I was wondering if there was a compilation of popular online brands and mattresses and how they compare to each other. I’m currently looking at some budget mattresses on Amazon and comparing it to the DreamFoam Ultimate 13" gel mattress that seems to get so many good reviews for $700. I’m a side sleeper and prefer soft to medium soft beds. There are just so many options for the under $400 range just on Amazon, and was wondering if any of you guys have had much experience with any of them. Or other brands as well.
Hi eddy159357,
The type of compilation you are suggesting would be much too subjective, complex, and unreliable to be of any real meaning or value to most people and would probably end up confusing people or encouraging them to buy a mattress for all the wrong reasons more than help them.
There is more about the different ways that one mattress can compare to another one in post #9 here.
The Dreamfoam 13" gel memory foam mattress uses a combination of 4 and 5 lb memory foam which are higher quality materials than you will usually find in this budget range. It is listed as being similar in terms of firmness/softness to the Tempurpedic Cloud Luxe (many people have said that to them if feels just a little firmer but of course this is very subjective and different people can have very different opinions about the softness/firmness of a mattress or how it compares to another mattress). The support core is 1.5 lb polyfoam. It would certainly be a great quality/value choice that would be suitable for anyone that wasn’t in a higher weight range (more than about the lower 200’s or so) that had tested and confirmed that the Tempurpedic Cloud Luxe was a good “match” for them in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences).
Most of the mattresses you will find that are under $400 will either use low quality and less durable materials that I would avoid (see this article) or are made in China and shipped compressed to North America (see post #6 here) and would most often be in the “buyer beware” category or perhaps would be suitable for a child or a guest bedroom.
The first place I would start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that you will need to make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability, durability, and value.
The tutorial post also includes a link to a list of many of the better lower budget options I’m aware of as well (in the optional online step).
There are hundreds of online brands and you can use the search function of the forum to look for comments or feedback about any of them that are mentioned on the forum but I would be very cautious about using other people’s experiences or reviews on a mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you and in many cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a group of people may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (see post #13 here).
Phoenix