Birch Luxe Mattress Review

In This Review
Performance Tests | Firmness | Support & Sleeping Positions | Design | Materials | Comparisons | FAQs

If you’d rather watch than read we’ve got our full Birch Luxe video review here:

At NapLab, we put each mattress to the test.

We test 9 different factors that impact the comfort and feel of the mattress. Testing categories include:

Test	Rating
Cooling	Excellent
Sinkage	Deep
Motion Transfer	Very Low
Response Time	Extremely Fast
Bounce	Extremely High
Edge Support	Excellent
Sex	Excellent
Pressure Relief	Excellent
Off-Gassing	Very Good
Company	Excellent

How is the Birch Luxe Different?

The Birch Luxe mattress has higher than average performance, but a price that is also on the higher end—14.5% higher than the average latex hybrid mattress.

Advantages

In our performance tests, the Birch Luxe had better cooling than average as well as motion transfer levels that are 34% better than the average motion transfer performance.

It also exhibited better edge support, with 16% less sinkage when seated directly on the edge of the mattress (less is better for edge support).

Neutral Factors

Considering more preferential factors, this mattress has sinkage that is 19% deeper than average across the surface of the mattress. This mattress measured 57% higher levels of bounce than the average mattress as well (considering all mattress types).

Disadvantages

Response time is slightly slower than average and there is also slightly less comfort material overall (0.7″ less than average). That being said, these two issues feel somewhat minor considering the mattress still had higher overall performance than average.

Factor	Birch Luxe	Average
Overall	9.66	9.51
Price	$2,099	$1,833 (Latex Hybrid only)
Cooling	9.5	9.4
Max Sinkage	2.58″	2.17″
Total Motion Transfer	5.41 m/s²	8.28 m/s²
Response Time	0.5 sec.	0.4 sec.
Total Bounce	15.14″	9.65″
Edge Support – Sitting Sinkage	3.50″	4.17″
Mattress Thickness	11.5″	11.9″
Sex Overall	9.8	9.6
Comfort Material	3.5″	4.2″
Off-Gassing – Smell	Strong	Strong
Off-Gassing – Days	10 days	5 days
Trial	100 nights	162 nights
Warranty	25 years	27% have lifetime warranties, average of other 73% of mattresses is 14 years

The cooling performance on the Birch Luxe was excellent. Looking at our objective data, the Birch Luxe peaked at a maximum surface level temperature of 90.1° F after lying on it for 15 minutes.

This is 1.1° F lower than the average maximum temperature across all mattresses we’ve tested to date. Heat dissipation was good, not great.

• Baseline Temperature – the temperature of the mattress before anyone lies on it
• Maximum Temperature (0 minute) – the temperature of the mattress after lying on it for 15 minutes
• Ending Temperature (5 minute) – the temperature of the mattress after being lied upon and having no one on it for 5 minutes

After no one was lying on the mattress for 1 minute the surface level temperature had reduced from 90.1° to 87.2°, a decline of 2.9°.

On average, this temperature decline is typically 3.7°, so the Birch Luxe is a behind in terms of heat dissipation (at least at the 1-minute mark).

Heat dissipation continues to decline at an even pace over the 5-minute monitoring period. By the 5-minute mark, the Birch Luxe has reached 83.3°F, a reduction of 6.8°.

This final temperature is notably lower than the average across all mattresses we’ve tested to date, which is 85.3°.

While the cooling performance is good, it’s not quite as good as I would have expected. Generally, natural latex and pocketed coils are among the very best performers on the market.

Furthermore, even though the maximum temperature was quite low, heat dissipation leaves something to be desired.

Heat Dissipation Over Time

All of that said, speaking subjectively, I did not feel warm during our cooling test.

The mattress seems to breathe well. Despite the less-than-incredible heat dissipation curve, I’m still overall happy with the cooling performance. Most people will find the Birch Luxe to be a cool mattress. 

The Birch Luxe hybrid has a deeper-than-average sinkage level. In our pressure point sinkage test, we measured 2.58” of sinkage.

Compared to all mattresses we’ve tested to date, this is considerably deeper. The average pressure point compression is 2.17” (which includes mattresses of all firmness levels).

The level of sinkage is also documented in the image below.

Generally, medium-firm mattresses are in the 2.0-2.2” range, so you’re going to get a little more sinkage. However, the sinkage is very generalized around your body. This is in contrast to memory foam, which has a more exact and precise hugging form factor.

Read our latex vs. memory foam guide for more info.

The Birch Luxe has a fairly substantial euro-style pillow topper. It’s padded with lots of comfort materials, but materials that easily give way when under body weight. As a result, you get more sinkage with the Birch Luxe.

Motion transfer on the Birch Luxe was good. In our accelerometer tests, we measured an acceleration range of 5.41 m/s².

This is better than the average motion transfer level of 8.27 m/ s² by 34.6%.

Despite the pocketed coils and latex, the mattress does a nice job of keeping motion to a minimum. Generally, latex and hybrid mattresses create more motion transfer.

However, the thick top layer of soft comfort materials seems to do a good job at helping minimize energy transfers across the mattress.

The level of motion transfer is documented in the video below.

While the level of motion transfer is relatively low, it does linger for longer than is ideal.

Looking at our motion transfer chart, you can see that there is a high level of motion for 0.4 seconds, with a moderate level of motion up until 1.0 seconds, before it trails off.

The absolute best mattresses that mitigate motion transfer do so within 0.3 seconds and are able to keep the acceleration range in the 2.0 m/s² area.

Some of the best-performing motion transfer tests we’ve seen are the Leesa Original at 2.06 m/s², Layla Hybrid at 2.45 m/s², and Nectar Premier Copper at 1.88 m/s². 

If the absolute lowest motion possible is important for you then you should consider one of the above options.

Response time was respectably fast, though not quite as fast as we expected. Hybrid mattresses, especially those with latex top layers, are generally among the fastest-responding mattresses on the market.

This is simply due to the individual layers rebounding almost immediately. However, the Birch Luxe has a thick comfort layer quilted within the cover itself. Those specific materials aren’t quite as fast to rebound to their original shape.

The level of responsiveness is documented in the video below.

It takes 0.5 seconds for the materials to mostly recover and 1.0 seconds before a full recovery is complete. The mattress was mostly recovered by 0.5 seconds, slightly slower than the 0.4-sec average, comparing all mattresses we’ve tested to date.

The full recovery time of 1.0 seconds slips a bit below the average of 0.8 seconds. These are still fairly fast response times, but not the absolute fastest. Even so, I’m not terribly worried about it for a mattress like this.

These response times are more than fast enough to avoid a stuck feeling, which is the primary desire for quicker response duration.

The level of bounce on the Birch Luxe is very high. In our tests, we measured a total height bounce of 15.14”.

This is the 2nd highest bounce of any mattresses we’ve tested to date (getting edged out by the 17.15” bounce of the Helix Moonlight).

At a height of 15.14” it is nearly double the average bounce among all mattresses we’ve tested to date, which is 7.85”.

The level of bounce is also documented in the video below.

Latex has a high bounce. Pocketed coils have high bounce. When you put these materials together there is no surprise that the bounce height is huge.

For some sleepers, the level of bounce may simply be too much. However, others may enjoy it. Bounce is more of a preferential factor.

In any case, with respect to sex, more bounce is almost always better. There should be little doubt that sex on the Birch Luxe should be fantastic due to the high bounce and general comfortable feel (more on sex a bit further down the page).

Edge support is excellent on the Birch Luxe mattress. In our sitting tests, we measured a maximum compression of 3.5”.

This is considerably better than the average across all mattresses we’ve tested to date, which is 4.8”.

The level of edge support while seated is documented in the images below.

The Birch Luxe does a fantastic job of remaining supportive even with a significant amount of weight directly on the edge.

The level of edge support while lying is documented in the images below.

Edge support while lying on the mattress is equally as good. I felt as fully supported on the edge of the mattress as I did while lying directly in the middle of the mattress. The pocketed coil system seems to do a really fantastic job.

The best mattresses for sex have high bounce, good edge support, quiet materials, and good pressure relief and cooling.

These 5 factors make up the NapLab sex performance score.

Sex Factor	Factor Weight	Score	Rating
Bounce	60%	10	Extremely High
Edge Support	20%	9.8	Excellent
Noise	10%	9	Moderate
Pressure Relief	5%	9.5	Excellent
Cooling	5%	9.5	Excellent

For the Birch Luxe, these individual factors generated a sex score of 9.8.

When we look at the individual factors that contribute to the overall sex score, we can see exactly where Birch excelled.

First, let’s talk bounce. This mattress has one of the highest levels of bounce that we’ve tested to date. More bounce equates to better sex performance.

Edge support, pressure relief, and cooling were all fantastic as well. Overall, the natural materials really help this mattress to throw up big points in the sex category.

The biggest disadvantage of the Luxe has got to be noise. But even then, it feels a little unfair to call it a “disadvantage”.

Any mattress with coils (pocketed or foam-encased) is generally going to be noisier than an all-foam mattress. This mattress is no different.

But adding the coil is great for bounce so if we’re talking bounce vs. noise, I’ll take the noise, and keep the bounce.

I found pressure relief on the Birch Luxe to be excellent. The foundational layers of pocketed coils and natural latex work really well together to create a supportive and responsive base.

However, the real pressure relief story is the thick 1.5” comfort layer of wool. Older versions of the Birch Luxe also contained cashmere in this layer, but that was removed in early 2024.

These quilted materials help to soften the overall feel of the mattress, while the latex contours to the shape of sleepers and helps the transition into the coil base layer. All things considered, excellent pressure relief.

Because this is a natural mattress, there aren’t any materials that are going to have a more typical off-gassing period. At least not compared to memory foam and other poly foam mattresses.

However, there is still a smell, and a very strong one at that. Right out of the box, the smell was significant and strong.

As I said before, it’s not a typical off-gassing smell, but it also doesn’t smell like other natural textiles I’ve tested before. Perhaps the Pulse latex and/or wool used here is simply more odorous.

In any case, if you’ve got an open area or spare room to let it air out for a few days after arrival, that would be a good idea.

The Birch Luxe smell filled the entire 1,000-square-foot space of our studio & office. After 7 days it started notably declining in smell. By day 10, the smell had reached a minor level.

The Birch Luxe mattress was launched in October of 2021, but Helix (the parent company to Birch) has been around since 2015.

Helix has a wide lineup of other mattresses including over a dozen in their Helix collection as well as organic options with the Birch—Standard or Luxe.

All Helix mattresses follow the same terms and policies (warranty length may vary), which are pretty favorable to consumers.

The 100-night trial period is fairly standard and the 25-year warranty for Helix Luxe or Birch mattresses is also really nice.

Company Factor	Factor Weight	Score	Data
Trial Period	25%	9	100 nights
Warranty	25%	10	25 years
Shipping	25%	10	$0
Returns	25%	9	$99
Country of Origin	0%		USA

Shipping is free, but returns are $99. In addition, Birch requires a 30-night break-in period.

This 30-day time frame gives some time for your body to get used to the mattress. This is a fairly common practice among online mattress companies.

The firmness of the Birch Luxe comes in around a 6 out of 10 on the firmness scale, where 10 is the most firm.

This puts it at a pretty medium-firm feel. The vast majority of sleepers prefer a firmness in the 5-7 range.

Overall, the support is good. It’s got a good thickness at 11.5” and the layer of comfort material and support coils are more than sufficient to support most sleepers.

As you can see in the table below, this firmness can be a good choice for many sleepers, regardless of sleeping position or sleeper weight.

Sleeper Weight	Stomach Sleepers	Side Sleepers	Back Sleepers
Under 150 lbs.	Yes	Yes	Yes
150-250 lbs.	Yes	Yes	Yes
250-300 lbs.	Yes	Yes	Yes

Design

The design of the Birch Luxe hybrid primarily involves latex and coils, but also includes other materials like wool and organic cotton.

It has an 11.5″ profile, which is a bit thicker than standard 10″ mattresses. The cover uses natural colors and tones that are nods to the more natural materials used inside as well.

Materials

As mentioned above, the Birch Luxe has a profile of 11.5″, made up of three separate layers. From top to bottom, these layers include:

• 1.5″ quilted cover
• 2.0″ natural latex
• 8.0″ pocketed coils

The Cover

The cover of the Luxe is plush, made with organic cotton, with a woven finish.

In the middle of the cover is a fire-retardant layer that uses natural rayon fibers to provide protection, instead of chemicals.

The Comfort Layer

The comfort layer is made up primarily of 2.0″ thick Pulse natural latex. This material is derived from nature, responsive, and breathable.

The Support Layer

The support layer below the foam is made of 8.0″ fabric-encased coils. These coils are pocketed individually and have a zoned design. The zoned system uses denser coils in the middle of the mattress and less dense coils at the ends (head and foot) of the mattress.

This type of zoning creates more support for the heavier portions of your body, and lighter support for the less heavy portions of your body. This zoned design helps improve support, especially for side sleepers.

The two most important features of this layer are the coils which are both:

1. Pocketed: limits motion transfer
2. Zoned: improves pressure relief

Product Evolution

Birch is a natural hybrid mattress manufactured by Helix. Helix launched in 2015 and the standard Birch mattress came out in May of 2019.

The Birch Luxe is the newest addition to the lineup and it was released in October 2021.

The Birch Luxe is an iterative improvement over the original Birch mattress. The Luxe improves on the original Birch with a zoned coil system, improved edge support.

The Luxe also used to contain cashmere within the cover layer, but that was later removed in early 2024.

Birch Luxe vs. Birch Standard

The Birch Luxe was more recently launched compared to the original Standard Birch mattress. Both are organic, latex-based hybrid mattresses. So what separated these two mattresses?

Other Mattresses to Consider

Not sure that the Birch Luxe is best for you? Here are three other mattresses you may want to consider that are similar to the Birch Luxe.

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions? Check out some of the top FAQs on the Birch Luxe mattress below and get the answers you’re looking for.