Hi lowdown123,
The first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that 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 (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than either your own careful testing (using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or when that’s not possible your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
Unfortunately there are no “standard” definitions or consensus of opinions for firmness ratings and different manufacturers can rate their mattresses very differently than others so a mattress that one manufacturer rates as being a specific firmness could be rated very differently by another manufacturer. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here) so different people can also have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness as well and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around. This is all relative and very subjective and is as much an art as a science.
I would also be very cautious about 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 if not most 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).
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 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 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 to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences or even to other mattresses that they are familiar with than anyone else (including me).
There is also more about the “simplified choice” group of mattresses (including Tuft & Needle and Brooklyn Bedding’s BestMattressEver) in posts #1 and #2 in this topic. As you can see the tradeoff between them is that the BestMattressEver uses some higher quality and more costly materials (two layers of latex over a 2 lb polyfoam base layer) while the Tuft & Needle uses slightly lower quality and less costly materials (high performance polyfoam over a 1.8 lb polyfoam base layer).
The latex in the BestMattressEver would be more resilient or “bouncy” while the high performance polyfoam in the Tuft & Needle would have less resilience or “bounce”. The BestMattressEver would also uses slightly more durable materials as well but both of them don’t have any lower quality materials or weak links in their design so it’s unlikely that durability would be an meaningful issue for either one unless if you are in a higher weight range (more than the lower 200’s or so).
It’s also not possible to quantify the sleeping temperature of a mattress or sleeping system for any particular person because there are so many variables involved with this as well and there is no standardized testing for temperature regulation with different combinations of materials. There is more about the many variables that can affect the sleeping temperature of a mattress or sleeping system in post #2 here that can help you choose the types of materials and components that are most likely to keep you in a comfortable temperature range.
Having said that … most people wouldn’t have temperature regulation issues with either one of them because neither one contains any memory foam which is the type of foam that is the most likely to cause temperature regulation issues for some people.
While only you can decide which one would be a “better” choice based on the criteria that are important to you (regardless of whether the same mattress would be a “better” choice for someone else) … when you are down to finalists that are all choices between “good and good” (which you are) and none of them have any lower quality materials or “weak links” in their design (which they don’t) and if there are no clear winners between them then you are in the fortunate position that either of them would likely be a good choice and post #2 here can help you make a final choice based on your local testing or mattresses you have slept well on, your more detailed conversations with each of them, your confidence about PPP and the suitability of each one, their prices, your preferences, the options you have after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or exchange or return the mattress or individual layers, 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.
I would also keep in mind that both of them have a great return policy that lets you test them in your bedroom instead of a showroom without any risk so you can decide whether the one you choose is a good match for you in terms of PPP based on your own experience instead of someone else’s experience that may be very different from your own.
Phoenix