Hi Dasupertech,
The most important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase is PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) and how well you will sleep on the mattress but you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components would be the best “match” for you in terms of PPP based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing or personal experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
I can certainly help you to narrow down your options, help you focus on better quality/value choices that are available to you either locally or online, help you identify any lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress you may be considering, act as a fact check, answer any questions you may have along the way that I am able to help with, and help with “how” to choose but only you can decide which specific mattress is the best match for you in terms of PPP or all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
Having said that … I may also be able to help you identify some of the pros and cons of each of your choices that may be helpful with your final choice.
In terms of price … of course the Tuft and Needle is the lowest price followed by the Brooklyn Bedding #BestMattressEver followed by the Dreamfoam Freedom.
In terms of durability and the useful life of the mattress … with your slightly higher weight I would give a slight edge to the #BestMattressEver and the Freedom mattress because they use more durable materials in the deeper layers and you would likely “go through” the comfort layers and compress the deeper layers more than someone who was in a lighter weight range but you are only in the lower 200’s so the difference wouldn’t be “make or break” IMO because all of them would be durable choices and none of them have any weak links in the mattress.
In terms of the options you have available both before and after a purchase … The Tuft & Needle has a single firmness choice and the #BestMattressEver has three firmness choices so it has more options available to choose a firmness level that that you may prefer or that would be best for you. Both of them have a great return policy so if the choice you make doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for then the only risk with either of them would be the time you spent testing them or returning them if that becomes necessary.
On the other hand … with the Freedom Mattress you can choose the initial layers that you believe you would prefer (the default is soft, medium, and firm) and then you would have many more options to rearrange the layers and the cover after a purchase in different ways to customize and fine tune the comfort and support of the the mattress after a purchase without having to return it so with all the comfort and support options available the odds of needing to return it would be lower. Other advantages of a component mattress with a zip cover are that you can replace just a single layer that either softens or breaks down before the others over time (usually the softer top layer) or if your needs and preferences change over time without needing to replace the entire mattress. In a king size as well you can also order split layers which allows you to arrange the layers differently on each side of the mattress which can be useful for a couple that has different needs and preferences. Of course the “down side” (other than the higher cost) is that if all else fails and none of the available combinations works well for you then it would cost more to return.
Once you are down to finalists that are all choices between “good and good” and none of them have any obvious weak links or lower quality materials in their design (which you are) and if there are no clear winners between them then you are in the fortunate position that any of them would likely be a suitable choice and post #2 here can help you make a final choice based on your material preferences, your conversations with each of them, their prices, the options available both before and after a purchase, any additional extras that are part of each purchase, and on “informed best judgement” based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
Phoenix