The Best Memory Foam Mattress Roundup

One look at the number of models on the market will show that memory-foam mattresses have struck a chord with consumers.

While coil-spring mattresses still have their fans (see our 2016 Best Mattress Guide), buyers increasingly flock to the body-conforming support that products based on memory foam provide.

With so many options to choose from, picking out the perfect model can be challenging.

In this Best memory foam mattress roundup, we focus on the four top performers today, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Meet our Four Best Memory Foam Mattresses

• Tempur-Contour Supreme: Tempur-Pedic is a pioneer of the memory foam industry, having introduced some of the first such mattresses in the early 1990s.

  Although the company is known for targeting the high end, the TEMPUR-Contour Supreme is meant to appeal to the broadest possible base of buyers, standing a step above the entry-level TEMPUR-Cloud Prima while remaining more affordable than the four models above it.

• Loom & Leaf: If Tempur-Pedic is a pioneer of sorts, Loom & Leaf is another.

  Parent company Saatva was one of the first to sell mattresses directly to online buyers, doing away with the middlemen as so many others have done since.

  Although relatively new on the market, the company’s memory-foam-based Loom & Leaf mattresses have already conquered a loyal customer base and are enjoying a steady flow of very positive reviews on the web and by a growing number of sleep experts.

• Casper: Memory foam mattress maker Casper, on the other hand, emphasizes the belief that a single firmness can suit just about everybody.

  One of the more prominent of the new wave of online mattress purveyors thanks to some appealing marketing and strong word of mouth, Casper has a couple of performance-related tricks up its sleeve, too.

• The Bear Mattress: It has been said that online mattress suppliers tend to aim first at the younger buyers who are most comfortable with making major purchases over the Internet.

  The Bear Mattress takes this focus a step farther than most, with the company’s mattresses being designed to help athletes recover as they sleep.

  Even so, plenty of relatively sedentary buyers praise the products, too, making The Bear Mattress a fitting final selection for this elite group of four.

With the introductions made, let’s have a look at how these mattresses perform and what kind of value each represents.

Comfort and Support

What matters most of all when it comes to a mattress that will be slept upon for years, of course, is comfort. Even so, mattresses of this kind can differ quite significantly in terms of how comfortable they are, with cheap ones at the lowest end of the price scale often being less pleasant to sleep on than common coil-spring alternatives.

All of the mattresses in this group, though, perform admirably in this respect. All account effectively for the fact that memory foam, in its default form, can be excessively warm to sleep upon, with each making use of some combination of free-breathing cloth covers, ventilated memory foam, or cooler upper materials like hypoallergenic latex.

The Loom & Leaf mattresses stand out the most in terms of comfort, though, partly because of the designers’ decision to offer two levels of firmness. While steering clear of the confusion that some mattress makers create by offering too many options, that simple concession helps the company target the average person just as well as those who benefit from some additional firmness.

Tempur-Pedic’s relatively firm TEMPUR-Contour Supreme comes in a close second, with quality materials contributing to a luxurious feel.

The Bear Mattress and Casper both afford comfortable sleep, too, although their bouncier, livelier support can be a little disconcerting to some, particularly compared to the way that the two top mattresses cradle their owners more gently.

Price and Value

With Loom & Leaf and the TEMPUR-Contour Supreme almost neck and neck so far, things become clearer here.

Tempur-Pedic has always commanded a premium on the market and, in that respect, it has lost some ground to its younger, more price-conscious competitors. At less than half the price of the TEMPUR-Contour Supreme, the equally comfortable Loom & Leaf clearly represents a better value.

At the same time, the Loom & Leaf also fares well against the other two mattresses. Tied in price at the time of this writing, the Bear Mattress and Casper come in around fifteen percent less costly than Loom & Leaf in most sizes.

Buyers who prefer the springier feel of those two mattresses will be happy to save a few dollars. Others will benefit from the small premium paid to acquire a Loom & Leaf mattress instead.

Ordering, Customer Service, and More

One of the most impressive things about this group of mattresses is that their makers back them all with generous return policies. Framed as “in-home trials,” these programs give buyers 75 to 100 days to actually sleep on a mattress once it has been delivered, with any return shipping charges being picked up by the company.

All also come with impressive warranties providing 10 years or more of coverage, something that tends to reflect a high-quality mattress.

Loom & Leaf goes a little further by including a white-glove setup service in the purchase price, too. That extra touch frees buyers from having to lug a seventy-plus pound boxed mattress up stairs or through narrow doorways and adds further to the mattress’s overall value.

The Final Word

Standing clearly at the top of the current crop of options, all four of these mattresses can make great buys.

With an especially impressive blend of quality, value, and comfort, Loom & Leaf has to be considered the real standout even among these worthy peers, however.

Those for whom price is less of an issue might well decide that the TEMPUR-Contour Supreme’s distinctive feel and impressive construction is most appealing, securing it a strong second place.

Between the runners up, the Bear Mattress edges out Casper by just a bit, especially insofar as its proprietary upper layer seems more likely to appeal to those seeking a little more spring.

Buyers of any of these four mattresses, though, can sleep well knowing they chose wisely.