Purple Mattress Reviews - Reasons to Buy/NOT Buy (2021)

The Original Purple mattress is one of the most sought-after beds online. It also happens to be a fan favorite among a few of us in the office at My Slumber Yard. That said, the Purple bed can be a little divisive — for example, Owen LOVES the Purple mattress but couldn’t convince his significant other to sleep on it because of its unique gel-like feel.

The Purple Mattress is one of the only beds to feature Hyper-Elastic Polymer, a proprietary comfort material, which happens to be both pressure-relieving and supportive at the same time. In our Purple bed reviews, we reveal the types of sleepers we think will like it best and who should consider other options.

Purple mattress overview

Purple Original

The Original Purple mattress is one of the most sought after beds online. It’s completely unique and is a great option for those that are interested in trying something new. It’s one of the only beds to feature Hyper-Elastic Polymer, a proprietary comfort material.

SLUMBER YARD RATING

4.4 out of 5

Honest Purple Mattress Reviews Video

Purple Mattress Firmness and Feel

How firm is the purple mattress?

In terms of firmness, honestly, it’s hard to rate the Original Purple bed given the unique characteristics of the polymer top layer. However, if you really pulled our collective arms, we’d say it’s about a medium on the firmness scale. Overall, the Purple mattress finds a really nice balance between pressure relief and support.

How does the Purple Bed feel?

The Purple bed looks and feels more like a gel or silicone-like material, unlike any type of memory foam or poly foam. The top layer is laid out in a grid formation, which creates a bunch of tiny squares across the bed’s surface. The polymer material is extremely soft, flexible, and responsive. In fact, Hyper-Elastic Polymer can be stretched to 15x its original state. Try doing that with foam and see what happens (spoiler alert: it rips).

We know what you might be wondering. How does it feel to sleep on a Purple Bed? Honestly, pretty weird at first. We like to compare it to a huge Dr. Scholls insert. Some people love it, some people hate it.

What really makes Hyper-Elastic Polymer special, though, is that it’s also really supportive. You kind of get the best of both worlds with the Purple mattress. It’s soft, comfortable and pressure relieving, yet it’s also able to support all types of sleepers.

Purple Mattress Construction

Since you can’t cut open that new mattress of yours, we got our hands dirty and sliced apart our Purple Mattress just to show you what the inside looks like. Below, you can see the bed’s three layers and an explanation of what they do.

Bottom – The Purple mattress in a box starts with a 4″ layer of dense support foam, which serves as the foundation for the bed. Most mattresses in the online industry start with a thick foam base, and here is where Purple sticks to the status quo.

Middle – The transition layer is 3.25″ of 1.8-pound polyurethane foam to neutralize or soften up the feel of the dense neutral foam at the foundation of the mattress.

Top – A 2″ layer of the brand’s patented Hyper-Elastic Polymer, which some people call the “Purple Mattress Topper,” provides a bulk of the bed’s comfort. It truly is a unique mattress material that’s supportive but also knocks it out of the park in terms of allowing for great pressure relief. It also offers additional benefits as well, which we will get to below.

Purple bed cover – Bringing all the layers together is their “SoftFlex” cover, which truly lives up to its name. It’s soft-to-the-touch, stretchy, and breathable. It’s also a removable cover but not machine washable. If you happen to get a stain on the cover, we suggest you remove it and spot clean the spill instead. Otherwise, you might risk shrinking the cover, making it very difficult to put it back on.

Purple Review Sleeper Type Analysis

To put it simply, the Purple mattress is great for all types of sleepers, whether you sleep on your side, back, stomach, or some combination of all three. Here’s a look at how you can expect the mattress to feel, depending on how you sleep.

Side Sleepers
If you’re a side sleeper, we think all body types from petite to heavy will enjoy the Purple mattress. The top layer of Hyper-Elastic Polymer does a great job of conforming to a side sleeper’s body and cradling the hips and shoulders. Overall, the bed provides a ton of pressure relief, a feature that side sleepers usually require.
In fact, Purple made our list for the Best Mattresses For Side Sleepers. We hold Purple in high regard as it relates to sleepers who favor their side.
Back Sleepers
We think a Back sleeper will find that Purple mattress provides the necessary support needed to keep your spine in neutral alignment. When you sleep on your back, your hips will sink down a little into the polymer material of the Purple bed (as they should) but not to the point where your spine is crooked. As such, Purple mattress is a great option if you identify as a back sleeper.
Stomach Sleepers
Like back sleepers, stomach sleepers will also enjoy the feel of it. If you’re a heavier back or stomach sleeper, the Original Purple bed will still work, it’s just probably not the best option out there. We’d recommend checking out the coil Purple mattresses, which contain coils. Or you can check out our Best Hybrid Mattresses list.
Combo Sleepers
As you can probably guess, we also think the Purple bed is a viable option for combo sleepers. The bed provides ample pressure relief for side sleepers and a good amount of support under the lower back and trunk of back and stomach sleepers. Plus, given the top layer is so responsive, you’ll find it effortless to switch between positions.

Body Type Analysis

Your weight and body type play a huge role in how firm or soft you will perceive a mattress. In general, the more you weigh, the softer a mattress is going to feel.

Average Body Types

In general, it’s easier for sleepers under 230 lbs to find a mattress that strikes the right balance between supportive and pressure relieving. We write our reviews from the perspective of an average sleeper, and this Purple Mattress works fine for these sleepers.
Petite Body Types

The Purple bed in a box mattress is great for small body types. Petite individuals who weigh 150 lbs or less place very little pressure on the Purple mattress. As a result, small body types tend to think most beds are on the firmer side since lightweight individuals sleep more on top of the mattress and don’t sink in as much.
Heavy Body Types

Finally, heavy sleepers who weigh 230+ pounds will feel like the Purple mattress is on the soft side of the spectrum. Heavy sleepers exert quite a bit more stress and pressure on a bed than small and average size people. As such, plus-size individuals tend to sink into the Purple mattress a little more and have a more immersive experience with the top layers.
Instead, we would suggest one of the Purple hybrid models to individuals who weigh over ~250 pounds.

How Much Is A Purple Mattress?

The Original Purple mattress is priced about average for the bed-in-a-box industry. It’s very similar to popular bed-in-a-box mattresses like Casper and Nectar. It wouldn’t be considered a budget tier mattress, nor would it be considered a luxury tier bed.

However, considering the special material this bed utilizes, we actually think the original Purple bed is a pretty good value. The Purple mattress price for a king size mattress comes in at $1,449. Here’s how the price breaks down by other sizes:

SIZE	PRICE	AVERAGE
Twin	$699	$780
Twin XL	$899	$1,121
Full	$1,099	$1,141
Queen	$1,299	$1,340
King	$1,699	$1,682
Cal King	$1,699	$1,770

Unfortunately, Purple doesn’t regularly offer coupon codes or promo codes to make their mattresses cheaper. However, they will almost always throw in a gift (pillow, sheets, etc.) with each mattress purchase. Be sure to check their website to see what promotion they’re currently offering.

Purple Mattress Performance

Firmness
In terms of firmness, honestly, it’s hard to rate the Original Purple bed given the unique characteristics of the polymer top layer. However, if you really pulled our collective arms, we’d say it’s about a medium on the firmness scale. Overall, the mattress finds a really nice balance between pressure relief and support.
Pressure Relief
As you lay down on the bed, you can sort of feel the polymer squares below shifting, folding and conforming to your body’s shape. It feels a little weird at first but after a few nights, we’ve found that most people warm up to the feel and end up really liking it. It basically has the pressure relief of memory foam without creating that sink-in feeling that you may or may not like.
Temperature
Cold isn’t the exact word, but Purple beds are definitely some of the best out there when it comes to airflow and temperature regulation. This is largely due, again, to that top layer of Hyper-Elastic Polymer.
The polymer material is constructed in a grid formation (Purple calls it a Smart Comfort Grid). Basically, this creates columns and rows of little polymer squares where air can move freely. Overall, this is one of the big advantages that Purple beds offer. If you tend to heat up at night or just live in a hot climate and don’t like to use the air conditioner, this is one of the Best Mattresses For Hot Sleepers on the market.
For an in-depth explanation, you can read our article about how we test temperature regulation.

purple mattress review online bed in a box tempearture

Durability

The Hyper-Elastic material inside all of the purple beds is extremely durable and malleable. However, the Original Purple isn’t the most durable bed of them all because it contains a foam base rather than a steel coil foundation. Hybrid beds prove to be more durable and long-lasting, especially for heavy individuals.

Edge support

Edge support previously was one of the big complaints with the Purple. However, in late 2019, the company added dense foam side rails around the bed’s perimeter to help combat the issue. As a result, the bed now performs much better in this category compared to the previous version.

All in all, we’d say the Purple bed provides pretty decent edge support. Of course, we still wouldn’t put it in our great category, but it’s definitely good enough to get the job done.

What is edge support, and why does it matter? We have a detailed explanation on our edge support blog post.

Motion isolation and noise

Surprisingly, the Original Purple mattress does a pretty good job of limiting motion transfer. You might not think so, given how responsive and sort of bouncy the polymer top layer is, but the bed actually passed our tests easily. It also doesn’t make any noise, virtually none, which is standard with most new online beds nowadays.

Is Purple a good mattress for couples?

As we mentioned above, the feel of the purple mattress can be very divisive. Some people love it, and some people find it a little too weird. As such, this is the first hurdle that couples need to face. If one person in the relationship finds it too odd, you should probably look at our list for the Best Beds For Couples.

If both partners like the feel though, the Purple bed performs well in both motion isolation and edge support.

Other Purple Mattresses

Purple offers three other mattress models. The company recently introduced pocketed coil models, which are similar to the original but offer more durability. These Purple Hybrid models are quite a bit more expensive than the Original Purple, but they do offer several advantages:

Purple Hybrid

The Purple Hybrid, otherwise known as Purple 2, incorporates a thick 7.5″ pocketed coil layer in the base rather than foam. It’s also an inch thicker than the original. This makes it more supportive and a suitable bed for all body types, including plus-size individuals. It’s a bit firmer than Purple, though, rated around a medium-firm. We think it’s best for back and stomach sleepers. A queen size retails for $1,799.
Purple Hybrid Premier 3 & 4

These mattresses are even thicker than the Purple Hybrid. You can choose between a 3″ or a 4″ Purple Grid, which is the comfort layer of the mattress. This makes them feel a bit softer than the Purple Hybrid, around a medium to medium-firm. We think these models are great for all sleeping positions and body types, it just depends on how thick you want your Purple to be. Keep in mind, though, that the Premier models are a bit more expensive. A queen size 3″ grid model retails for around $2,400.

Purple Company Policies

Like most of its competitors, Purple offers customer-friendly policies in terms of its trial period, warranty, and shipping policies. You get a 100 night risk-free trial period. That’s pretty standard, some brands offer a whole year trial, so it’s not the best out there. But, still plenty of time to decide if a Purple bed is right for you. Shipping and returns are also free. Customer service will arrange for a third party to pick up the mattress from your home.

Purple Mattress Review Verdict

Overall, we’re big fans of Purple mattresses. We think just about anyone can sleep on a Purple bed. We like all the benefits that Hyper-Elastic Polymer provides. There’s a reason why this mattress is a staple on our list of the Best Beds Under $1,000. Bottom line, if you’re open to a new style of mattress, we highly recommend giving Purple mattress a try.

Overall Rating

4.4 ^{out of 5}

Why Trust Us

Get the kind of sleep you’ve only dreamed of with some help from our team of mattress experts. We personally test more than 175 of the best sleep solutions from over 60 leading brands on site, so you can be sure you’re getting unbiased reviews, fair comparisons and personalized recommendations.

Try a Purple bed if:

You’re a hot sleeper who wants a naturally cooling bed.
You’re tired of traditional mattresses and want something new.

Don’t get a Purple bed if:

You want a traditional memory foam mattress.
You need a firm mattress.

Purple Mattress Alternatives

These mattresses are all similar to the Purple Mattress but at varying price points.

	Mattress Type	Firmness	Temp	Body Type	Thickness	Starting Price
Purple Original	Unique	Medium	Breathable	Under 230 lb	9.5inch	$1299^* *Queen mattress
Latex For Less	Latex Foam	Medium	Neutral	Under 230 lb	9″	$1549^* *Queen mattress	Read Review
Avocado Green Mattress	Latex Foam	Firm	Breathable	All Body Types	11inch	$1599^* *Queen mattress	Read Review
Helix Midnight	Mixed Foam	Medium	Neutral	All Body Types	12inch	$1099^* *Queen mattress	Read Review

How We Test Mattresses

My Slumber Yard
My Slumber Yard has been around since the beginning of the bed in a box craze. Our team has personally tested and reviewed over 175 mattresses so far, and we keep more than 150 beds in our office so we can compare them (and take afternoon naps).
When testing mattresses, we evaluate the following factors:
- Construction: We cut beds open to see what’s inside and how it’s made.
- Feel: We check if it has a stuck-in-the-mud memory foam feel, or if it’s more of a neutral foam or a plush pillow top, etc.
- Firmness: We have our own firmness scale and evaluate how that may vary depending on your body and sleeper type.
- Pressure relief: We test what’s the sweet spot for different body and sleeper types.
- Support: How that changes by body/sleeper type
- Edge Support: This is important for couples who share a bed. Would you roll out of the bed, or can you sleep confidently close to the edges?
- Motion Isolation: We use the water glass test to see how the bed fares with motion transfer. This is another important factor for couples who don’t want to wake up when they move.
- Temperature Regulation: We use a temperature gun to evaluate if the bed warms up, stays neutral or actively cools while you sleep.
- Noise: This could be an issue in beds with coils or innerspring.
- Off-Gassing: Some beds could have a smell for a few weeks after unpacking, and we try to warn you about it.
- Company policies: We also take into account policies such as shipping, returns, trial period and warranty.
- Value: We look at a bed’s price in the context of what it offers in terms of features and quality of materials and construction.

Are Purple mattresses worth the money?

If you’re a sleeper who weighs under 230 lbs. who wants to stray from the traditional memory foam or innerspring mattress, we think Purple is worth the money. It’s a good option for every sleeping position and it has a unique feel that you can’t get anywhere else.

How many years does a Purple mattress last?

Your weight and how often you use the bed will influence that number. We think sleepers under 230 lbs will get at least eight years from their Purple. This is because it uses Hyper-Elastic Polymer, which is an extremely durable material. Much more so than memory foam or polyurethane foam.

Is Purple good for back pain?

We think a Purple mattress is a good option for people with back pain. Purple beds offer the perfect balance of support and comfort. This means side sleepers get the pressure relief they need and back/stomach sleepers get the optimal spinal support.

Are Purple mattresses good?

Our answer is absolutely, but for the right kinds of people. The Purple mattress is completely unique and is a great option for those that are interested in trying something new. It’s also incredibly breathable, making it ideal for those who sleep hot. We’ve featured it on several best lists, including the best bed in a box mattress and the best mattress under $1,000 because, while it’s unconventional, it appeals to a wide range of sleeper types and offers a perfect balance between soft and supportive.