Boat MattressMattress InfoMattress IdeasMattress ReviewsMattress PadBest Mattresses To BuyWorst MattressesMattresses BeddingWifey BedroomForwardCurious about which mattresses have the best ratings this year and which are duds? See which models have the top ratings in 2015 and what to avoid to get the best mattress. Every year brings new beds, technologies and trends claiming to be the best. Though it can be a lot to keep up with,…The traditional mattress industry is a racket. Vox wrote a long story last August teasing out all the ways mattress retailers rip you off, and showing how new, online, high-quality bed-in-a-box brands can help you skip the scam. But let's say you've decided to buy online — which company should you go with? It turns out the answer has a lot to do with how you sleep. As a person with a bad back, I spent a lot of time researching which one to buy before settling. The online mattress industry still lacks clear, easy-to access comparison information, and most companies only make one model.
I tried out my two final choices in person. Here's what I learned. For back and stomach sleepers: Casper Unquestionably the most famous of the bed-in-a-box brands, Casper blankets the internet and the New York City subway system with its ads. So when I decided to buy a new mattress online they were my first choice. A visit to their Manhattan showroom revealed a comfortable mattress. But I found it a bit too firm for my tastes. The reviews site Sleep Like the Dead has this to say about the differences between different sleep styles: BACK sleepers tend to prefer medium to firm firmness. Back sleepers often do not require a soft mattress because pressure on the body is more evenly distributed than is the case for stomach and especially side sleepers. Back sleepers with large buttocks in proportion to the rest of their body may prefer medium (or even soft) firmness as opposed to firm to minimize pressure. SIDE sleepers (especially those of average to below average size) tend to prefer medium to soft firmness.
This is due to the fact that pressure tends to be focused on the hips and shoulders, a fairly small surface area. If a side sleeper has shoulder pain, it likely means they have too firm a mattress and or too low a pillow. STOMACH sleepers (also known as front sleepers) tend to prefer medium firmness. Too much firmness for these sleepers can result in pressure on the knees and front of hips, while too much softness can cause the sleeper to sink too far into the mattress perhaps undermining neck / head alignment and or ease of breathing. The medium-firm Casper mattress, perfect for back and stomach sleepers, was a bit too tough to conform to my body on its side. A Full-sized Casper costs $750. For side sleepers: Leesa Softer than the Casper, Leesa offers a bed-in-a-box perfect for side sleepers. Unfortunately, they don't have a showroom in my area. But both Leesa and Casper have excellent return policies so I decided to place an order and see how I liked it. After about a month, I can report that the Leesa is perfect for my side-sleeping, back-aching, medium build.
Back sleepers with large buttocks and more heavyset stomach sleepers might also appreciate the brand's softer cushion. Full-sized Leesa mattresses retail for $715 after a $75 discount code is applied. A cheaper alternative: Tuft and Needle For those who want to spend less than Casper / Leesa prices on a mattress, but still want to circumvent the sketchy mattress store's cheapest offerings, Tuft and Needle may be a good alternative. I haven't tried one out personally. However, Sleep Like the Dead reports that T&N's mattress is well made but very firm. It may be a good option for back sleepers who don't mind a harder bed. A Full-sized Tuft and Needle costs $500.We will save you the suspense on answering this question right off the bat. GhostBed is our choice between these two popular mattresses. We have had many people ask us which would we choose so we decided to break it down for you in this GhostBed vs Purple mattress comparison. Why do we choose GhostBed in our GhostBed vs Purple review?
For a variety of reasons that we will discuss in the following comprehensive comparison review of these two mattresses. (Save $50 on a GhostBed by clicking here) FAQ: Read about GhostBed in our Top 10 Best Mattresses of 2017 Guide The GhostBed is a 11″ thick memory foam and latex hybrid mattress with a nice thick 3.5″ top comfort layer and a 7.5″ high density support foam base foundation. The GhostBed mattress has a 100% polyester cover with a unique dimpled cover pattern that is very stretchy and plush. You can feel the top dimples through the sheets and it felt somewhat massaging in a sense to us. The cover is very soft and thin and helps improve airflow and cooling. Read more details about the GhostBed in our complete GhostBed review. The Purple could also probably be called a hybrid, in that it is made up of primarily foam with their biggest differentiating factor being the 2” top layer of their patented open-cell hyper elastic polymer material that they promote as their mattress’ key selling point.
Their mattress is only 9.5” in height, which is thinner than almost every mattress we have reviewed or slept on. The Purple mattress really relies on their proprietary 2” hyper-elastic polymer technology which promises to support your body and relieve pressure points while also providing cooling via the open cell technology. It is definitely a unique technology in the sleep industry but not without issues we feel. As a heavier sleeper, I compressed through the 2” top layer almost instantly and came to rest on the underlying foam base layers, which aren’t anything unique or special and were not that comfortable. I bottomed out when sitting up in the bed, causing Kaye to roll towards me into the indentation which is a big complaint we (and other couples) often experience with mattresses that don’t provide enough support for heavier sleepers or couples sharing a bed. This elastic polymer apparently would cause squeaking so the company coated it with what appears to be talcum or baby powder of some sort, which was most likely the cause of Kaye itching while sleeping on the mattress which was not enjoyable to her (or me.)
The company claims to use hypoallergenic materials but this doesn’t seem to be the case. Both the Purple and GhostBed are “universal comfort” type mattresses in that they are designed to appeal to a wide variety of sleepers with one firmness level. The GhostBed to us is more of a medium firm level of firmness, coming in around a 6.5 to 7 in firmness (depending on sleeper weight.) The combination of the latex and gel comfort layers do a good job of providing comfort and support. The overall 11” thickness prevents “bottoming out” and supported both my heavier weight as well as our combined weight as a couple. The Purple by comparison feels a lot softer especially for heavier sleepers or for couples, in that my weight and by default a combined couple’s weight caused us to sink through the thinner 9.5” mattress and bottom out. As mentioned above, my heavier weight caused Kaye to roll towards me when shifting in the night which the hyped up hyper-elastic polymer is supposed to prevent.
We did feel that the top layer felt different than other mattresses we have slept on but my heavier weight easily pressed through the thin 2” of this material so the benefits did not seem as pronounced as the company claims. As noted above, the 11” GhostBed felt more comfortable for us as a couple and for me personally as a heavier sleeper due to the support it provided and by not “bottoming out” like the 9.5” Purple did. Maybe for lighter individuals this may not be the case so much, but as we review as a couple and want to provide advice as such we felt the latex and gel comfort layer of the GhostBed was more comfortable than the Purple’s open cell proprietary polymer layer. The bigger issue for Kaye was itching during the night from what we feel must have been the powder coating the Purple’s top layer. No issues here with the GhostBed, however. The cover of the GhostBed feels much nicer as well, as the dimpled pattern was felt through our sheets and almost provided a massage type feel.
The Purple claims that the open cell top layer sleeps cooler than competing products, and while we didn’t feel any heat from the mattress it did not feel noticeably cooler than the GhostBed. Both mattresses do a decent job of not causing sweaty or sticky sleeping conditions due to their top comfort layers not made of foam. This one hands down GhostBed wins. Again, the 11” mattress and what feels to be higher quality or denser lower layers prevented us from sinking into the mattress which is a big problem for me as a heavier (230 lbs) sleeper and us a couple. As we have mentioned, the Purple’s 2” top layer quickly was pressed through by me and cause me to sink much lower into the mattress. Edge support for the GhostBed is superior to the Purple as well, when I sat on the edge of the GhostBed I didn’t sink down to the foundation like I did with the Purple. The sinkage of the Purple caused more motion transfer during the night from the responsive nature of the material “bouncing back” when I adjusted.
This responsiveness is touted by the company as being the key to its comfort and support and may be as such for a single sleeper, but for us a couple it caused Kaye to shift uncomfortably towards me as I adjusted sleeping positions during the night. Neither of these mattresses had any significant smell or odor upon opening, which is better than many of the mattresses we have tested. Both mattress companies are sold over the Internet via their websites, so most interaction is done via just an easy ordering process. A few differences exist, however, in the warranty and options available. Ghostbed offers a 20 year warranty vs. 10 year for the Purple, and a 101 night sleep trial vs. 100 for the Purple (which isn’t that big of a difference of course.) Shipping is fast for the GhostBed, as it arrived within a few days via Fedex. Purple, had some shipping delays this past summer but seems to have gotten things handled as of lately. GhostBed is priced lower than Purple and also offers more size options than Purple, which only comes in Twin XL, Queen, and King and is priced at $999 for a Queen compared to $700 for the GhostBed.
(Save $50 on a GhostBed by clicking here) Financing is available interest free from GhostBed, vs. 10-30% interest rate financing for the Purple. We feel that between these two popular mattress choices, GhostBed is the clear favorite for a variety of reasons. The thickness of the GhostBed compared to the thinner Purple offers more comfort and support for heavier sleepers and for couples overall. While the Purple’s patented 2” top layer is indeed innovative in nature, the overall mattress doesn’t offer additional materials beneath it to compensate for weight compressing through it and supporting heavier sleepers and couples in our experience. In addition, we think that something in the powder that they use as well on the top layer caused Kaye to itch during the night which we didn’t experience with the GhostBed or other mattresses. The responsiveness of the latex and gel layer of the GhostBed was preferred by us to the Purple’s hyper-elastic polymer for our sleeping preferences, as well as for minimizing motion transfer and sinkage when sleeping together.