Glacier Apex Review

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

At NapLab, we put each mattress to the test.

We test 10 different factors that impact the performance, comfort, and feel of the mattress. We then take the results of that test and compare to every mattress we’ve tested to date.

Check out the full performance table below to see how this mattress ranks:

Factor	Glacier Apex	Average
Overall Score	9.27	8.55
Price (Queen)	$1,399	$1,532 (Memory Foam Hybrid only)
Cooling – Score	9.0	8.6
Sinkage – Depth	2.14″	2.15″
Sinkage – Feel	Moderate	Moderate
Motion Transfer – Score	9.7	8.2
Motion Transfer – Acceleration	5.77 m/s²	8.74 m/s²
Response Time – Score	8.4	8.9
Response Time – Mostly Recovered	0.4 sec.	0.4 sec.
Response Time – Fully Recovered	1.2 sec.	1.0 sec.
Bounce – Height	6.02″	9.38″
Bounce – Feel	Low	Moderate
Edge Support – Score	9.9	8.6
Edge Support – Sitting	3.25″	4.06″
Edge Support – Lying	Outstanding	Good
Sex – Score	7.4	8.4
Pressure Relief – Score	10	8.7
Comfort Layer Thickness	6.25″	4.1″
Mattress Thickness	14.25″	12.0″
Off-Gassing – Score	8.9	8.2
Off-Gassing – Smell	Strong	Strong
Off-Gassing – Days	4 days	6 days
Company – Score	10	8.6
Trial	365 nights	177 nights
Warranty	Lifetime	26% have lifetime warranties, average of other 74% of mattresses is 13 years

How is Glacier Apex Different?

The Glacier Apex is the highest-performing memory foam hybrid tested to date with above-average performance paired with a below-average price, 9% less expensive than the average memory foam hybrid. For an absolute slam-dunk value, it’s hard to beat that of the Glacier Apex.

Advantages

Performance advantages of the Glacier Apex include above-average cooling, low levels of motion transfer (34% less motion than the average mattress), and outstanding edge support. The 14.25″ profile is also a contributing factor to the exceptional pressure relief offered by the Apex.

Other smaller advantages include faster off-gassing as well as a longer trial and lifetime mattress warranty.

Neutral Factors

This mattress has moderate levels of sinkage and low levels of bounce. This is pretty typical of a memory foam hybrid and about what we’d expect from a mattress in this category.

Disadvantages

The only real disadvantage of the Apex is a slower material response time. Some sleepers may find the low bounce to also be a disadvantage, as it negatively affects the sex performance score, but if you’re looking for a traditional memory foam feel, low bounce is an expected feel of this mattress type.

The Glacier Apex has excellent cooling. During our tests, I felt no notable level of heat retention around my body. The mattress remained comfortably cool during the entirety of our cooling tests.

The mattress is equipped with a cooling cover that creates a cool-to-the-touch feel. The cover definitely has a cooler feel and even at the end of our tests, the cover felt cool, though not quite as cool as it did initially.

According to GlacierSleep’s website, the Apex uses a more advanced cooling cover compared to the less expensive Glacier Original. Based on our tests of both the Glacier Original and Apex, I do agree that the cooling cover on the Apex feels higher performance and cooler than the cover on the Original.

• 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

In addition to the cooling cover, the mattress benefits from the breathability afforded to it by the pocketed coil support layer. Lastly, all foam layers look and feel high quality and the gel with the memory foam layer is further helping to manage heat issues.

In our objective temperature tests, we measured a max surface level temperature of 89.1° F. This is 0.6° less than the average of 89.7° F, based on all of our tests to date.

After getting off the mattress the temperature declined by 4.8° from minutes 0 to 1, which is 0.1° cooler than the average 0 to 1 minute decline of 4.7°.

Heat Dissipation Over Time

When we consider the combination of objective data, my subjective experiences, and an analysis of the materials, I’m confident in my view that cooling is excellent.

The Glacier Apex has moderate sinkage. During our tests, we measured a pressure point sinkage depth of 2.14″. This is 0.01″ less sinkage than the average sinkage depth of 2.15″, based on all of our tests to date.

The level of sinkage is documented in the image below.

The mattress creates a more dramatic contouring hug around the body. This mattress uses 3.0” of memory foam within the comfort layer. This gives the mattress its more significant contouring feel.

That said, the foams are still highly responsive, especially relative to more traditionally formulated memory foams. As a result, you never feel “stuck” or overly enveloped by the materials and it remains easy to move around on, change positions, and get in / out of bed.

The Glacier Apex has a very low level of motion transfer. During our tests, we measured a total acceleration range of 5.77 m/s². This is 34% less motion transfer than the average of 8.74 m/s².

The thick 6.25” comfort layer, gel memory foam, and pocketed coil support are all helping to mitigate motion. However, the most significant factor keeping motion held to a minimum is the low level of bounce.

At 6.02” of bounce the Apex has notably less bounce than average. That lower bounce simply means there is less energy that’s able to return to the surface of the mattress as motion.

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

In our motion transfer chart, which visualizes our accelerometer data, we can see the highest motion peaks from 0 to 0.14 seconds.

Immediately thereafter motion declines and by 0.58 seconds we’ve returned to near-zero levels of energy.

Overall, I’m extremely pleased with the level of motion. But the motion duration and motion intensity are well below average. As a result, I don’t expect motion transfer will be problematic for most sleepers.

The Glacier Apex is a mixed bag for material responsiveness, with a fast mostly recovered response time and a moderate fully recovered response time.

In our mostly recovered test, we measured a recovery speed of 0.4 seconds, which is 0.02 seconds faster than the average of 0.42 seconds, based on all of our tests to date.

In our fully recovered responsiveness test, we measured a recovery speed of 1.2 seconds, which is 0.24 seconds slower than the average of 0.96 seconds. The Apex uses 3.0” of memory foam.

While those memory foam layers have a faster material responsiveness than more traditionally formulated memory foam, they are still not as fast as many other types of poly foam or latex. As a result, it takes the mattress a couple of extra moments to fully reform back to its original shape.

The level of responsiveness is documented in the video below.

While a faster responsiveness would have been better, I am not overly concerned with these responsiveness speeds. The mostly recovered time is still faster than average and the fully recovered time is only slightly worse than average.

When we consider this alongside the moderate sinkage depth, I expect most sleepers will find these response speeds to be acceptable.

The Glacier Apex has a low level of bounce. During our tests, we measured a total bounce height of 6.02″. This is 3.39″ less bounce than the average of 9.41″, based on all of our tests to date.

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

The lower-than-average bounce is primarily the result of the 1.0” copper memory and 2.0” gel memory foam layers. This type of memory foam greatly absorbs and reduces energy, which means bounce is more restrained.

Even so, given the moderate sinkage depth, bounce is still sufficient enough to provide for ease of movement.

The lower bounce also greatly helps to reduce motion transfer. The one area where bounce is a problem is sex performance. Lower bounce almost always means worse sex performance and that’s exactly what we see on the Apex.

The Glacier Apex has excellent sitting edge support and outstanding lying edge support. In our sitting edge support test, we measured a sitting sinkage compression of 3.25″. This is 0.80″ less sitting sinkage than the average of 4.05″, based on all of our tests to date.

While sitting directly on the edge of the mattress I felt that support was robust and there was no collapse of materials. The same materials, design, and edge coils that enable the fantastic sitting edge support also create amazing support for lying.

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

While lying directly on the edge of the mattress, I felt that the support was outstanding in all sleeping positions. The Glacier Apex uses 2 rows of reinforced coils along the left and right sides of the mattress. These coils are especially impressive.

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

It’s not uncommon for a hybrid mattress with perimeter-reinforced coils to earn a good or excellent score for edge support. However, it’s far more rare to see a mattress reach our threshold for an outstanding score. Nevertheless, the Glacier Apex earned it and the lying edge support feels incredibly robust. One note to consider is that the reinforced coils exist only along the left and right sides of the mattress.

The head and foot of the mattress does not have reinforced edge support coils and therefore it has worse edge support compared to the left and right sides of the mattress.

Having reinforced coils run all the way around the mattress perimeter is definitely better, but only having them on the left and right sides does help to reduce the cost, while still providing the biggest impact while you’re actually sleeping

The Glacier Apex has fair sex performance. On the positive side, noise is minimal, cooling is excellent, pressure relief is outstanding, and edge support is also excellent. With just 3.25” of sitting edge sinkage, the edge is incredibly robust.

Sex Factor	Factor Weight	Score	Rating
Bounce	65%	6.2	Low
Edge Support	20%	9.7	Excellent
Noise	5%	10	Minimal
Pressure Relief	5%	10	Outstanding
Cooling	5%	9.0	Excellent

This creates a larger area for amorous activities and may be of significant importance to you and your partner’s dance without pants. The one area where the mattress leaves much to be desired for sex is the bounce.

At 6.02” of bounce the Glacier Apex has a low level of bounce. Lower bounce is almost always worse for sex performance as it simply makes it more tiring and strenuous to have sex on.

The Glacier Apex has an outstanding level of pressure relief. During our tests, I felt no level of pressure point buildup anywhere on my body.

To the contrary, the mattress was incredibly comfortable and alleviated many areas of typical soreness in my back and body.

The mattress is equipped with 6.25″ of comfort material, which is considerably thicker than the average. The Glacier Apex has 2.1″ more comfort material than the average comfort layer thickness of 4.15″, based on all of our tests to date.

All that extra material pays huge dividends in terms of comfort and pressure relief. In addition, each of the foam layers look and feel high-quality.

In particular, the 1.0” copper memory foam and 2.0” gel memory foam work together to create ample comfort and a dramatic body contouring hug.

In our pressure mapping tests, we measured a max PSI of 0.93. A PSI at 2.0 is considered a “high” pressure point and the Apex stays well south of that. 

When I consider the objective pressure maps, material thickness, material quality, and my subjective experience on the mattress, I’m confident most sleepers will find the pressure relief to be outstanding.

Pressure Map – Side Sleepers

Pressure Relief (PSI)	Average	Maximum
Side Sleepers	0.16	0.93

Pressure Map – Back Sleepers

Pressure Relief (PSI)	Average	Maximum
Back Sleepers	0.08	0.50

Pressure Map – Stomach Sleepers

Pressure Relief (PSI)	Average	Maximum
Stomach Sleepers	0.09	0.81

The Glacier Apex had a strong smell upon the initial unboxing. The mattress smelled for 4 days. This is 2.4 days less than the average of 6.4 days.

The initial odor smells quite a bit like wet paint. Fortunately, the odor didn’t last long and by the end of day 4 it had effectively dissipated.

The Glacier Apex comes with a 365-night trial period and a lifetime warranty. Shipping and returns are both free. Overall, this checks pretty much all of the boxes we look for in a good company.

Company Factor	Factor Weight	Score	Data
Trial Period	15%	10	365 nights
Warranty	10%	10	Lifetime
Shipping	5%	10	$0
Returns	20%	10	$0
Trust	50%	10	Outstanding
Country of Origin	0%		USA

For reference, the average trial period is 177 nights, so Glacier provides an additional 188 nights to decide if it’s the right pick for you. The lifetime warranty is also longer than the 13 year average.

Considering all mattresses tested to date, only 26% of mattresses offer a lifetime warranty (approximately 1 in every 4 mattresses).

The Glacier Apex is available in a single firmness, 6 out of 10, giving the mattress a medium-firm feel.

Support on the Glacier Apex is excellent. During our tests, I felt well-supported in all sleeping positions. The mattress is equipped with an 8.0″ support layer.

This is 0.12″ thicker than the average support layer thickness of 7.88″, based on all of our tests to date. The pocketed coil unit is not zoned. Meaning the coils have a consistent firmness, gauge, and feel.

However, the mattress is equipped with an additional foam layer to create extra support in the lumbar region.

That extra foam layer, on top of a reinforced quilted cover, which also has extra lumbar support material, helps to provide a measure of zoned support, even if it doesn’t incorporate a zoned coil unit.

Zoned support creates more support where the body weighs more, which can also help to reduce sagging in the middle of the mattress. When I look at the material construction I’m incredibly pleased.

We have a quality 8.0” coil unit with 6.25” of comfort material. This ensures we have ample pressure relief, comfort, transitional support, and a robust steel coil foundation.

Based on all of my tests to date, an analysis of the materials, and my subjective experiences, I’m confident most sleepers will find support on the Glacier Apex is excellent.

Check out the table below to see the sleeper weights and sleeping positions that would be best suited for this mattress.

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 Glacier Apex is a 14.25″ memory foam hybrid with a medium-firm feel (6 out of 10 on the firmness scale).

Glacier is a newer name in the mattress market, having just launched in 2024, but enters the scene with three solid mattresses mattresses—the Glacier Apex Hybrid, Original Hybrid, and the Summit Hybrid.

Of the three Glacier mattresses we’ve tested, the Apex Hybrid has the highest performance, but also the highest price tag.

Materials

From top to bottom, there are five layers on the Glacier Apex, a combination of foam and coils. The layers include:

• 1.25” euro top cover
• 1.0” copper-infused memory foam
• 2.0” gel-infused memory foam
• 2.0” poly foam
• 8.0” pocketed coils

The Cover

The Glacier Apex has a plush Euro pillowtop cover. It is soft to the touch and has cooling properties that give the mattress a cool feel and offsets and natural heat retention properties of memory foam.

The Comfort Layer

Beneath the cover is a dynamic comfort layer of three different foams. At the top, we see a 1.0″ copper-infused memory foam followed by a 2.0″ gel-infused memory foam.

The last foam is a 2.0″ poly foam which acts a bit like a transitional layer between comfort materials and the support layer below.

The Support Layer

The support layer is an 8.0″ pocketed coil base with reinforced edges only on the sides of the mattress (not at the head or foot). Reinforced coils are encased with a thin blue fabric and regular coils are encased in a white fabric.

Product Evolution

The Glacier Apex was released in 2024. Since it hit the mattress market, the Apex has not undergone any notable changes to materials or overall design.

Other Mattresses to Consider

Not sure if the Glacier Apex is the right pick for you? Check out these three other top-rated memory foam hybrid mattresses for high-performing alternatives you may want to consider.

Frequently Asked Questions

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