The Serta iComfort mattress ... what's the buzz

[phoenix]

Hi iBuyer,

No question, I don’t enjoy paying top dollar while getting something that’s inferior. Unfortunately, not everyone has a local manufacturer nearby, and some of the prices do get out of hand.

That’s very true but there are also dozens of independent smaller manufacturers that sell through better sleep shops that do provide the details of the materials that are in their mattresses and also have much better quality and value and are much more transparent than Serta. Almost every area of the country has these available if you research the retailers along the lines of this article before you begin the process of choosing a mattress. Following the steps outlined in this post will greatly improve the odds of ending up with a much higher quality/value mattress no matter which area of the country you live in and whether or not there is a local manufacturer close to you.

There’s always a better product, and sometimes, products aren’t as good as the sum of their parts. Sometimes, they turn out better. I know many people, including myself, that have had mattresses for many years, that didn’t wear out or cause sleepless nights, and those were major brands.

This is actually not accurate and a mattress is exactly as good as the sum of its parts and construction. This also has nothing to do with the suitability of any mattresses for the needs and preferences of each person because it is also true that low quality materials can be just as “comfortable” as higher quality materials … they just won’t last as long. There are also many factors that control the durability of a mattress (that you can read about in post #2 here). As you can see … the same mattress will last for different lengths of time for different people but this doesn’t change that the quality and value of a mattress is much more definable than the mainstream industry would want you to believe. Even low quality materials (just like particle board furniture) can last longer for different people and may even be suitable for a particular use or budget but that doesn’t change the fact that it is still poor value and that choosing a different mattress that used the same lower quality materials (or better) at a lower price and that was just as suitable for the needs and preferences of a particular individual would still be better value.

The only direct comparison I can make with foam beds is between Novaform and the iComfort. Without question, I’d much rather pay the lower price. But having been on both, I would never purchase the Novaform.

Again … these are not apples to apples comparisons and I consider both to be relatively poor value. They don’t use the same materials and the Novaform should be selling for lower prices. I wouldn’t purchase either of them and there are better quality/value choices available in both budget ranges. All you have to do is make apples to apples comparisons between either of them and other mattresses that use similar materials and layering.

I’m a bit particular with what I buy, and have always cherished informative sites such as this one that offer great information. Kudos to you for sharing your wealth of knowledge. I still have limited choices here, but at least you’ve done a great job of making me more informed.

Thank you

As I was looking around our area for some of the names you’ve mentioned on this site. I came across a local Serta retailer. Seems there is product confusion, surprising no?

They are selling a 10" memory foam mattress, queen size, for $534. A 10 year non-prorated warranty on this item. I suspect that this is the product seen at Sam’s Club and Amazon, not their newer iComfort products.

If a retailer is “confusing” the Serta 10" mattress you are mentioning with an iComfort (or claiming they are the same) then they don’t deserve to have the business of an educated consumer (or any consumer for that matter). Like all manufacturers … Serta makes many different mattresses but any of them can be evaluated by following the guidelines of this site and knowing the details of the layers that are in them. For example … you will see an 8" Serta memory foam mattress here that uses 2" of 2.5 lb memory foam and 1.5 lb polyfoam as a base layer which is the lowest quality memory foam you will find anywhere and the base layer is also cheap base foam and yet its selling for $799 queen. It should be substantially less and is directly comparable in quality terms to some of the cheapest memory foam mattresses available. You can see my comments about the Serta Roma you are referring to in post #3 here.

If a mattress is an iComfort … it will say iComfort and the details of the layering of the iComfort lineup are known (you can see an analysis of all of them all in post #11 here).

Phoenix