If you're looking for the best mattress to ease your back pain, a Sleep Number bed should be your first consideration. Users find them comfortable, and their adjustable firmness is widely considered a great feature. number of owners report a hump or sag between the air chambers, mechanical problems and/or air-pump noise. Still, Sleep Number's owner-satisfaction rating is higher than that for most mattresses overall, and at least 30 percent of users report improved sleep quality.Adjustable firmness on both sides Can develop mechanical issues Owners love the adjustable firmness. , about 25 percent of owners say the Sleep Number bed has relieved or eliminated pain, especially back pain. In addition, thanks to its electric pump, users on either side of the bed can adjust the Sleep Number's air pressure up or down to find the best level of support for their individual needs, an important consideration for couples who share a bed and
want to accommodate the needs of a partner with pain issues without sacrificing notes that sagging and other support issues are less common with airbeds than other types of mattresses. to $5,000 for queen size, the Sleep Number line of air beds costs well above the average price paid for other mattress types. Even so, the top price is lower than that for competitive adjustable air mattresses intended for fullSleep Number warranties its mattresses for 25 years, although coverage is prorated after the first two. In addition, the warranty does not cover compression or body impressions. The company offers a 100-day trial period, and dissatisfied users can return the bed for exchange or refund. However, shipping and setup costs aren't refundable, and owners must pay to ship the bed back. Relatively long life span. Number mattresses last a long time, since nearly any problem with the bed can be fixed with a replacement part. This includes not only mechanical parts like
air pumps but also fixed parts like foam toppers. On average, owners keep their Sleep Number beds about 10 years, although at least one in five say their beds have suffered from some type of durability problem, such as leaking air chambers 6 Best MattressesInnerspring MattressesMemory Foam MattressesLatex and Organic MattressesMattresses for Back PainBuying GuideMattress RatingsSleep Number's $1,099 It Bed connected queen mattress tracks how well you sleep via built-in sensors and integrations with select products from Nest, Fitbit and other companies. It is much smarter than your average bed. The comfortable foam mattress even has two inner air chambers so you and a partner can pick your own firmness settings. While all of that tech has the potential to offer useful sleep tips, the amount of data the mattress collected from me and my husband, Kevin, didn't match up with the amount of information we were getting back from it. Unexpected glitches in the related SleepIQ app also led to inaccurate sleep scores and missing data -- Sleep Number says it's working on these issues.
Yes, this is a cozy mattress, but the smarts need to be more reliable before I'd suggest most people spend the money on Sleep Number's It Bed. If Sleep Number can smooth out the data gathering quirks, the It Bed could be worth it to those interested in dissecting charts and graphs in pursuit of a good night's sleep. The It Bed by Sleep Number arrived in a single large box. You can install the mattress over a platform-style slatted bed frame. That means you don't have to buy Sleep Number's frame and base if you already have something that will work -- or if you simply want to buy a frame from another manufacturer. For reference, the frame and base accessories are sold as a unit for an additional $499, taking the grand total up to $1,598. You can buy headboards and related hardware through Sleep Number, too. Aesthetics didn't factor in heavily with the It Bed, since it's going to be covered by sheets 99 percent of the time. It's a pretty attractive mattress all the same. The knit fabric covering it looks like a mattress cover, even though it's technically an integrated part of the mattress design.
Note: I reviewed the $1,099 queen mattress, but Sleep Number also offers other sizes. A twin version goes for $799 or you can pay up to $1,499 for either a king or a California king mattress. Find out more on Sleep Number's site. Setting up the mattress was as simple as taking it out of the box, setting it on the bed frame and giving the mattress some time to regain its natural shape. There's a small green tag on one corner of the mattress -- that side needed to be positioned at the foot of the bed for the tech to work properly. Now grab the ActiveComfort Technology Module -- this is a smallish black gizmo with two tube connectors sticking from either end. Lift up the end of the mattress slightly, unzip the small pocket in the middle and connect the power cord and the air hoses (they're color-coded for easy install). This is the device that pumps air into either side of the bed. Slide everything back into the zippered pocked and close it. Then, connect the cord at the head of the bed to the included power adapter and plug it into a nearby outlet.
You'll need the Android or iPhone SleepIQ app to access every feature offered by this bed. Unlike other Sleep Number mattresses, the It Bed doesn't come with a separate remote or any other hardware you can use to see your settings and make adjustments. Follow the in-app steps to pair the bed to your Wi-Fi network and create a profile. You can also extend access to your partner so they can create their own login and profile. The only issue I ran into here was that the air tubes had shifted during shipping, so I had to reach into the zippered pocket to find them. Fortunately, everything else was very simple. With the bed installed, you can get to the fun part -- sleeping. Here's what I liked: Here's what I didn't like: I was disappointed that Sleep Number doesn't tell you what the right level of firmness is for you or auto-adjust it for you over time. As someone who's never bought a mattress, I have absolutely no idea which setting is "best for me." I personally found every setting I tried comfortable -- and SleepIQ never offered any sort of guidance on that front.