At NapLab, we aim to use our scores, reviews, and recommendations to help you easily identify the mattresses that are best for you.
It is through our objective and data-driven tests that we hope to reveal the best-performing mattresses that meet the needs of our readers.
Our Process for Choosing
When choosing the best mattresses, we rely heavily on our in-house data-driven tests, but that’s not the only factor. In addition to our tests, there are 8 other important factors that determine which mattresses are included in our best of lists.
Table Of Contents
Objective & Data-Driven Tests | Design, Material, & Other Factors | Price & Value | Brand Trust | Periodic Updates | Highly Specialized Mattresses | Availability | Avoiding Duplicate Brands | Subjective Assessment
#1. Objective & Data-Driven Tests
Any mattress that enters the NapLab testing studio is put through a series of objective & data-driven tests designed to assess mattress performance. We analyze 43 data points when considering how well a mattress performs.
Testing categories include:
- Cooling
- Sinkage
- Motion Transfer
- Response Time
- Bounce
- Edge Support
- Sex
- Pressure Relief
- Off-Gassing
- Company
The chart below shows exactly how much each category is worth compared to the total score.
Sinkage and bounce are testing factors, but not scoring factors. This is because some sleepers may prefer deep sinkage or minimal sinkage, high bounce or low bounce (or something in between), but those factors do not make mattress performance better or worse. Sinkage and bounce are preferential performance factors. As such, we test them and discuss those factors where relevant, but they do not impact scores.
Our tests are incredibly detailed and the corresponding scoring is formulaic so as to create the most consistent, fair, and accurate data possible. If you’d like to see our exact process for testing and scoring you can see how we test mattresses here.
Our objective and data-driven scoring is the primary metric we use to determine which mattresses earn spots on our best of lists. You can see a complete list of our mattress testing data here.
#2. Design, Material, & Other Factors
In addition to the mattress scores and data, we also rely on factors that are not reflected in the performance scores. These factors may include firmness, mattress type, material type, mattress thickness, and country availability, among other factors.
For example, if we want to showcase the “best latex mattresses”, we’ll start by reducing our total mattress set to only include mattresses that are primarily made from latex.
Best of topics like “best soft mattress” would start with a firmness filter to only look at mattresses rated “soft” on our firmness scale. For this best of list we would eliminate all mattresses that are not on the softest end of the firmness spectrum.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of the types of data filtering we do to help create a more relevant set of best of recommendations.
- Firmness (ex. soft, medium, firm)
- Material Type (ex. latex, memory foam)
- Mattress Design (ex. hybrid, coil, foam)
- Sleeper Positions (ex. side sleepers, back, stomach)
- Price (ex. <$1000)
- Body Weight (ex. plus-sized / HD, lightweight)
- Age (ex. kids, adults, elderly)
- Country (ex. USA, Canada, UK)
- Specialty (ex. organic, all natural, adjustable)
- Other (the above list is not exhaustive).
We use this basic filtering of our mattress testing data to quickly eliminate mattresses that do not conform to the relevant best of criteria.
#3. Price & Value
Price and value are often a factor in choosing our best of lists. If mattress A earns a 9.50 and is $1500, while mattress B earns a 9.55, but is $3000, we are most likely going to recommend mattress A as it represents a significantly better value for the money.
To date, we have tested 350+ mattresses, providing a wide range of price points and mattress types.
From this data, we are able to confidently say where any mattress falls on the value scale within a single material category (ex: #14 out of 71 among all hybrids tested to date).
#4. Brand Trust
We only recommend mattress brands that have our trust and the general trust of sleepers at large. If a mattress brand loses our trust (or never had it), regardless of how strong a performer that mattress is, we will not recommend that mattress as part of a best of list.
That trust can be lost for a number of reasons, including (but not limited to):
- Poor customer service
- Poor material quality
- Poor build quality
- Deceptive marketing practices
Other brands or specific mattress models may simply be so new to the market, small, and/or niche that they have yet to fully gain our trust and/or the trust of consumers at large.
We aim to always recommend mattress brands / models that sleepers have a high degree of trust with.
#5. Periodic Updates
Every year new mattress brands and new models launch. In addition, existing mattress models often will see updates or changes to materials, layers, fabrics, suppliers, manufacturers, and more.
As the mattress industry is always changing we do our best to continually change with it.
At least once each year we reassess each of our best mattress lists to ensure that every mattress still meets the criteria for inclusion. If / when a mattress fails to meet our requirements we will remove it from said list.
Likewise, as new and updated mattresses launch we consider whether they meet the requirements to be added to any of our existing best of pages.
In addition, at least once each year we reassess the specific inclusion criteria for each of our best of lists. We make this assessment and any necessary updates to ensure our best of lists are reflective of our current scoring system, our collective mattress data points, and represents the most relevant, highest performing mattresses for that specific category.
Our hope with these periodic updates is to have the highest-scoring, relevant mattresses, from trusted brands always populating our best of lists.
#6. Highly Specialized Mattresses
Some mattresses are specialty and designed for a narrower class of sleepers than the general population. Typically, we will not list these mattresses unless that specific best of list is tailored to that specific mattress type. (ex: mattresses for plus-sized sleepers, adjustable mattresses, etc.)
Even if the numerical score puts them on the list, we will generally bypass any specialty mattress that we feel does not meet the criteria of that respective best of page.
#7. Availability & Sizes
While we do test and review mattresses that are available outside the US, we are primarily focused on mattresses available in the United States.
To be considered for inclusion on any best of list the mattress must be available for purchase within the US. Mattresses that are frequently out of stock or otherwise have a hard time being available for purchase may be excluded from our best of lists.
That said, this does not apply to our country-specific best of lists (ex. best mattress Canada, best mattress UK, etc.).
In addition, all mattress models must be available in a common range of US sizes, including:
- Twin
- Twin XL
- Full
- Queen
- King
#8. Avoiding Duplicate Brands
Where possible, we try to avoid duplicate brands on a single best of list. If there are two or more mattresses worth mentioning within a single brand, the subsequent mattress may be listed alongside the first mention of that specific brand.
Ex. Helix has six different soft mattresses that all have very similar scores. In this case, we would choose the most relevant and highest scoring Helix for that best of list.
#9. Subjective Assessment
Ultimately, all recommendations are at the discretion of the NapLab team. We make every effort to make our recommendations as objective and data-driven as possible.
However, sometimes there are cases where a particular mattress meets the scoring criteria, but we feel it is still not one we could recommend. Reasons for exclusion in these cases could be due to a tie breaker, relative price / value differences, performance differences, quality differences, company differences, trust differences, and shipping / returns / trial differences, among other factors.
The same logic applies to mattresses that may just barely have missed the cut, but we feel are worthy of inclusion.
