Hi Horsch,
Just in case you haven’t read it … post #1 here can help cut through the confusion of mattress shopping with some “real” information, steps, and guidelines that can help you know what is important (and what isn’t) and what to look for (and what to avoid) both in terms of mattresses (and the materials in them) and the people who sell them.
All of your choices are good ones except for one which doesn’t “pass” the guidelines I use here when I am looking at a memory foam mattress.
The first thing I would question is that either the weight or the description of the mattress can’t be right. A 7" layer of 5.3 lb memory foam in king size would weigh over 130 lbs and that doesn’t include the cover or the base foam underneath it and yet the weight of the mattress is listed as only 110 lbs. It also says it’s only 10". In addition to this … 7" of memory foam can also be a very risky construction in terms of alignment because memory foam will “creep” over the course of the night (it continues to soften with time under constant pressure unlike more resilient foams) and you may start off in good alignment but as the heavier parts of your body sink in deeper over the course of the night it can lead to alignment issues and the back discomfort and pain that can go with a mattress that doesn’t match the needs of the person sleeping on it.
The foam is also Chinese and isn’t CertiPur certified.
They also don’t provide the density of the base layer (which they may if you asked).
This mattress is what I would call “buyer beware”.
Your other choices are all good ones and Brooklyn Bedding (the manufacturer for Dreamfoam) is an invited member of this site which means that I believe they are among the best quality and value in the country.
The quality of the foams in this mattress is similar to the Tempurpedic Cloud Luxe and I think most people would expect a mattress like this to last much longer than 5 years. As you can read in post #4 here though and the posts it links to … durability is relative to the person sleeping on the mattress and many other factors. What can safely be said is that higher quality materials like those used in the Ultimate Dreams will last longer than lower quality materials. Post #3 here would probably also be of interest to you. the base foam that provides primary support is a high quality polyfoam.
Latex comes in a wide range of firmness levels from very soft to very firm so the firmness/softness of a latex mattress will depend on the firmness/softness of the latex you choose, not on how much latex is on the mattress (although layer thicknesses play a role as well).
A latex/polyfoam hybrid is much like memory foam mattresses which are actually a memory foam/polyfoam hybrid as well because only the top layers are memory foam and there needs to be a firmer support layer underneath it. Memory foam is too soft to use as a support layer in a mattress. Latex is generally more durable than memory foam as well. You can read about the differences between an all latex mattress and a latex/polyfoam hybrid in post #2 here. The closer to the top of a mattress a foam is the more subject it is to mechanical stress from sleeping on it so the deeper layers are less likely to be the “weak link” of a mattress than the comfort layers in most cases. Of course there will be some difference in durability depending on the weight of the person on it and how much they “go through” the top layers and there would also be a difference in performance as well.
I’m not so sure that “annualized value” factors in the quality of sleep which is the most important part of a mattress purchase IMO but in any case there is no way to predict how long any mattress will last for any particular person because there are too many variables that can’t be known. At the end of it’s comfort/support lifespan, you will be far more likely to remember how well you slept on a mattress (or didn’t) over the years than the annualized cost or even the initial purchase price. Some people may continue to use a mattress that has lost its support or comfort for years (and like anything that happens gradually they may not realize it at first or may have other reasons for delaying a mattress replacement) and the “cost” is paid in their overall wellbeing and their ability to rest and recover.
There are many great mattress options and each person needs to decide on which mattress best matches their own personal value equation and nobody else can tell you which is the “best” mattress for you. My goal is to help you exclude the worst choices (such as in this post) and to help you with how to choose rather than what to choose.
Of course some good local testing on similar mattresses and materials can also be an important part of any buying decision so that you are not just buying based on 'theoretical" considerations that may not always end up having the importance you thought they did. The most important part of clarity is likely to come from personally testing mattresses that use different materials. There is no best or worst here or mathematical formula that will be useful when all your choices (except one) and many others you could consider are good ones. When you are down to choices between “good and good” then the objective, subjective, and intangibles hat are most important to you is the only way to decide which is best for YOU.
Nothing can replace personal experience on different types of mattresses so that theoretical knowledge can be translated into personal experience and you have a more meaningful reference point about the differences between your choices. This can come from personal testing or from sleeping on a mattress after you have purchased it. If its the second one and your choice is more 'theoretical" … then it’s always a good idea to make sure you are dealing with someone with the knowledge, experience, and integrity to help you make the most suitable choice based on your best interests … not just on theirs.
Phoenix