Nectar vs Purple Mattress

Most people familiar with the bed-in-a-box industry hear the name Nectar and automatically associate it with budget level beds. And while, yes, it is priced affordably, it’s also a solid mattress in almost all aspects.

However, there is one big factor that kind of makes or breaks the mattress and that’s whether or not you like the feel of memory foam. If you do, great, this bed is for you. If not, you may want to give Purple a try, which we will discuss in detail below.

Back to the memory foam, though, this bed has a little of that typical memory foam feel where you sort of slowly sink in and the bed starts to conform to your body’s shape. You will get a bit of that stuck-in-the-mud feel, however, Nectar is different than a lot of memory foam beds out there in that it’s on the firmer side of the spectrum. As such, we’d categorize Nectar as more of a firmer, dense memory foam bed.

We think it comes in around a medium to medium-firm on the firmness scale. The bed provides a good amount of support for back and stomach sleepers. You don’t sink in too far to the point where your spine is no longer properly aligned. However, you do sort of nestle into the bed enough to where your hips and shoulders receive good pressure relief when you’re on your side, which is why we’d recommend this bed for all types of sleepers.

At the end of the day, we think it finds a pretty good balance between support and pressure relief. Also, since Nectar is on the firmer side of the spectrum, this is one of the few all-foam 10-11″ beds that heavier sleepers (250+ lb) may be able to get away with. However, we still recommend taking a look at our Best Mattresses For Heavy Sleepers list.

Moving on, we think Nectar is a pretty good option for couples, as well. It does a good job of limiting motion transfer. This is good news for couples with one partner who likes to toss and turn or get up a lot during the middle of the night because the other person won’t be disturbed.

Also, the Nectar mattress provides pretty solid edge support for an all-foam bed. You really don’t get that roll-off sensation as you approach the edge. This comes into play a lot with couples where one person likes to hog the middle of the mattress and push the other person towards the edge.

All in all, we think the Nectar mattress is a great value for people that like the feel of memory foam. It’s been a staple on our Best Budget Beds list for years. Plus, a lot of times, they’ll give you two free pillows with each mattress purchase, which makes the whole package an even better value.

Purple is one of, if not the most, unique online mattress brand on the market. And that designation is primarily due to their patented Hyper-Elastic Polymer material that they use for the top layer on each of their models. This polymer material was actually invented by the founders of Purple and has a very unique, distinct feel.

It sort of feels like a gel material, but it’s not actually gel. It’s very responsive, stretchy, and soft, yet it’s oddly supportive, as well. So now that you understand a little more about Purple’s special material, let’s discuss each of their models a bit more in-depth.

Let’s first start with the original Purple mattress, which is comprised of two layers of polyurethane foam and a 2″ layer of Hyper-Elastic Polymer. This model is the cheapest of the four. If you’re on a budget, this is the best Purple option for you.

The new (introduced in early 2018) Purple 2, 3, and 4 models, on the other hand, incorporate both coils and dense polyurethane foam for their support structure, as opposed to just dense polyurethane foam like the Original Purple. In addition to added support, the coils give these beds a little bounce. Also, given coils are in general much more durable and supportive than foams, we’d recommend heavy sleepers go with one of the new models.

Now, you’re probably wondering what the 2, 3, and 4 numbers stand for. Well, that’s really just in reference to the thickness of the top layer of Hyper-Elastic Polymer (i.e. Purple 2 uses a 2″ layer, Purple 3 uses a 3″ layer, etc.). The Purple 2 is most ideal for back and stomach sleepers. Purple says this is the firmest option of the three because you’ll feel a little more of the dense support foam and coils below.

The Purple 3 is recommended for combo sleepers. This model obviously has one extra inch of the polymer material, so sleepers will notice the bed provides a little more pressure relief than the Purple 2. And rounding out the models is the Purple 4, which is best for side sleepers and will provide the most immersive experience with the Hyper-Elastic material.

However, although Purple likes to guide people towards certain models on their website, Slumber Yard team member Matt, who sleeps on the Purple 4 (and loves it), thinks all the new Purple models are good for all types of sleepers. He’s a combo sleeper and finds the Purple 4 to be great when he’s on his back or stomach, as well as his side.

What’s also neat about the new Purple mattresses is that they provide excellent edge support. The edge support with the original Purple was just average so the company introduced a 3″ thick, dense foam perimeter around the bed to fix that issue. That’s good news for couples who like to have their own space and not cuddle throughout the night.

In addition, the Hyper-Elastic Polymer material surprisingly does a decent job of not transferring motion. So all in all, we think the new Purple mattresses are a viable option for couples.

The last point I’d like to bring up about the Hyper-Elastic Polymer relates to temperature regulation. Even though the Purple beds are not cool to the touch, they actually sleep quite cool due to two primary reasons. First, Hyper-Elastic Polymer is just a naturally cooler material than foams since it doesn’t trap heat.

Second, Purple lays out the Hyper-Elastic material in a grid formation, creating columns and rows that allows air to flow freely near the top of the bed. As a result, we’d highly recommend this bed for sleepers who tend to heat up at night.

Overall, we are big fans of Purple, but it is worth mentioning that not everybody loves the feel of Hyper-Elastic Polymer. Slumber Yard team members Jeff and Matt happen to love it, but’s it’s a little too unique and distracting for some of our team members. They prefer the feel of more traditional mattress materials.

Purple Mattress vs Nectar Review Verdict

So now that we’ve broken down these two brands, it’s probably pretty clear how they differ. To us, the decision really comes down to three questions.

First  — Are you on a budget? If so, Nectar is the clear winner. The Nectar mattress is quite a bit cheaper than even the original Purple.

Second  — Do you like or prefer the feel of memory foam? Some people do, which would make Nectar the clear choice. If your answer was no or maybe, then you might want to take a look at Purple. There’s a very good chance you’ll love the feel and benefits Purple beds provide.

Last — Do you sleep hot? If so, Purple is going to be the better option given its superior airflow.