Hi Stackybe,
I don’t have any specific recommendations because whether any zoning system would be “good” or neutral or detrimental for you (compared to a non zoned system or a different zoning pattern) would depend on how your body type and sleeping positions “fit” the specific zones.
There is more about the Flobeds zoning system in post #4 here. Their zones are customizable and I don’t believe they are overkill because of how they can be rearranged and because they are specific to the main areas of the body that may require zoning (the hips/pelvis, lumbar/lower back, and shoulders).
Yes … the middle zone is firmer than the progressively softer outer zones so it can help to “stop” the hips/pelvis from sinking into the mattress as deeply and “allow” the shoulders to sink in a little more deeply.
Both of them are members of the site which means that I think very highly of them and that I believe that they both compete well with the best in the industry in terms of quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency.
Both of them are “all latex” mattresses so there are no lower quality materials or weak links in either of them that would compromise the durability or useful life of either mattress.
Your own careful testing and/or your actual personal experience is the most reliable way to know whether any mattress is a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP or how closely it “matches” another mattress but when you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else.
I don’t keep a record of the individual mattresses or their specs that the retailers and manufacturers in the hundreds of forum lists throughout the forum carry on their floor or have available online (it would be a bigger job than anyone could keep up with in a constantly changing market) but checking their websites and making some preliminary phone calls to the retailers/manufacturers that are on the local or online lists is always a good idea before you decide on which retailers or manufacturers you wish to deal with anyway. This will tell you which of them carry mattresses that would meet your specific criteria, are transparent about the materials in their mattresses, and that carry the type of mattresses that you are interested in that are also in the budget range you are comfortable with. Once you have checked their websites and/or talked with the ones that interest you then you will be in a much better position to decide on the ones that you are most interested in considering or visiting based on the results of your preliminary research and conversations.
There are hundreds of zoned mattresses in the market in many different mattress categories (including “all latex” mattresses) most of which use “fixed” zones but there are a few that use customizable zones as well. Some of the ones that use customizable zones include Flobeds which you mentioned and the Reverie Dream Mattresses (although they aren’t “zoned” in the more traditional sense of the word because they have cylinders that can be rearranged to provide different levels of firmness and feel). Some of the Sleeptek/Obasan mattresses also have separate zoned sections that can be changed and Nxtbed also has custom zoned mattresses and Elements of Rest in Atlanta also have mattresses that have customizable zoning (although they aren’t all latex). There are probably others as well that don’t immediately come to mind.
Phoenix