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The iComfort Pro Buckingham Plush Pillow Top is a (nearly) all-latex mattress from Serta. Could this be the right type of mattress for you? Read our review to find out.
Founder of GoodBed, Leading Mattress Expert
The Buckingham Plush Pillow Top is a new mattress in the Serta iComfortPro collection. Unlike most of the other models in the same collection, the Buckingham is (nearly) an all-latex mattress. This means that except for a few inches of poly foam in the quilt and base, the Buckingham Plush is comprised of both latex comfort layers and latex support layers. This creates a plush and responsive feel with exceptional conformance and support.
We found the Buckingham Plush Pillow Top to fit a wide-range of sleeping positions, although we think that it's most suitable to side or back sleepers. The latex layers are gently zoned to offer a little extra pressure relief and conformance at the shoulders, whilst maintaining support at the waist and lumbar spine. We also think it's a good match for all sizes and body types, although heavier sleepers might notice that it feels somewhat softer than lighter weight sleepers.
Stomach sleepers might still do well on the Buckingham, although generally speaking stomach sleepers do best on a slightly firmer mattress.
We thought that the Buckingham was about a Medium-Soft on our scale with a Slightly Deep overall cushioning depth. It effectively blends the sense of a traditional quilted-top mattress with the support and durability of a latex mattress and creates a “best of both worlds" kind of feel. The zoned latex layers are also noticeable and should be appreciated by side-sleepers that want a little extra conformance at the shoulder while maintaining support at the waist and lumbar spine.
The Buckingham also has a number of other features that are worth discussing in detail. First, we thought it performed very well in terms of overall cooling. It's made with a cool-to-touch cover that provides a noticeable sense of coolness on initial contact with the mattress AND the latex used is highly-breathable and graphite infused for better temperature regulation over an eight-hour period. It's also a very "green" mattress and made with mostly natural materials. There is a bit of synthetic poly foam used in the quilt and support layers, but for the most part, it's made with all-natural Dunlop latex.
We also thought it performed very well in terms of Edge Support and Adjustable Base Compatibility. The only mark against it would be that it's just a VERY heavy mattress. Latex is a dense and durable material, but this means that latex mattresses can weigh nearly 200lbs. If you're going to be moving frequently or live on the top floor of a building, this is something to keep in mind.
The Serta iComfortPro Buckingham Plush Pillow Top is a new mattress from Serta that combines the durability of latex with the reassuring and familiar feel of a traditional quilted-top mattress. And unlike many other mattresses with that use some latex in their construction, the Buckingham Plush Pillow Top has latex comfort layers AND a latex support core.
This review is related to the Serta iComfort Pro Level 3 Buckingham Plush Pillow Top. Learn more about this model:
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.
We thought that Buckingham Plush Pillow Top was about a Medium-Soft in feel. Of note, the mattress we evaluated here felt slightly different than the one we saw in our Overview video, which we thought was closer to a true Soft. However, this softness feels slightly different than the softness that you might experience with many other mattresses that use memory foam or traditional poly foam. Latex has a rapid and resilient overall feel with a slight sense of "push-back."
This means that the Buckingham Pillow Top feels soft, but responds almost immediately to your body and "bounces back" when changing sleeping positions. This sense of rapid response is also balanced by the traditional quilt foams overlying the latex. In aggregate, the feel of the Buckingham Pillow Top combines the best qualities of latex (the durability and fast response) with the more traditional sense of a quilted top mattress. Put another way, we think it feels somewhere in between a traditional foam mattress made with poly foam or memory foam and an innerspring.
We also thought that it had a slightly deep Cushioning Depth. This is more than most "Medium" feeling mattresses, but less than what you might expect from a true Soft or many other pillow-tops. Latex tends to be more buoyant than other foams, and that sense is reflected here.
The Buckingham Plush Pillow Top feels quite responsive, although this is slightly less than what you might experience coming from an innerspring. We'd say that it feels more responsive than typical poly foam or memory foam mattresses, but less than most quilted-top pocket springs. And as you might expect from a latex mattress, there is NO memory feel whatsoever.
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).
We thought that the Buckingham Plush Pillow Top performed well across the board for Side Sleepers. The soft latex layers and quilted top allow for a lot of Pressure Relief. Heavier sleepers might notice slightly less Pressure Relief (as they are likely to contact the deeper, firmer layers of the mattress), but we still thought it was Very Good overall.
Back Sleepers are also well-suited to to the Buckingham Plush Pillow Top. For lighter sleepers, we thought that this was Excellent. For average weight and heavier sleepers, we thought it was Very Good to Good.
Stomach Sleepers are probably the only category of sleeper where we'd advise some caution here. Generally speaking, Stomach Sleepers need a slightly firmer sleep surface to maintain alignment. While we wouldn't call the Buckingham Plush Pillow Top a true Soft, it might not be firm enough for many exclusive Stomach Sleepers.
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.
Latex generally has good pressure relief, although the slight sense of "push-back" from latex is different than what is experienced with poly foam or memory foam and can take some getting used to. In the case of the Buckingham Plush Pillow Top, this sense of "push-back" is balanced by the presence of the soft foams in the quilt layer. The result is a mattress with all the benefits of latex, but with more pressure relief and a more traditional feel.
We found Pressure Relief to be Excellent to Good depending on a sleeper size and overall shape.
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.
In terms of Motion Isolation, we thought the Buckingham Plush Pillow Top was Good overall. Latex is highly point elastic (meaning it's very conforming), and this allows for a lot of softness and body contour without disturbing a sleeping partner. However, there is still some motion transfer through the quilt and the deeper latex layers. We think it's comparable (or better) than many other foam mattresses, but it's not quite on the level of a pocket spring in this regard.
We've recently incorporated lab-measured heat retention testing into all of our mattress reviews.
We use a device that measures initial coolness-to-the-touch AND all-night temperature regulation and evaporative capacity. In the case of the Buckingham Plush, it performed very well. Latex is a dense, but highly-breathable material, and we thought temperature regulation was Good overall. It also feels distinctly "cool-to-the-touch" thanks to the high-density polyethylene yarns used in the quilt layers. These create a noticeable cool sensation on initial contact with the mattress, although this typically only lasts for the first twenty or thirty minutes of use.
We thought the overall Edge Support was Excellent. Edge Support can often be lacking with foam mattresses, but we didn't notice that here.
We also thought the Buckingham Plush Pillow Top made repositioning easy. The responsiveness of the latex makes turning over and changing sleeping positions much easier than what is sometimes experienced on other foam or memory foam mattresses. If you're concerned about a "stuck" feeling, you won't find it here.
We also rated the Buckingham Plush Pillow Top highly in terms of Green Features. It's made with all-natural latex. This is a high-quality material made from the natural sap of a rubber tree. And while some latex is made from a synthetic blends, the latex used here is natural Dunlop.
The Buckingham Plush Pillow Top also performed very well on an adjustable base. Latex is highly flexible, and we didn't have any issues with use on an adjustable frame. There was a little bit of fabric bunching of the quilt layer, but this is quite common with quilted-top mattresses and is typically not noticed by a sleeper.
The Buckingham Pillow Top is a quilted latex mattress of roughly four overall layers:
The Buckingham Plush Pillow Top is a quilted-top latex mattress that uses both poly foam and latex.
At the top of the mattress we have a quilted cover made with high-density "cooling" fibers. This is a traditional quilted cover made from two layers of fabric that are sewn together with layers of soft poly foam in between. Underneath this layer, there is graphite-infused "True Response" latex. This is a term that Serta uses to refer to all of their zoned latex layers. These are all made with a slightly softer region at the shoulder and a slightly firmer region at the level of your lumbar spine.
Underneath the comfort layers, there's even more latex in the support core. This is a slightly firmer latex that is, again, zoned in the same fashion as the graphite-infused latex above. And just underneath this there's an inch of traditional poly foam for structure.
The Buckingham Plush has a quilted cover made from a high-density polyethylene based yarn. For those unfamiliar, high-density yarns are increasingly used as a luxury "cooling" feature in mattresses, as their higher molecular weight allows them to effectively conduct heat and feel "cool-to-the-touch." In between the fabric layers are a few inches of traditional poly foam.
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.
We've recently incorporated scientific lab testing for durability into our mattress reviews. We use a machine that simulates ten years of regular use and checks the mattress for height and firmness loss not only at the end but also at several intervals throughout those ten years of simulated use. We should have more information on this soon.
We rated the durability of the Buckingham Plush Pillow Top to be Excellent. Latex is one of the most durable materials used in mattresses today, and we expect it to hold up very well with long-term use.
We also think the Buckingham Plush Pillow Top is a good value. It is a bit more expensive than many other latex mattresses on the market, but it also has features that most other latex mattresses do not, including a cool-to-touch cover and a soft, traditional quilted top.
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