Best Mattress Overall

Helix Sleep Midnight Luxe Hybrid Mattress (14-Inch)

FROM WIRED: 
Former WIRED editor Jeffrey Van Camp tested several mattresses over the years, but this is the only one that put him to sleep immediately after just a few minutes of lying on it. Helix's Midnight Luxe has a plush cushion top and a medium-firm feel that's relaxing whether you're a side, back, or stomach sleeper. (He's most definitely a stomach sleeper.)

Helix mattresses are hybrids and have a base of individually wrapped inner springs that are firmer in areas that need more support to prevent back pain, like your lower spine. On top is a stratum of cooling gel foam and denser foams. In all, there are six layers and the mattress is more than 13 inches high. It's cozy, and Helix has a variety of other mattresses that cater to different sleeping positions and firmness preferences. Helix is almost totally vertically integrated—the springs are made from bales of wire cut in the company's Arizona factory, where it has recently started pouring its own foam.

FROM WIRED: 
Let’s face it: No one goes looking to buy a new mattress because they’re sleeping too well on their old one. Depending on what issues are disturbing your rest, the Leesa Sapira Chill may be the tonic for what ails you. That’s especially true if you struggle with a few interrelated problems—like getting too hot so you kick your covers off and roll over in the process, twisting your spine.

The Leesa Sapira Hybrid was our longtime runner-up to the Helix and it’s still a mattress we endorse. But after two weeks of testing, the Sapira Chill won me over. Not only does it provide a nice dose of cooling thanks to a fabric cover that pulls heat away from the body, but it also delivers deep comfort via four foam layers and three different types of coil, which are artfully arranged in zones that gracefully align your hips. The Sapira's structure eliminated my periodic lower back pain in testing. (The next mattress I tested, the Magnistretch in the avoid section below, brought that pain back with a vengeance!)

The Leesa Sapira Chill is an affordable luxury mattress, with a plush quilted pillowtop and three available firmness levels. It has a little more springiness than other hybrids thanks to a bouncy responsive foam layer that takes the place of memory foam in many other hybrid mattresses. You also get premium touches like an outer ring of extra-firm springs for excellent edge support and a chemical-free and fiberglass-free barrier against fires. There’s a 100-night at-home trial with free shipping and free returns.

Leesa Sapira Chill Mattress (11-Inch)

Best for Problem Sleepers

Best for Side Sleepers

Bear Elite Hybrid (14-Inch)

FROM WIRED: 
Most people are side sleepers. The stats vary by study and how you define side sleeping, but between half and three-quarters of people sleep mostly on their side. For them, it's important to find a mattress that strikes a perfect balance between cushion and support. The Bear Elite is a five-layer hybrid mattress that is a full 14 inches thick and firmer than most other side sleeper mattresses. Your initial impression might be that a squishy memory foam mattress is better—my experience is that sinking too much gets old after a while.

The Bear's top layer is a quilted pillowtop made from a cooling fabric that sits above a layer of cooling copper-infused foam. There's a single layer of springs of varied rigidity so your hips can sink a bit without your back coming out of alignment. It's a sturdy mattress and comes with a 120-night trial period (plus a lifetime warranty).

The Bear Elite is now my daily driver—I've been sleeping on this mattress for six months any time I'm not testing another mattress or traveling—and it's the pick I suggest to anyone who tells me they're a side sleeper unless they have other sleeping problems they're looking to address. Read our Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers guide for other picks.

FROM WIRED: 
WIRED editor Adrienne So likes a firm mattress. And by “firm” she means “rock hard.” She finds sleeping on a quarter-inch of foam over dirt to be both relaxing and good for her back. The Plank's high-density support foam took a few hours to fully inflate, which left both So and her spouse with a misleading initial impression of too much softness. But after a few days, the mattress firmed up considerably. The 0.75-inch quilted top is barely perceptible. It's like sleeping on a clean wooden floor (this is a good thing).

If this is too much for you, you can also flip it over to sleep on 2 inches of comfort foam on the underside. But let’s be honest, if you’re ordering a mattress called the Plank, you probably don’t want to do that. The foam also doesn’t move laterally at all, meaning kids can hop in and out of the parental bed with minimal shaking. Her one complaint is that the edges could use a bit more support; she has slipped off the sides a few times while putting on her socks. 

★ Not quite so firm: After two months of testing, reviewer Louryn Strampe was struck by the firmness of the Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe Cooling Mattress. It's not as firm as the Plank (which is also from Brooklyn), but that could be a good thing depending on your sleeping preferences. As a side sleeper, she thinks a plush topper would be a fantastic addition to the mattress, but her back-sleeping partner (who often complains that the mattresses she reviews are too soft) is a big fan. The hybrid bed is available in three firmness levels and the cooling features of this mattress are also worth praising. The top layer is designed to be extra-cooling, and it works. It feels cold to the touch, even through layers of sheets as well. Her only complaint is that those cooling fibers are so slippery that her fitted sheet kept slipping off.

Plank Firm Mattress (13.5-Inch)

Best Firm Mattress

FROM WIRED: 
Our top pick, Helix, has an Elite collection that consists of six new mattresses along a spectrum of softness. Those hybrid mattresses come in two separate boxes, each heavy enough to require help lifting. The firmness is dictated by the foam density of the upper layer, which zips into a larger support system. In theory, this makes the mattress adjustable if you end up regretting your order. The bottom section has two separate layers of tiny springs called microcoils. Helix says you need to pair this with a bed frame that has slats (not a traditional box-spring frame).

Helix advertises the Elite as "the tallest mattress on the internet," and at 16 inches, it is indeed the Shaq of boxed mattresses. I spent a month sleeping on the softest model from the Elite line, dubbed the Sunset, and appreciated the deep cradling effect. Most people prefer a mattress that cools them as they sleep—like many on this list, Helix claims to use a special fabric that dissipates body heat, and it indeed remains remarkably cool even when you're settled in. Helix offers a 100-day trial period on all of its mattresses.

Helix Sunset Elite Mattress (16-Inch)

Best Mattress Upgrade

Best Organic Mattress Upgrade

Birch Luxe Natural Mattress (11.5-Inch)

FROM WIRED: 
Birch's high-end Luxe model is a great side-sleeping mattress, just like its standard model, but its medium-firm feel and structured support make it a better pick for a variety of sleeping styles. It's also an organic mattress and is GOTS-certified, using natural latex with no polyurethane-based foams.

The Luxe mattress employs multiple layers of wool, plus a layer of individually wrapped coils, which provide support and some cushioning. It has a pillowy Euro top, which is an extra layer of blended cashmere that helps with temperature regulation, and the coils provide full lumbar support while maintaining a satisfyingly stiff edge on all four sides. My sleep rings have been spinning themselves closed during my month of testing this mattress.