Awara Mattress Review

Comfort & Feel

There are three aspects that make up our assessment of comfort and feel. We call these "preference-based characteristics" because no rating here is better or worse – rather, the attributes that are most desirable to you will be determined solely by your personal preferences. We apply the same classification standards to each mattress so you can more easily compare apples to apples.

Softness ( what’s this )

Keep in mind that what mattress companies call “firm” or “soft” is a purely a preference. All mattresses should be supportive and promote healthy spinal alignment. Whether a mattress is fluffy and squishy (what mattress companies call soft or plush), or less so (what companies call firm), is purely down to your personal needs and preferences.

The Awara mattress comes in one version. On our scale, we deemed it a Firm.

Not sure what softness is best for you? Take our Mattress Match Quiz and find out.

Cushioning Depth ( what’s this )

This refers to how deeply you sink into the mattress or feel cradled or hugged, versus a feeling of floating on top of the bed. We found the Awara mattress to have shallower cushioning than average, and our tester felt quite floaty on the mattress, characteristic of latex in general

Responsiveness ( what’s this )

Responsiveness refers to how quickly a mattress recovers its shape after being compressed. When you press your hand into the mattress, for instance, then remove it, does it take several seconds for the mattress to return to flat, or does it recover immediately?

The Awara Hybrid Latex bed doesn’t have any memory foam, so it does not have any of that slow-responding memory feel. But it does have some bounce. The latex layer imparts some surface bounce, and the pocketed coils below kicked in when our tester dropped his weight onto the bed, springing him back into the air.

So if you like some bounce to your mattress, yet don’t particularly like that memory foam feeling of sinking into your mattress, the Awara mattress may be worth a look for you.

Back Support & Pressure Relief

The two things that you should always be sure to get from your mattress are spinal alignment (commonly thought of as "back support") and pressure relief. Unfortunately, no mattress will deliver these two things equally well for all sleepers. In particular, spinal alignment and pressure relief capabilities will vary across sleepers with different weights, body shapes, and sleep positions. To help you determine how this mattress will perform for you, we break down our spinal alignment and pressure relief assessments by sleeper type.

In our evaluations, the Awara mattress afforded very good back support and spinal alignment particularly in back and stomach sleeping. We did question its suitability for those who sleep mainly on their sides, particularly for lighter or curvier (i.e. broad shoulders and hips) people.

Spinal Alignment

The key to good back support is maintaining proper spinal alignment while you sleep. This means that the mattress should hold your spine in roughly the same position it's in when you're standing. The ability of a given mattress to do this will generally depend on your weight, sleep position, and body shape.

Here is how we break down the spinal alignment of the Awara mattress:

Back Sleepers:

While our 200-lb. tester was on his back on the Awara mattress, he noted that his hips sank just deeply enough to create a good neutral spine. We felt that sleepers of a wide range of sizes and weights would have a similar experience, even those significantly heavier, owing to the supportive coils below.

Side Sleepers:

Side sleeping was where we had some questions about the Awara. This is a firm mattress, and for our 200-lb. tester, he wished his shoulders were better able to sink into the mattress's latex. For lighter people, this might be more of a concern. Heavier people might be able to feel their shoulders sink in more. The aim is to achieve neutral spinal alignment. When your shoulder doesn't sink in enough, that can introduce an upward curve in the spine, which could lead to back pain down the road. In the end, we didn't feel that the Awara would be the best choice for those who sleep predominately on their sides.

Stomach Sleepers:

Stomach sleepers, in our view, would also be well served by this latex/coil hybrid bed. There was ample firmness to support our tester’s hips and midsection while on his stomach, without sinking down too far. (The risk for stomach sleepers is sinking down too deeply into a mattress, creating too much arch in the back which can lead to back pain down the road.) Our tester was well supported, and we felt that most sleepers would also experience good spinal alignment. The possible exception might be those who are a lot heavier than our tester (250 lbs.+), who might sink in too much and experience some over-arching.

Pressure Relief ( what's this )

Generally, we find that firm mattresses are often not the best choice for those with pressure relief needs, and we found that to be the case with the Awara mattress. While our tester did not personally experience any hot spots, those with acute pressure relief needs, or those that sleep mainly on their sides, may find too much firmness in this bed. It might be okay for side sleepers that know they really prefer a firm mattress, but we judged it just okay for most others.

Other Features

Beyond the preference-based characteristics of comfort and feel, and the body matching for spinal alignment and pressure relief, a mattress will have a number of other attributes that can make it a better or worse choice for you. We call these "priority-based characteristics" because they are areas in which a mattress can be better or worse, but that will have differing amounts of importance to each sleeper. So, determining how much importance to give to these features will be entirely a matter of your own personal priorities. As always, we apply the same ratings standards to each mattress so you can more easily compare apples to apples.

Motion Isolation ( what’s this )

Generally, mattresses with springs or coils don’t perform as well as foam beds when it comes to isolating movement from one side of the bed to the other. We test this in two ways. With a bowling pin standing upright on one side of the bed atop a small piece of tempered glass, we drop a 16 lb. bowling ball on the other side of the bed. In the case of this Awara mattress, the bowling pin wobbled but didn't actually fall over. Next, our tester drops his whole weight on a mattress to see what happens to the pin with the same result -- a lot of wobbling, but it didn't quite tip over.

Overall, motion isolation for the Awara mattress was good, but if you are very sensitive to a partner’s movements, you may want to explore other options.

Temperature ( what’s this )

For most people, we do not think the Awara mattress will feel hot for three reasons designed to regulate heat. First, the cover includes a layer of wool; wool is a natural heat regulator. Second, the top latex layer has pin-core holes piercing the latex, allowing for air flow. And lastly, the pocketed coil layer is mostly air; the coils allow for lots of air flow.

If overheating in bed is an issue for you, we think the Awara hybrid latex mattress would be a good choice, especially if you don’t want a mattress that’s entirely springs or coils, or entirely foam.

Edge Support ( what’s this )

Edge support is important if you like to sit on the side of the bed, or if you tend to sleep along the edge. With the Awara mattress, our tester felt very stable sitting on the side of the bed. Although Awara doesn't say, we'd guess that there are some firmer edge-support coils on the perimeter of this bed.

When laying on the very edge of the bed, our tester also felt very stable, and did not feel like he was leaning or rolling off the bed at all. If your pets or kids tend to push you towards the side of the bed, we think this mattress is an excellent choice.

Ease of Repositioning ( what’s this )

If you tend to move and change positions a lot over the course of a night, ease of repositioning will be a priority for you. We found the Awara bed to really shine in this area. Our tester had no trouble at all moving around or rolling into another position. Partly, good ease of movement is typical with latex.

Green Features ( what’s this )

For mattress shoppers concerned with the use of natural materials, sustainable manufacturing practices or the like, we offer our subjective evaluation of any efforts taken by the company to make the mattress more green, healthy, or safe.

If you are considering the Awara mattress, then low odors, minimal use of chemicals, and eco-friendly materials are likely important to you. Let’s take a closer look.

The cover of the Awara mattress is made of an organic cotton blend, and the cotton has been certified as organic by GOTS, the main global certification for textiles. Next is a layer of wool batting, and wool of course is a natural product.

The latex is 100% natural made from the sap of rubber trees, and it's been certified by GOLS, the global standard for organic certification for latex. That means not only are the rubber trees organic (grown without the use of chemical pesticides), but also harvested sustainably. Furthermore the latex is manufactured with minimal use of chemicals. The Awara bed has additional certifications to maintain minimal levels of offgassing.

Lastly, the support layer of pocketed coils are steel, which does not off-gas, and in the end can be potentially recycled.

Taken overall, while the entire mattress is not organic, the Awara mattress has many more eco-friendly features than most.

Adjustable Base Compatibility ( what’s this )

We tested the Awara bed on top of our standard adjustable base to see what would happen. We found no concerning bulging or buckling when we elevated the adjustable base. The quilting did bunch up a lot, but we did not find it uncomfortable or bothersome.

When our tester got off the bed while it was articulated, the middle of the mattress popped right up -- it did not stay conformed. We do think the mattress should relax over time, but out of the box, it was not the best.

Price, Value & Longevity

How Much Does an Awara Mattress Cost?

Prices shown are list prices. Remember that GoodBed keeps our site current with the best available discounts on all online mattresses, many of which are exclusive discounts for our readers.

What Are You Getting?

The Awara mattress is a 13” mattress that combines supportive pocketed coils with a 4" layer of premium, 100% natural certified-organic latex. The cover includes certified organic cotton as well as all-natural wool. So while the entire mattress isn't certified organic, the Awara has a high degree of natural materials with some impressive certifications. And the certified organic materials are the ones that will be closest to your body: the cover, and the latex comfort layer.

How Long Will the Awara Mattress Last?

We don't have any concerns that the Awara won't last an average mattress lifespan. When examining the materials and construction, we noticed no 'red flags.' Latex is a proven and long-lasting mattress material, and pocked steel coils have a long reputation for durability.

Overall Value

We think the Awara mattress is an excellent value. Its construction quality, high customer reviews, performance in our tests for a wide variety of people, and use of eco-friendly and organic materials makes it a standout in its price range. In fact, it's worth noting that the price has actually dropped since we filmed our video review. The queen size bed went from $1,399 to $1,199. We thought is was a good value then, and it's an especially good value now.

Other Factors to Consider

Delivery

• Free delivery to the door
  

Awara includes free delivery, which is not particularly unusual among its competitors. Delivery is by common carrier like FedEx, who will deliver the box to your door. the company does offer an in-home setup at extra cost.

Returns

• 365-day trial period
• Full refund

Awara offers buyers a full year to try this mattress, with a full refund if you choose to return it. See Awara Return Policy

Warranty

• Warranty Length: Lifetime
  
• Indentation Coverage: 1.5” and above

One of the biggest, if not THE biggest complaints about any mattress from consumers regards body impressions — the inability of a mattress to spring back, eventually creating a low spot/sinkhole in the mattress. As such, mattress warranties all contain a term defining how big a sag or ‘body impression’ (measured when no one is on the mattress) is considered a defect, and thus covered under the warranty. The industry standard for innerspring mattresses is 1.5”, and 3/4" for foam beds. Awara has chosen to cover indentations that meet or exceed 1.5” -- the high end of the standard. Practically speaking, that means any softening or sagging would need to be at least that deep before the warranty would offer you protection. See: Awara warranty.

This warranty extends to the original owner for as long as they own the mattress, and assumes it has been place upon an appropriate foundation.