Purple Hybrid Mattress Review (2019 Update)

Note: Purple debuted its original mattress in 2015 and has become one of the most searched brands on the internet. The company has now added to its lineup with a series of three additional models, which are discussed in this review. All Purple mattresses use the company’s honeycomb hyper-elastic polymer gel as the top layer. The original Purple mattress features 2” of the gel grid layer, while the Purple Hybrid, and Purple Hybrid Premier include 2”, 3”, or 4” of this material with pocketed steel coils instead of foam.

We tested the Purple Hybrid Premier 4, the most expensive and the softest of the three. Based on our tests of this model, as well as our evaluation of the original Purple mattress, we are able to provide guidance in this review relating to the Purple Hybrid and Purple Hybrid Premier 3 as well.

Note that the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 was previously called the Purple 4, and the Purple Hybrid Premier 3 was the Purple 3. The Purple Hybrid was called the Purple 2.

If you’d prefer to watch rather than read, check out our full Purple Hybrid Premier mattress video review.

Table of Contents

Nobody does more in-depth mattress reviews than GoodBed — which means there's a lot of information here! Use the links in this table of contents to quickly jump to the sections of this review that interest you most.

Summary: Is the Purple Hybrid Premier a Good Mattress?

The Purple Hybrid Premier 4 (recently renamed from Purple 4) excelled in our evaluation particularly for side sleepers, with excellent pressure relief and spinal alignment in that position for almost all individuals, with the possible exception of those who are very light. Finding a mattress that works well for side sleepers is possibly the trickiest; you need a model that allows your hips and shoulders to sink deeply into the comfort layer of the mattress without hitting the firmer support layers below, and without compressing the mattress so much that your waist/sides are unsupported. We found the Purple Hybrid Premier to be a real standout in this respect.

In our evaluations, we found the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 mattress to have a Medium softness level (the Purple Hybrid Premier 3 and Purple Hybrid (formerly the Purple 2) are correspondingly firmer). The honeycomb design means that the top gel layer buckles rather than simply compressing, so the heavier parts of the body (hips, shoulders) are nicely cradled while lighter/concave parts, like the lumbar area, remain supported by the un-collapsed honeycomb gel. For side sleepers in particular, 4” of the gel provided the most excellent advantage for side sleepers. The Purple website has lots of pictures of the hyper-elastic polymer.

If you like to sit on the edge of the bed, or if you find you tend to sleep right on the very edge (think about pets and partners that hog the bed!), we think the Purple Hybrid Premier is also a strong choice. With a thoughtful foam edge support surrounding the honeycomb gel and coils, our tester found edge support to be both stable and seamless. He never felt he was sliding off the bed.

The Purple Hybrid Premier 4 mattress (as well as the original Purple mattress tested previously) also excelled in our tests for ease of repositioning. Changing sleeping positions was virtually effortless for our tester, so if you tend to move around a lot while sleeping, all of the Purple mattresses deserve consideration. We also found the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 to be a very “cool” mattress that channels heat away from the body and provides very good airflow—that’s helpful for those who tend to sleep hot, or even for women experiencing hot flashes.

Among our concerns: While motion isolation overall was good overall, the gel layer does transfer noise and vibration, so it may not be ideal for those who are easily disturbed by a partner that changes positions frequently. And while our tester experienced excellent side-sleeping support, back support was average (and not quite as good as the original Purple in our view), and stomach sleeping was also not ideal.

We also debated value. The Purple Hybrid Premier 4 mattress retails for $2,999 (queen sized) in an environment where its online peers, and even the company’s original Purple mattress, sell in the $1,000 range. On the other hand, we do think the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 compares competitively to type of luxury innerspring mattresses you’ll see in brick-and-mortar mattress stores. (Compare prices at Purple.com.)

It's worth noting that the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 is a heavy mattress -- about 168 pounds for a queen size. That means queen and king sizes can't be shipped in a box; they'll be delivered by movers. White-glove delivery and home setup is free with the Hybrid Premier 4; it's optional for the Hybrid Premier 3 (all sizes of this bed can be shipped by common carrier).

Overall, we judged the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 to be an excellent choice for side sleepers, and for those who prioritized edge support, ease of repositioning, and for those seeking a ‘cool’ bed. But overall value is a question mark and will depend on your priorities and budget.

Read on for our detailed report and be sure to check out the video to see this mattress in action as we put it through our tests.

Bottom Line: Who is the Best Match for a Purple 4 Mattress?

BEST if you:

• Are primarily a side sleeper
• Are a heavier person (over 250 lbs.)
• Move around and reposition frequently
• Enjoy a blend of sinking into the mattress and floating on top
• Don't like the slow-responding feel of memory foam mattresses
• Like a mattress with a lot of bounce 

NOT IDEAL if you:

• Prefer a slow, melting into the bed feeling
• Enjoy being ‘cradled’ by your mattress
• Are primarily a stomach sleeper
• Are easily disturbed by a partner repositioning
• Have a lower budget

Comfort & Feel

These are the "preference-based characteristics" of a mattress. No classification here is better or worse – they are strictly a matter of your personal preference.

Back Support (by Sleeper Type)

No mattress will provide equally good spinal alignment (a.k.a., back support) for every sleeper. Here's what to expect in terms of spinal alignment on this mattress – by sleeper weight and sleep position.

Pressure Relief (by Sleeper Type)

The pressure relief offered by a mattress – especially important for side sleepers – will vary based on a sleeper's weight and body shape. Here's how we size up the pressure relief capabilities of this mattress.

Other Features

These are the "priority-based characteristics" of a mattress. Ratings here indicate where this mattress has strengths or weaknesses – however the importance of these features will depend entirely on your personal priorities.

Key Facts

Materials & Construction

What's in a Purple Hybrid Premier 4 Mattress?

Overall, we classify this mattress as a "Honeycomb Gel over Pocketed Coil" construction type. It is a 13″ thick mattress comprised of 3 layers (listed below from top to bottom):

• 4" hyper-elastic gel, “Purple Smart Comfort Grid”
• 1" transition foam
  
• 7.5" pocketed steel coils

The top comfort layer of the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 mattress is comprised of a unique 4-inch honeycomb or column gel layer that, instead of simply compressing, buckles under pressure. This layer is actually comprised of 2.5” and 1.5” honeycomb layers that have been bonded together, totaling 4”. The company calls it the “Purple Smart Comfort Grid.” Note that the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 has a 4” gel layer while the similar Purple Hybrid Premier 3 and Purple Hybrid have 3” and 2” layers, respectively. The honeycomb gel is powder coated to ensure that that when collapsed, the columns do not stick to each other.

(For comparison the original Purple mattress features 2” of the honeycomb gel atop two additional foam layers instead of pocketed coils.)

Under the honeycomb gel, separated by a thin 1-inch foam pad, is a 7.5” layer of pocketed coils made of 13.75-gauge steel.

Around the perimeter of the bed is a 3” wide foam edge support comprised of two layers of foam: softer foam at the top to mimic the feel of the honeycomb gel, and a firmer foam on the bottom to complement the coil layer.

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 )

Overall, we class the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 as a Medium Soft mattress. If you’ve read our review of the company’s original Purple mattress, you’ll note that we also classed that mattress as Medium, so you may wonder why the Purple Hybrid Premier 4, with it’s 4” of honeycomb gel, and the original, with 2” of the same material, feel similar to us.

While the two mattresses share the same comfort layer material, the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 includes 8” of pocketed coils as its support layer while the original Purple has an all-foam support layer. In our view, the more supportive coils of the Hybrid Premier 4 balance out the 4” of hyper-elastic gel so you end up with a mattress that feels very similar in terms of softness to the original Purple mattress.

If you are looking for a firmer version, the Purple Hybrid and Purple Hybrid Premier 3 are the firmest and next firmest in the line.

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

Cushioning Depth ( what’s this )

We found the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 to be quite unique when considering cushioning depth, our estimation of how deeply you sink into a mattress versus floating or resting on top of it. In this respect, we found the Hybrid Premier 4 to represent a blend of both. Particularly when lying on your side, the heavier/pointier parts of the body such as hips and shoulders, sink deeply into the mattress, giving you a feeling of being hugged or cradled (we’ll soon talk more about how this characteristic contributes to what we experienced as excellent pressure relief). On the other hand, when lying on your back, where your body’s weight is spread over a larger area, you don’t sink as deeply and have more of a floating-on-top sensation.

When we placed our 16-lb bowling ball on the mattress, it sunk down a bit more than average, so overall, we would class this mattress as slightly deeper than average in terms of cushioning. Note that the other two mattresses in the line, the Purple Hybrid and Purple Hybrid Premier 3, would both offer less cushioning depth.  

Responsiveness ( what’s this )

While the top layer of all of the Purple mattresses is gel, its honeycomb/grid construction means that it has a lot of structural integrity. It springs back almost immediately when compression stops. Practically speaking, that means there is none of that ‘memory foam feel’ where a typical memory foam layer recovers slowly in a melting way.

We also noticed some interesting bounce characteristics. The top gel layer contributes to quite a bit of surface bounce, while the lower pocked coils are responsible for a deeper bounce with the steel springs literally pushing our tester back up when he tossed himself on the Purple Hybrid Premier 4. The total result is a mattress that has a lot of spring—we judged it one of the bounciest mattresses we’ve tested so far.

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.

We found the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 mattress really interesting from this perspective. While our 200-lb tester was lying on his back, he felt well supported, but also felt like he wasn’t really getting the full benefit of 4” of the gel material, which adds significantly to cost over the Purple Hybrid Premier 3, Purple  Hybrid Premier and the original Purple Mattress. In fact, he slightly preferred the original Purple mattress, with its 2” of honeycomb gel, noting that his lumbar area felt slightly better supported with the original Purple bed.

For stomach sleeping, our tester felt that he just didn’t want to be in that position very long on the Purple Hybrid Premier 4, with his hips sinking into the mattress more than he wanted from a spinal alignment perspective, again feeling that the original Purple bed, or the Purple Hybrid might work better for a stomach sleeper.

However, the game changes for side sleeping on the Purple Hybrid Premier 4, and if you primarily sleep in this position, we found it one of the best mattresses we’ve tested. In the side position, hips and shoulders sunk deeply into the mattress for excellent spinal alignment and pressure relief. Our tester felt that the Hybrid Premier 4’s two layers of honeycomb gel were a big advantage for side sleepers, and a noticeable improvement over the original Purple mattress we also tested.

Another note: With the original Purple mattress’s 2” of honeycomb gel up top, our tester felt that heavier (250 lbs+) side sleepers could bottom out, fully collapsing all 2” of the gel and resting on the firmer solid foam support layers. But with 4” of honeycomb gel on the Purple Hybrid Premier 4, it seems very unlikely that would happen. So not only do we feel that the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 is a strong choice for side sleepers, but for side sleepers of any weight.

One consideration for those who are on the lighter side (less than 150 lbs), is that they might not need all 4” of that honeycomb gel, and might consider going with the Purple Hybrid Premier 3 or Purple Hybrid instead.

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 Purple Hybrid Premier 4 mattress:

Back Sleepers:

Our 200-pound tester felt this mattress to be very good while on his back, but found he preferred the original Purple mattress, noting that he felt his lumbar area was better support with the original. While we felt the Hybrid Premier 4 was a solid choice for back sleeper, it really excelled for side sleeping.

Side Sleepers:

Spinal alignment for our tester in the side position was excellent, surpassing that of the original Purple mattress. The 4” honeycomb gel layer allowed his hips shoulders to get deep enough into the mattress to allow the top of his spine to remain level. We believe the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 mattress would provide good spinal alignment for most side sleepers, even heavier sleepers (over 250 lbs). Lighter individuals might not depress the gel layer as much and may not fully benefit from 4” of the honeycomb gel, and might prefer the less expensive Purple Hybrid or Purple Hybrid Premier 3 as alternatives.

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, and that was the case here. Our tester felt that his hips sunk too deeply into the mattress to keep his spine in alignment, noting that the original Purple or the Purple Hybrid might be better choices for those who sleep primarily on their stomachs.  

Pressure Relief

As discussed, we felt that the bed really excelled in this area for our 200-lb tester, and we surmised that heavier and slightly lighter people would experience the same benefits. Lighter people, we felt, but not have quite the same experience, as they may not be heavy enough to really feel the benefit of all 4” of that hyper-elastic honeycomb gel; saving money on with the Purple Hybrid, Purple Hybrid Premier 3 or original Purple mattress might make more sense for those under about 150 lbs.

In our view, pressure relief and spinal alignment are really the sweet spot for the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 and represents a strong improvement over the original Purple mattress we reviewed earlier.

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 )

With a bowling pin standing upright on the Hybrid Premier 4 bed, we tested motion isolation by dropping a 16-lb. bowling ball on it, as well as the whole weight of our 200-lb. tester. Our results here were very unusual. When we dropped the bowling ball, the pin teetered and dropped immediately. We attribute this to the surface bounce properties in the honeycomb layer, almost like when you ‘twang’ a rubber band.

Typically, in our mattress tests, when the pin drops with the bowling ball, it also drops when our tester drops onto the bed. That didn’t happen here. When our tester dropped his weight onto the mattress, the pin barely moved and remained upright. We attribute this to the motion-isolation properties of the pocketed coils in the support layer.

In practical terms, we felt that the Hybrid Premier 4 could be a good choice for couples who don’t want to feel their partner getting in and out of bed, but for those whose partners tend to move around a lot, their partners may feel vibrations/sound from the surface layer of the bed. How annoying or disturbing that is will be subjective to each person. But if motion isolation is a priority, an all-foam bed might be a better choice.

Temperature ( what’s this )

For most people, we think the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 mattress will not feel hot. The construction of the honeycomb gel layer allows for good airflow, and we know that gel in general helps channel heat away from the body. Additionally, the pocketed coils of the support layer should allow for excellent air flow. Overall, it felt like a very “cool” bed. Purple has some information on its features to reduce overheating.

Edge Support ( what’s this )

Edge support may be important for those who like to sit on the edge of the bed, or tend to sleep along the edge/side. The Purple Hybrid Premier 4 has some features that are particularly helpful in terms of edge support. Surrounding the coil and honeycomb layers on all sides is a 3” wide column of foam, actually composed of two different foams. The top four inches closely matches the density and compression depth of the honeycomb layers, while the lower level of edge-support foam is firmer, matching the integrity of the pocketed coil layer.

The result is very good edge support overall.

When our tester sat on the edge of the Purple Hybrid Premier 4, he felt very stable, and found that he sunk mainly into the top few inches of the edge-support foam. Edge support felt seamless, and he did not notice the point where the honeycomb gel and the edge foam meet. When lying on very edge of the mattress, he felt completely stable, and never felt like he was sliding off the bed. If edge support is a priority (for example, if your kids or dog like to push you over to the side of the bed), we feel the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 (and most likely the Purple Hybrid and Purple Hybrid Premier 3) are worth strong consideration.

Ease of Repositioning ( what’s this )

Another highlight of the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 mattress, for our tester, was ease of movement, which owing to the high responsiveness and elasticity of the gel layer, was almost effortless. If you tend to change positions a lot, the mattress performed extremely well in our view.

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. 

In the case of the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 mattress, the company makes no claims about the use of natural materials, however the small amounts of foam (mainly for edge support) used in the bed 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. Purple includes more info on these safety certifications.

Although a chemical-based material, the top hyper-elastic/honeycomb layer is made of food-grade gel, so it’s rated to be as safe as, for example, plastic cutlery or food-storage bags.

Lastly the steel coils should not be a concern for off-gassing at all, and theoretically, they are recyclable down the road when you decide to dispose of the bed.

The company does assert that returned mattresses will be recycled or donated to charity.

Adjustable Base Compatibility ( what’s this )

If you plan to use your mattress atop an adjustable base, the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 is a very good choice. In fact, the company even sells its own adjustable base (optional) that can be used with all of its mattresses. We tested the bed with a standard adjustable base and found that right away, the mattress conformed nicely. It lifted a bit at the foot of the bed, but in our experience, mattress tend to relax and conform over time.

Price, Value & Longevity

How Much Does a Purple Hybrid Premier 4 Mattress Cost?

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 Purple Hybrid Premier 4 is a 13-inch mattress with a unique 4-inch hyper-elastic polymer top layer constructed in a honeycomb pattern, which gives the bed unique support and comfort properties. The support layer is comprised of 7.5” tall pocketed coils. Sheets of foam separate the two layers and line the bottom of the mattress. Surrounding all sides is a 3” wide foam edge support, and the mattress is wrapped in a stretchy, cushioned knit cover.

How Long Will the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 Mattress Last?

When it comes to estimating the comfort lifespan of a mattress, we tend to use foam density as our best, albeit imperfect, predictor of how long a foam will retain its shape and resiliency. In the case of the Purple mattress, we expect the top gel honeycomb layer to be extremely durable, barely changing at all. As for the coils support layer, steel springs have a long track record for durability. Overall, we don’t see a weak link in terms of construction that would cause us to doubt the resilience and longevity of the Purple 4 mattress.

Overall Value

On balance, we feel that Purple Hybrid Premier 4 mattress is a standout product for its excellent support for side sleepers in particular. If you prefer sleeping in this position and have had trouble finding a mattress that works for you, we think this bed could be an answer.

On the other hand, it’s just not a screaming value in terms of price, particularly compared to its online peers. The queen size Purple 4 retails for $2,999; that’s $1,900 more than the original Purple mattress ($1,099 queen size) with 2” of honeycomb gel, and also more than the Purple Hybrid ($1,599 queen size) and Purple Hybrid Premier 3 ($2,199) that include 2” and 3” of the honeycomb gel respectively.

However, this may be a case where the benefits are not necessarily linear. We do feel that the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 is an impressive follow-up that offers benefits and improvements over the original Purple with corresponding jumps in price. For side sleepers, and those who prioritize edge support, it performed exceptionally well in our evaluation.

The free delivery policy includes setup and removal of your old mattress, a service that costs extra with many other brands, adding to value. Overall, the Purple Hybrid Premier 4 does compare well to a luxury innerspring mattress that you might see in a mattress store.

Other Factors to Consider

Delivery

• Free delivery with in-home setup and removal of old bedding

Purple includes free delivery, which is not particularly unusual among its competitors. What does stand out is that Purple includes in-home setup and optional removal of your old mattress free of change with the Hybrid Premier 3 and 4. This “white glove service” is--more often than not--an added service with other brands, costing upwards of $100 more.

Note that white-glove delivery and setup is a $149 option with purchase of the less expensive Purple Hybrid.

Returns

• 100-day trial period
• Full refund, including free pickup within trial period

Purple offers buyers a 100-day trial period, and suggests that buyers try the mattress at least 30 days before returning it. Returns within the trial period are free, with pickup of the mattress. (Return / refund policy from Purple.com)

Warranty

• Warranty Length: 10 years
• Cover is warranted for 2 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 ½”. Purple 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: Purple Warranty.