This Next-Level Comfy Mattress Helped Cure My Back Pain (It’s on Sale!)
To understand my love for my new bed, you have to understand that I slept on a three-inch foam roll for over a decade — which I loved. It really was awesome, and I only had to graduate to a cheap-o IKEA mattress when my girlfriend and I first got together, because she wasn’t a fan of the monastic situation I’d come to love. Now, if you’re wondering why I loved sleeping on the equivalent of a thin, dorm-room-style slab, there’s a simple reason: It helped my back, a lot. I was a wrestler from first grade through my senior year of college, and my back was among one of the many body parts of mine that the sport wrecked over time. And, there’s nothing that feels better on my spine than sleeping on a hard, flat surface.
Unfortunately, the bottom-barrel IKEA mattress was way too soft (which my girlfriend loved) and caused some serious back pain to flare up. Eventually, I had the chance to upgrade to a Saatva (another excellent brand that we love) but had to give it away when I moved in with my girlfriend, since she had a Tempur-Pedic that she refused to give up. Quickly, though, we realized we needed to graduate from a full to a queen, so when Bear asked if they could send me the Elite Hybrid mattress for review, I jumped at the chance. Even more exciting, now through June 5, Bear Mattress is offering 35 percent off sitewide (plus free sleep accessories with your mattress purchase) with code MEMDAY.
The Elite Hybrid claims it features an “ultra-luxurious, traditional mattress feel,” with the brand’s “most advanced cooling and support technology,” and I’ve gotta say, I think they’re spot on with that characterization. Before I get into why I like it, you should know that it comes with a 120-night, risk-free trial; free shipping and returns; a lifetime warranty; and pretty minimal packaging. It’s also available in all of the traditional mattress sizings, and lets you choose from three different firmness options: soft, medium, and firm. (I went with medium.)
I really thought it couldn’t get any better than my Saatva or foam roll, but for me, this is the Goldilocks of beds. Besides the unparalleled cooling power, my favorite aspect of the Elite Hybrid is that it’s the perfect compromise for my girlfriend and I — but it doesn’t feel like a compromise. I feel like I got the better end of the deal with a firm mattress, while my girlfriend thinks she got the better end of the deal with a soft mattress. And, because of the super-soft top layer, she no longer thinks that she needs to invest in a topper.
In terms of materials, there’s a reason it’s dubbed “the Elite Hybrid.” It’s made with a cooling, hypersoft hand-quilted cushion cover; a layer of copper-infused memory foam; a layer of dynamic transition foam; individually encased pocketed coils; reinforced edge coils; and high-density support foam. Now, I’m out of breath from just reading those aloud, but the TL;DR here is that it’s really, really comfortable, and it has a ton of support. Thanks to the edge coils, I never feel like I’m going to roll off the bed, even when my girlfriend goes full starfish-mode and relegates me to a 1/6th sliver of mattress. (Kudos, Bear, from boyfriends everywhere.)
The ease of “assembly” is a huge plus as well. It comes in a box that’s roughly the size of a mini-fridge, and it was lightweight enough for me to haul up three flights of stairs in my Brooklyn walk-up. (You should probably get another person to help, though, for safety.) Then, I just let it expand in my living room for two days — I’m not exactly sure how long you’re supposed to let it sit for, but I found two days to be enough — and whacked it on my bed frame. I’ve been sleeping like a baby ever since.
So, if you’re looking to upgrade your mattress — you know, the one with the weird sweat stains that you’ve had forever — there’s no better move, in my opinion, than snagging the Bear Elite Hybrid mattress. Don’t forget to use code MEMDAY and score your discount!
Buy: Bear Elite Hybrid Mattress, $1,373 (normally $2,111)