Brooklyn Titan Plus Mattress Review

Michael Magnuson

Founder of GoodBed, Leading Mattress Expert

Note: The Titan Plus mattress, available exclusively online, is made by Brooklyn Bedding. We have also reviewed the Titan Plus Luxe mattress, as well as the Brooklyn Signature, the Brooklyn Aurora, and the Plank (an extra-firm mattress).

Is the Titan Plus a Good Mattress?

The Titan Plus mattress (sometimes just called the "Titan") by Brooklyn Bedding is one of a growing number of beds designed for plus-size individuals and couples. By using heavier weight steel wire for the springs, it's meant to be supportive and longer lasting than a standard mattress for those on the higher end of the weight scale.

Other than the heavier gauge coils, the Titan is simply constructed, with a layer of Brooklyn Bedding's proprietary foam atop the pocketed-spring support unit, and an inch of memory foam quilted right into the mattress cover.

One notable characteristic is this mattress’s bounce; for those who like that springy feel (as opposed to the sinking/melting feel of memory foam), the Titan sprung our tester right back up when he plopped onto the bed. But at the same time, motion isolation was very good -- meaning than movements on one side of the bed are unlikely to be felt on the other.

One small concern was this mattress's out-of-the-box performance on our standard adjustable base. While the mattress is safe to use (it's made to bend), it wasn't great at conforming to our base as we bent it into a fully articulated position. The foot of the mattress lifted up, and so did the mid-section. We do think both of these small trouble spots would improve after a break-in period.

Bottom Line: Who is the Best Match for a Titan Plus Mattress?

BEST if you:

• Are a heavier combination sleeper
• Need a mattress with a higher weight capacity
• Prefer a traditional mattress's feel and bounce
• Are easily disturbed by a partner's movements

NOT IDEAL if you:

• Are a lighter side sleeper
• Enjoy being ‘cradled’ by your mattress
• Like the slow-melting sensation of memory foam
• Need the very best pressure relief

To watch rather than read, check out our Titan Mattress Video Review.

Comfort and Feel

The “feel” characteristics of a mattress cannot be universally better or worse. They can only be more or less desirable to you, based on your personal preferences. For this reason, we call these “preference-based” attributes. Our ratings here are based on objective measurements that we apply to a consistent scale for products from all brands.

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 Titan mattress is available in one comfort level. On our scale, we call it a firm. There's some softness at the top of the mattress due to the memory foam quilted into the cover, but its much firmer below, balancing out to a feel that's more firm than the average mattress.

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

Cushioning Depth ( what’s this )

Cushioning depth refers to how deeply you sink into a mattress, and how closely it conforms to your body's curves. Some people really enjoy sinking in a lot, and like the feeling of being hugged or cradled. Others prefer more of a floating feeling you get from shallower cushioning, where you're not sleeping "in" your mattress as much as on it.

The Brooklyn Titan mattress does not offer a lot of soft and squishy cushioning, so the feeling is more floating. It also does not conform very closely to the curves of a person's body. Overall we call this shallower than average cushioning.

Responsiveness ( what's this )

Compared to a memory foam mattress, innerspring mattresses are general very responsive. Instead of a slow, melting into the bed feeling, the coils spring back into place very quickly. The Titan mattress does have a very small amount of memory feel from that 1" layer of memory foam quilted into the cover, but practically speaking, we did not notice any of that melting into the bed sensation you associate with memory foam.

You can see bounce demonstrated in our video when we toss our bowling ball on the Titan mattress; it bounces several times before coming to rest. Our tester dropped onto the Titan and felt the springs push him right back up.

This springiness and bounce is characteristic of innerspring mattresses, so if you like that feeling, you’ll probably appreciate the Brooklyn Titan.

Back Support

The key to good back support is for the mattress to support your spine in a “neutral” position while you sleep, meaning that the shape of your spine is roughly the same as when you're standing. The ability of any given mattress to do this will vary by sleeper, depending on its “fit” for your weight, body shape, and preferred sleep position(s).

For a firm mattress designed for the support needs of heavier people, we were surprised that in our view, the Titan would suit a wide range of sleeper types and body shapes. Overall, we did feel it was a better for those on the heavier end of the spectrum, but we thought performed well enough to make it a good choice for couples where (for example) one partner is of a very different size and/or weight than the other.

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 Titan mattress:

Back Sleepers:

Our 200-pound tester felt very well supported while on his back, with very good spinal alignment and lumbar support. We might have expected this to be the case for heavier people, for whom the Titan is designed, but we also thought spinal alignment would be very good for lighter people too.

Side Sleepers:

Likewise, we also found spinal alignment and support for side sleepers to be good to very good, though not quite as good for very light people, whose hips and shoulders might not be able to compress the mattress enough to create a neutral spinal position.

Stomach Sleepers:

Achieving good spinal alignment for stomach sleepers can often be trickier as the hips can tend to sink down too far with some mattresses, but our tester felt well supported in this position, and his back was not forced to over-arch. We felt that neither heavier nor lighter stomach sleepers would have trouble with spinal alignment.

Pressure Relief

Inadequate pressure relief from your mattress results in “pressure points,” which can be a source of pain, soreness, loss of circulation, restlessness, and other problems. Pressure relief requirements will vary be sleeper, with side sleepers needing the most. Likewise, the amount of pressure relief that a given mattress provides will also vary by sleeper, depending on its “fit” for your weight and body shape.

Performance Features

With the “features” of a mattress, performance will tend to be consistent across all sleepers – without regards to your body type or preferences. However, these attributes have differing levels of importance to each sleeper, which is why we consider them “priority-based” characteristics.

Motion Isolation ( what’s this )

With a bowling pin standing upright on the Titan bed, we tested motion isolation by dropping a 16-lb. bowling ball on it, as well as the full weight of our 200-lb. tester. In both tests, the bowling pin moved a little, but it never fell, even after repeating the tests multiple times.

In general, innerspring mattresses are not the best choice if motion isolation is a top priority, but the Titan performed very well in this respect.

Temperature ( what’s this )

If you are a “hot” sleeper, or perhaps a woman who experiences hot flashes, how a mattress affects your body temperature may be a concern. Innerspring mattresses in general do not tend to feel hot, and the Titan has a couple of other factors in its favor. First, the innerspring unit is topped by only 3" of foam. The top one-inch layer of memory foam includes some gel, a known conductor of heat which is intended to help pull heat from the body. The Titan also uses heavier coils for edge support -- some competing mattresses use a foam edge support, which can inhibit air flow.

Lastly, you don't sink into the mattress super deeply, so more of your body is exposed to the air. Overall, we think the Titan is a great choice for those concerned about sleeping hot.

Note that you can order the bed with an optional cooling top, which has some phase-change material in it designed to help it feel cooler. We did not test the optional cooling cover, but even without that option, we think the Titan is a good choice for those with concerns about sleeping hot.

Edge Support ( what’s this )

If you like to sit on the edge of your mattress, or if you tend to sleep right on the edge of your mattress, you want a model that has good integrity and stability around the edges. To that end, the Titan mattress has firmer edge-support coils all around the perimeter of the bed.

In our tests, which you can see in our video review above, there was quite a bit of dip or sinking when our tester sat right on the edge; even so, he did not feel unstable.

Laying right along the side of the mattress also felt very stable, but he did feel himself starting to lean a tiny bit. Overall we felt that the Titan would be a very good choice -- if not quite the best we've seen - in terms of edge support.

Ease of Repositioning ( what’s this )

For those with joint and mobility issues, ease of movement -- changing positions and getting in and out of bed -- is a priority. Our tester, however, did not have any trouble moving on the Titan mattress.

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. 

The Brooklyn Titan mattress does not use natural materials. However,  its construction type does minimize chemicals in our view.

The foams used in the bed are petroleum based, but the foams are certified to the CertiPUR-US standard, which verifies that a material has low VOC off-gassing as well as a lack of chemicals and other substances regulated by the CPSC.

Furthermore, most of the mattress is comprised of steel coils, which won’t off-gas or impart any weird chemical smells.

We gave the Titan an initial 'sniff test' when it arrived, and thought it had a little less of a 'new mattress smell' than other mattresses we've tested.

Adjustable Base Compatibility ( what’s this )

Materials & Construction

What's in a Titan Mattress?

Overall, we classify the Titan mattress as a "Foam over Connected Coils" construction type. This innerspring mattress is 11" tall and is comprised of 4 layers, listed from top to bottom:

• 1" gel memory foam quilted into cover
• 2" TitanFlex polyurethane foam
• 6" pocket spring support unit, 13.5 gauge wire
• 2" polyurethane foam

The Brooklyn Titan is designed to support higher weights than a typical mattress. The steel wire used in most mattress coils is 14 or 14.5 gauge (coil gauge is an indication of coil strength, with a lower number meaning a stronger coil), but the Titan uses 13.5-gauge wire. That's not the very strongest we've seen, but it's definitely stronger than a typical mattress. In addition, there are even firmer edge support coils around the perimeter of the bed.

On top of the coil unit is a combination a layer of Brooklyn Bedding's proprietary TitanFlex foam, which it also uses in other mattresses. This petroleum based foam is meant to have some of the pressure-relieving qualities of latex. Then at the very top, there's a small one-inch layer of gel memory foam that's quilted right into the cover.

Durability, Warranty & Value

The “value” of any mattress is both subjective and personal – reflecting how well it meets that person’s unique sleep needs and preferences, relative to their budget. As a result, our ratings in this area are focused on more objective factors like quality and longevity.

What It Costs

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

What Are You Getting?

The Brooklyn Titan is designed to be a more durable option for plus-size consumers. That's accomplished by using stronger than average wire for the coil unit, combined with about 3" of comfort foam and a heavily quilted cover.

How Long Will the Titan Mattress Last?

In general, innerspring mattresses have a good reputation for longevity; steel holds its integrity for a very long time, and we feel especially confident in the coils used in the Titan. If there were a weak spot, we have some concern over the memory foam used in the cover, but it's such a small amount we don't have any major worry. So we would not expect that the Brooklyn Titan would have a shorter lifetime than other beds.

Overall Value

If you are a person or couple that requires a mattress with a higher weight limit, or are a couple with different needs, the Titan sits in a relatively unique position among competing mattresses, and its price is right in line with the majority of online mattress brands -- whether they are intended for plus-size individuals or not.

Overall, assuming the Brooklyn Titan mattress fits your needs and preferences, we think it's a solid value.

Warranty

• Warranty Length: 10 years
• Indentation Coverage: 1” 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 mattresses is generally between ¾” and 1.5”. Brooklyn Bedding has chosen to cover indentations that meet or exceed 1”. Practically speaking, that means any softening or sagging would need to be at least that deep before the warranty would offer you protection. See: Brooklyn Bedding warranty policy.

Other Factors to Consider

Delivery

• Free delivery to door

Brooklyn Bedding includes free shipping to your door, a policy that is the industry standard. Keep in mind the bed weighs about 100 pounds (queen size), and depending on your home setup, is probably a two-person job to maneuver the box into your bedroom, particularly if stairs are involved.

Returns

• 120-day trial period
• Full refund

Brooklyn Bedding offers buyers a 120-day trial period, and requests that owners try the mattress for at least 30 days before requesting a return to allow your body to get used to the new bed. Returns within the trial period are free, with return shipping included. See: Brooklyn Bedding return policy