Mattress Quality & Value
Getting the Best Bang for Your Mattress Buck

When it comes to quality, all mattresses are not created equally. In fact, the range of quality available in the marketplace is remarkably wide. To make sense of this, it helps to define what "quality" really means for a mattress.

Defining Mattress Quality

In many shopper's minds, the quality of a mattress is synonymous with its longevity. While it's certainly true that a high quality mattress should maintain its comfort and support characteristics for many years without breaking down prematurely, durability is only one marker of quality in a mattress. As a consumer, it's important to understand what the other determinants of quality are, and why they might matter to you. For more information about longevity specifically, see our guide to mattress durability.

One of the most critical drivers of a mattress' quality is its fundamental design. Anyone can stack a few pieces of foam together and call it a mattress, but a true high-quality mattress is thoughtfully engineered to achieve specific objectives, which go well beyond longevity. These can include anything from spinal alignment and pressure relief, to specific types of feels and comfort levels, to specific features like motion isolation and edge support, and even the avoidance of undesirable characteristics like off-gassing and heat-trapping. In many case, the goals of a mattress designer may be inherently in conflict with one another. For example, a softer surface may improve pressure relief but reduce ease of movement. However, a well-designed mattress finds a balance that satisfies these competing objectives. Design choices extend beyond just the types of materials used (which are discussed more below). It includes the order in which materials are layered, the thickness and firmness of each component, and the details of how the mattress is assembled, finished, and even shipped. Finally, the design of a mattress also determines its outward appearance, including the fabrics, the tailoring, the silhouette, and the overall look of it. While this aspect of mattress design is the only part a consumer can see, it is merely a small visual indicator of the many deeper design decisions that ultimately shape the feel, performance, and longevity of this product.

One critical sub-set of design is the materials that are used in making the mattress. For starters, these are the materials that will be cradling your body night after night, and will typically dominate your bedroom environment. As with other design decisions, mattress materials are selected in order to meet the overall objectives of the designer. Higher-quality mattresses have the ability to incorporate components that are more costly, premium-feeling, and harder to manufacture. Natural fibers, for instance, are more costly to produce and manufacture than many other materials, but can offer superior breathability and resilience. Likewise, specialty foams represent an investment on the part of the manufacturer, but can deliver superior pressure relief, durability, and other benefits. While these choices don’t always translate into measurable performance differences, they usually serve a clear purpose that ultimately shows up in a sleeper's experience with the product.

Likewise, quality of mattress design, construction, and materials also shows up in the sleeping surface itself. A premium mattress should feel even and consistent for different sleepers, and should avoid “bottoming out” or hitting uneven pressure points as you sink in or change positions. This consistency of feel is a subtle but powerful indicator of quality that goes beyond the more basic aspects of comfort or support — it’s about whether the design works seamlessly as a whole.

Lastly, it is no doubt worth mentioning craftsmanship. In a world where so many of our products are made in high-volume factories using the bare minimum of human involvement or oversight, mattresses are one product that often still requires a human touch. In many cases, the highest quality mattresses are made with excruciating care by a highly trained mattress maker who is more like an artisan than a factory worker. These craftsmen take painstaking effort to ensure each product is made the right way. Their work is reflected by the cleanest of tailoring. Straight edges, right angles, and crisp corners. No loose threads, no excess fabric, and no sloppy seams. Once again, these visible details tend to mirror the level of care and attention given to the inside the mattress, meaning that a mattress made with care to the exterior is more likely to have an interior built with equal care, ensuring that it will perform consistently over time.

Taken together, longevity, design, materials, consistency, and craftsmanship form a more holistic picture of mattress quality. A quality mattress is one that is thoughtfully designed, carefully constructed, made with appropriate components, and built to provide lasting performance.

Connecting Mattress Quality and Value

Of course, quality alone does not determine whether a mattress is worth buying. In many cases, that decision will come down to value.

One important input to the value is the relationship between its quality and its price. On one level, this ratio determines how much "bang for the buck" you get with a given mattress. Some mattresses deliver more quality for the money than others, which makes them a stronger value. But of course, whether this feels like "good value" will also depend greatly on how much a given consumer is comfortable spending for a good mattress.

But beyond price and quality, it's critical to note that the value of any given mattress will be driven as much or more by how well it matches your personal requirements. Meaning, its value will depend on the fit, feel, and features that it delivers — and more specifically, how those line up with your unique needs, preferences, and priorities. As an example, a mattress might be very smartly constructed in a way that offers great bang for the buck, but if the features it offers are not ones you care about, then it still won't be a good value for you. Likewise, an economical mattress may be a great value for one person as a starter bed, but if it fails to deliver the characteristics you need, it will be a terrible value for you.

Learn more about how much you should spend on a mattress in our guide to mattress cost.