Sealy High Point Firm Mattress Review

Michael Magnuson

Founder of GoodBed, Leading Mattress Expert

Read our take on the Posturepedic Plus Hybrid High Point Firm mattress from Sealy, which is called the "Ultimate Support + Cooling" model on Sealy's website.

If you’d prefer to watch rather than read, check out our full High Point Firm video review above.

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 High Point Firm a Good Mattress?

The Sealy Posturepedic Plus Hybrid High Point Firm is a luxury hybrid mattress made with memory foam and a stretch-knit cover over a high coil-count pocket spring unit. The High Point Firm (and its sister model, the High Point Soft), represent the top of the line in Sealy’s Posturepedic Plus Hybrid collection. It’s also a best-selling model on a national level. We covered the greater Posturepedic Plus Hybrid collection in a previous video, and here we’ll focus on the High Point Firm in particular.

The High Point Firm is a memory foam hybrid with a zoned center-third. For those unfamiliar, the term “hybrid” means that the High Point can be thought of as both a memory foam mattress AND a pocket spring mattress. In other words, it effectively hybridizes these two styles of construction to maximize pressure relief and support. The High Point Firm is also zoned in the center-third (ie, it has extra coils in this area) to provide additional support.

Despite the name, we found the High Point Firm to be about a Medium in terms of overall Softness. The initial sense is quite soft, but this quickly firms as you contact the deeper layers of firmer foam to create a balanced overall feel. We also thought it had greater than average Cushioning Depth with a slight sense of sleeping “in-the-mattress” rather than on top of it.

Our other testing showed excellent results for both motion isolation and performance on an adjustable base. Hybrid mattresses typically do well in these categories, but the High Point firm nonetheless performed better than most. Additionally, it performed well in terms of edge support. This was somewhat unexpected, as thicker mattresses often underperform in this area. However, the High Point Firm's reinforced edge and firm deeper layers created a stable surface in both seated and reclining positions.

In summary, the High Point Firm is a luxury hybrid with a Medium feel and exceptional pressure relief and motion isolation. We think that it's an excellent option for a wide variety of sleepers and sleeping positions, although exclusive stomach sleepers may want something a little firmer. Combination sleepers are also likely to do well on this mattress, as the foams used are a bit faster responding than most memory foams which should aid in changing positions during the night.

Bottom Line: Who is the Best Match for the High Point Firm?

BEST if you:

• Are either a side, back, or combination sleeper
• Want a mattress with very good pressure relief
• Are easily disturbed by other movements or prioritize motion isolation
• Like a faster-responding memory foam
• Are looking for a mattress with a medium amount of softness 
• Enjoy sleeping slightly more 'in' your mattress than 'on' it

NOT IDEAL if you:

• Are an exclusive stomach sleeper
• Dislike the feel of memory foam mattresses
• Prefer a traditional quilted mattress surface

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 the Sealy High Point Firm Mattress?

The High Point Firm is a memory foam hybrid mattress comprising roughly five overall layers:

• 1” memory foam ("ComfortSense Premium Memory Foam")
• 2.5" memory foam ("ComfortSense Premium Memory Foam")
• 1.5" poly foam ("SealySupport Gel Foam Firm")
• 8” pocket springs (1090 count, zoned "Response Pro Zoned HD" coils)
• 1" base foam ("SealySupport Gel Foam")

At the top of the mattress, we have a 1” layer of memory foam. This is a very soft foam with the classic slow-response that you might expect of memory foam. It also has a layer of added phase-change material to help manage heat. After this there’s a layer of similarly soft, but much faster-responding, memory foam. The combination of these two comfort layers creates a soft and conforming sleep surface without the “stuck” feeling that is sometimes felt with memory foam mattresses.

Underneath the comfort layers, there’s a layer of firm poly foam. This effectively stabilizes the above comfort materials and creates a transition from the soft memory foam to the underlying pocket springs. As for the pocket spring itself - this a high coil-count unit with a reinforced center third created by “nesting” coils closer together in this area. In our opinion, this creates a subtle, but reassuring sense of support in the center of the mattress. Just underneath that we have an inch of firm base foam to link the coils together and provide additional support.

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 relative and varies between manufacturers. Mattresses are designed to be supportive and promote healthy spinal alignment, however, different people tend to have different preferences for overall softness.

We found the High Point Firm to be about a Medium in terms of Softness. The upper comfort layers are quite soft, but these are balanced by a relatively firm transition layer and the densely-packed pocket spring unit underneath. The overall sense is one of initial softness and solid support.

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 the mattress. Some brands will talk about a feeling of "sleeping-on" a mattress vs a feeling of "sleeping-in" a mattress, and this typically refers to cushioning depth. More cushioning depth means more conformance and more of a cradled or "hugged" sensation.

As expected from a mattress with a lot of comfort material, we found the High Point Firm to have a greater than average amount of Cushioning Depth.

Memory Feel

Memory feel refers to how quickly a mattress recovers its shape after being compressed. A mattress with a lot of memory feel will have a much slower recovery after compression. This is often noticed by sleepers in repositioning.

We'd describe the High Point Firm as having a Medium-High amount of memory feel. Still, this is somewhat less than we'd expect from a mattress with 3.5" of memory foam. In this case, the memory foams used are relatively fast-responding foams and not at all the dense, "slow-melting" sensation of some memory foams. Thus, the combined effect is some amount of memory feel, but not an overwhelming amount.

Bounce

Responsiveness also translates into bounce, and with most innerspring mattresses, you'll get a good bit of it.

The High Point Firm has a moderate amount of bounce. The underlying pocket springs are quite responsive, but the sense of these is muted somewhat by the layers of soft memory foam on top.

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 High Point Firm performed very well for our tester in most sleeping positions.

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 High Point Firm:

Back Sleepers:

Our tester enjoyed the High Point Firm in this position. We think this would be suitable for most back sleepers.

Side Sleepers:

We also thought the High Point Firm was good for side sleeping. The soft foams used provide very good to excellent pressure relief in this position.

Stomach Sleepers:

Our tester felt less well-supported on his stomach. Heavier stomach sleepers may be better off with a different mattress.

Pressure Relief

Other Factors to Consider

Delivery

• Free delivery and in-home setup

Returns

• 90-Night Trial period

Sealy offers a 90-Night Trial period. In the event of a return, a $175 fee (plus tax) applies.

Warranty

• Warranty Length: 10 Year Warranty
• Indentation Coverage: 0.75” 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 body impressions is 1.5" on most mattresses and around 0.75" on smooth-top mattresses. In the case of the High Point Firm, Sealy has chosen to cover indentations at or greater than 0.75". You read the fine print on this here: Sealy's Warranty Policy.

Bottom Line: Who is the Best Match for the High Point Firm?

The High Point Firm is a best-selling luxury hybrid mattress with fast-responding memory foams and a zoned pocket spring unit. We think it's a great option for almost anyone looking for a hybrid mattress, and particularly those looking for a hybrid mattress without the "stuck" feeling that's often experienced with slow-responding memory foams. It's also an excellent choice for those looking for a mattress with exceptional motion isolation and adjustable base compatibility

BEST if you:

• Are either a side, back, or combination sleeper
• Want a mattress with very good pressure relief
• Are easily disturbed by other movements or prioritize motion isolation
• Like a faster-responding memory foam
• Are looking for a mattress with a medium amount of softness 
• Enjoy sleeping slightly more 'in' your mattress than 'on' it

NOT IDEAL if you:

• Are an exclusive stomach sleeper
• Dislike the feel of memory foam mattresses
• Prefer a traditional quilted mattress surface

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