Hi jim1952,
It’s good to see that you have narrowed down your final options to a choice between “good and good”.
This will depend on how carefully and objectively you tested the Blue Essence. If you tested it specifically for PPP (Pressure relief, posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) following the testing guidelines then your odds are much higher that your testing will reflect your long term experience than if you tested it for a shorter period of time, less carefully, or subjectively. While nothing is guaranteed (which of course means that your options if you do need to make any fine tuning adjustments after a purchase may also be part your personal value equation) … good testing will give you much higher odds of predicting how you will feel with the mattress in the long term.
Perhaps it will help if I can suggest some of the things I would be looking at if I was choosing between them.
First is the quality/value of the foam and components. Both of them use higher quality materials but the Blue Essence includes 5" of premium foam in the comfort layers while the Aloe Adelle has 6" of premium foam … and also includes more latex which is a more costly material than memory foam. The Aloe Adelle also has a higher quality base layer and has a more premium cover/quilting which includes wool (which helps with temperature regulation). The Aloe Adelle has a slightly thicker layer of 4 lb memory foam so foam softening may have a slightly larger effect than a thinner 2" 4 lb memory foam layer (both gel foams would be similar in durability). Overall … while its a somewhat subjective evaluation because they are not the same mattresses … I would give the quality/value edge to the Aloe Adelle.
Second is the suitability of the mattress. You have personally tested the Blue Essence but not the Aloe Adelle. BB may be able to tell you a similar mattress that you can test for suitability in terms of PPP so you can “test” how it will feel and perform for you but without this it would be somewhat of an unknown to you. This means I would give the suitability edge (of an initial purchase at least) to the Blue Essence.
Third is the ability to make changes after a purchase. This would also be relate to point #2 because in effect your actual sleeping experience will become an even more accurate “test” than your in store testing. In this case … the Aloe Adelle has good options after the fact (both initially and in the long term) to make comfort changes in the both the comfort layer and the middle transition layer based on your actual sleeping experience. In addition to this … you would also be able to replace the top layer down the road if it softens or degrades before the rest of the mattress (and comfort layers are the “weak link” of most mattresses) or if your needs and preferences change. I don’t know the exchange possibilities of the Blue Essence either initially or in the long term (which they don’t seem to know either but would normally involve changing or replacing the whole mattress). If either of them are too firm in the comfort layers … then the “regular” solution of adding a topper is available with both. The “fine tuning” edge here clearly goes to the Aloe Adelle.
Finally are all the other “value” factors involved in any mattress purchase that are listed in the previous link about your personal value equation. Some of these may be more objective, some more subjective, and some of them may be intangible but I would factor in the “value” of the ones that are most important to you as well including any of the benefits that go with making a purchase from each manufacturer.
As you mentioned as well … both of these would make better choices than the mattresses that most people end up buying and neither would make a bad choice in terms of quality and value but hopefully by the time you have gone through the different pros and cons of each you will find yourself leaning in one direction or the other strongly enough that you will know which is the best choice for your personal criteria.
Hope this helps.
Phoenix