Novosbed medium firm vs Silk & Snow hybrid

After an exhaustive search that included taking notes from this website and taking them with me to mattress stores, I’ve decided to go for the transparency of bed-in-a-box. However, I’m having trouble deciding between the Novosbed medium firm and the Silk & Snow hybrid. I’m a side sleeper with a 19 BMI (about 140 lbs). Any advice on whether the price jump to the Novosbed makes sense in my case? Thanks so much.

Hi Shads.
Welcome to The Mattress Underground :slight_smile:

It’s always a good sign when starting with the mattress specifications you need to know and comparing them to the Mattress Durability Guidelines, in parallel with the Mattress Shopping Tutorial. From your two mattress finalists, it looks like you prefer a memory foam feel (many people do) for your mattress. NovosBed is an all-foam mattress that comes in 3 firmness choices. You state that you narrowed it down to “Novosbed medium-firm” but they have either in firm or in medium unless you go for their “Comfort+ firmness adjustment kit.”

As for “price jump making sense”, while the price is certainly important of course … the “value” of a mattress purchase is what is most important and the price is just one of many factors that can affect the “value” of a mattress purchase. There isn’t a “formula” that can be used to assess or “make sense” the value of a mattress because this assessment is very personal as there are so many different variables and criteria involved that can affect the price of a mattress that can each be more or less important to some people and not to others who may have completely different criteria or definitions of “value”.
I’d read a bit about the 3 most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).

Here are a few additional thoughts that might be helpful in your decision.
Novosbed’s website is missing the foam density and layer thickness information needed to allow meaningful comparisons between mattresses in terms of quality and durability. In 2018 they changed their specs as you can see in this post here Their recommendation for a side sleeper is soft comfort option but it looks like you prefer either medium or firm so I’ll list here the specs for their 2018 reworked medium version. You’d need to confirm that thes specs are still valid.
1" - 1.95 lb / 9 IFD - 5th generation premium airflow foam
1" - 4 lb / 11 IFD - 5th-Generation high-density visco-elastic memory foam
2" - 4 lb / 11 IFD - 5th-Generation high-density visco-elastic memory foam
7" - 1.75 lb / 32 IFD - Premium support foam
At your BMI these specs would not raise any red flags in terms of durability.

However, as the supply chain disruptions during the last couple of years forced some companies to replace certain materials, I’d ask Novo directly and would try to find if there were any changes to their materials.
Assuming that the mattress is a good match for you when you receive it, you won’t be able to tell much about the mattress’s durability during the 120 in-home trial so I’d make sure to find out exactly what is in the mattress.

Silk and Snow lists most of the specs with their “Transparency at every step” but again there are some “info-gaps” that would be good to cover. At a first glance, there are no red flags at your BMI except perhaps the perimeter edge (depending on its density)
(12") Silk & Snow Hybrid mattress
-?" quilted foam layer (antimicrobial cover)
-2" at 4lb/cuft HD Memory foam (from Vitafoam, Toronto, ON)
-?" 1200 count pocket coils (Sourced from Salwan Family in Toronto, ON)

  • edge support (missing density)

https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/66/2022-04-23-Silk&Snowmattresscomparisons.png

Let us know if you manage to find out any of the missing information and of your eventual decisions and any additional questions
Phoenix

[quote=“phoenix post=92057”]Hi Shads.
Welcome to The Mattress Underground :slight_smile:

It’s always a good sign when starting with the mattress specifications you need to know and comparing them to the Mattress Durability Guidelines, in parallel with the Mattress Shopping Tutorial. From your two mattress finalists, it looks like you prefer a memory foam feel (many people do) for your mattress. NovosBed is an all-foam mattress that comes in 3 firmness choices. You state that you narrowed it down to “Novosbed medium-firm” but they have either in firm or in medium unless you go for their “Comfort+ firmness adjustment kit.”

As for “price jump making sense”, while the price is certainly important of course … the “value” of a mattress purchase is what is most important and the price is just one of many factors that can affect the “value” of a mattress purchase. There isn’t a “formula” that can be used to assess or “make sense” the value of a mattress because this assessment is very personal as there are so many different variables and criteria involved that can affect the price of a mattress that can each be more or less important to some people and not to others who may have completely different criteria or definitions of “value”.
I’d read a bit about the 3 most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).

Here are a few additional thoughts that might be helpful in your decision.
Novosbed’s website is missing the foam density and layer thickness information needed to allow meaningful comparisons between mattresses in terms of quality and durability. In 2018 they changed their specs as you can see in this post here Their recommendation for a side sleeper is soft comfort option but it looks like you prefer either medium or firm so I’ll list here the specs for their 2018 reworked medium version. You’d need to confirm that thes specs are still valid.
1" - 1.95 lb / 9 IFD - 5th generation premium airflow foam
1" - 4 lb / 11 IFD - 5th-Generation high-density visco-elastic memory foam
2" - 4 lb / 11 IFD - 5th-Generation high-density visco-elastic memory foam
7" - 1.75 lb / 32 IFD - Premium support foam
At your BMI these specs would not raise any red flags in terms of durability.

However, as the supply chain disruptions during the last couple of years forced some companies to replace certain materials, I’d ask Novo directly and would try to find if there were any changes to their materials.
Assuming that the mattress is a good match for you when you receive it, you won’t be able to tell much about the mattress’s durability during the 120 in-home trial so I’d make sure to find out exactly what is in the mattress.

Silk and Snow lists most of the specs with their “Transparency at every step” but again there are some “info-gaps” that would be good to cover. At a first glance, there are no red flags at your BMI except perhaps the perimeter edge (depending on its density)
(12") Silk & Snow Hybrid mattress
-?" quilted foam layer (antimicrobial cover)
-2" at 4lb/cuft HD Memory foam (from Vitafoam, Toronto, ON)
-?" 1200 count pocket coils (Sourced from Salwan Family in Toronto, ON)

  • edge support (missing density)

https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/50308/2022-04-23-Silk&Snowmattresscomparisons.png

Let us know if you manage to find out any of the missing information and of your eventual decisions and any additional questions
Phoenix[/quote]

Hi Phoenix, this is fantastic and I really appreciate you taking the time to write that out for me! As far as the price jump making sense for me, I was referring to whether the quality of the materials/expected durability is significantly improved on the Novosbed relative to the Silk & Snow to justify a several hundred dollar difference. Thanks for identifying those gaps in material specifications - I’ll inquire with both companies. Regarding “medium firm” I misspoke and caused some confusion: I meant “medium” on the soft to firm continuum. I’ll try to acquire that missing information and see if it helps clarify the decision.

I’ve spoken with both companies and would like to provide the following updated information so that others may benefit:

Novosbed: confirmed the specs you provided are still accurate.

1" - 1.95 lb / 9 IFD - 5th generation premium airflow foam
1" - 4 lb / 11 IFD - 5th-Generation high-density visco-elastic memory foam
2" - 4 lb / 11 IFD - 5th-Generation high-density visco-elastic memory foam
7" - 1.75 lb / 32 IFD - Premium support foam

Silk & Snow provided the following specs for the hybrid:

Coils
Twin - 600 pocket coils
Twin XL – 621 pocket coils
Double - 800 pocket coils
Queen - 1000 pocket coils
King - 1200 pocket coils
California King – 1204 pocket coils

Coil Gauge
Outer Thirds - 14.5
Middle Third - 13.5

Zoned Lumbar Support
The middle zone (middle third) of the mattress uses thicker coils. This guarantees reliable and balanced support. Sink in just enough in just the right areas, with extra support under the hips and slightly softer coils under the shoulder.

Mattress Construction
Cover
Polyester/Spandex/Antimicrobial Cover

Top Layers
1" Luxury quilted cooling gel foam and hollow fibre that helps keep you perfectly cool
2" Gel memory foam that provides superior relief for pressure points

Edge support
Same density as in the middle.

Hi Shads,

[Quote]Hi Phoenix, this is fantastic and I really appreciate you taking the time to write that out for me! As far as the price jump making sense for me, I was referring to whether the quality of the materials/expected durability is significantly improved on the Novosbed relative to the Silk & Snow to justify a several hundred dollar difference. Thanks for identifying those gaps in material specifications - I’ll inquire with both companies. Regarding “medium firm” I misspoke and caused some confusion: I meant “medium” on the soft to firm continuum.
[/quote]

Thanks for the clarification Shads! Great job on getting those missing specifications for the Silk & Snow mattress, and confirming that the Novosbed specifications remain the same. This is very useful info for consumers with questions about either of these products. The updated coil and edge support information you were provided for the Silk & Snow again raises no red flags for your BMI/Sleeping position.

Again, let us know your experience with the mattress you go with, or if you have any additional questions. I look forward to any updates you may have.

Phoenix