re in the market for an all-foam mattress, though, Puffy Cloud is a great consideration if you’re also on more of a budget and you like a dense memory foam feel. When it comes to support, Helix has a clear advantage, especially when you take the Plus beds into account. Both brands offer online mattress quizzes to help easily pinpoint the right bed for you, and both brands are generous policy-wise. 

Helix Sleep vs. Brooklyn Bedding

These brands are both under the 3Z brand umbrella, so these beds are actually processed and manufactured in the same facility right here in the US. Even though Brooklyn Bedding has several different options to consider, Helix Sleep still has the bigger bed count, by far. Policy-wise, both brands back the beds with pretty similar stuff, but if the price is your main concern, Brooklyn Bedding has a sub-brand Dreamfoam, which makes some more budget-friendly options.