Our sleep experts have been lying on mattresses for years – some members for eight years at this point. Having tested about 350 beds from dozens of different mattress brands, our team has a good understanding of bed firmness levels. Even with our sharpening Testing processes Given our extensive experience comparing established companies, our evaluations have been purely subjective – until recently.
Designed by CNET Labs technology experts Brian Adams, Lab Engineer, Jared Hanna, Technical Product Test Analyst, and Steve Conway, Director of CNET Labs, our proprietary company Smash 9000 mattress The device provides an objective way to determine mattress firmness levels.
This sleek machine was officially launched in July and has smashed nearly 100 beds so far. This number rises weekly as our experts continue to break down the beds currently stored in our expansive space Mattress warehouse And new mattresses we receive regularly to review.
Read more: We’re using technology to test beds: Say hello to the Mattress Smasher 9000
Watch senior video producer Owen Ball explain how the Mattress Smasher works and why it’s changed the way we test beds.
Mattress crushing process
On average, it takes about thirty minutes to break down each bed. It takes time to move the beds into our dedicated Mattress Smasher room and place them on the platform. Once the bed is properly positioned and the machine is ready, we press “start” and wait between three and five minutes for the machine to do its magic and provide us with the objective hardness level.
This “magic” happens when a powerful actuator arm pushes the pressure-sensitive pad down into the mattress until it reaches a predetermined amount of force, simulating body weight. The machine calculates the firmness based on the distance the arm and plate travel inside the mattress until they reach the firmness amount, moving farther (or deeper) to a softer bed rather than farther to a firmer bed.
Using our custom programming software, we can vary the amount of force applied to the bed to simulate different body weights, allowing us to see what it would feel like to be lighter and firmer. Heavier body types.
We can adjust the operating lever on the Mattress Smasher 9000 to test multiple areas on each bed.
We can also adjust the location of the motor arm. Moving the operator’s position over the bed allows us to test different areas of the mattress, which is essential to determine if the custom support sections are softer or firmer, as brands may claim.
Read more: Using Technology to Test Beds: Say hello to the Mattress Smasher 9000
Mattress Smasher results ranked by firmness
Hardness is rated on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the softest and 10 being the firmest.We use industry terms like “average company” or “real company” to describe it. Mattress Smasher’s firmness ratings are provided from the perspective of the average person weighing between 150 and 230 pounds, but we also test and discuss what a person weighing above or below that range might feel like.
We crush each bed at least three times, but often four or five (sometimes as many as six or seven), averaging those scores to determine the final objective hardness level. Of the nearly 100 beds we’ve broken down so far, the average firmness level is 5.7, or just a hair above average.
The chart below shows the firmness levels of the beds we smashed with the Mattress Smasher 9000, ranked from softest to firmest.
the Helix Sunset Luxe and Nectar Luxe Hybrid The mattresses were the softest, with firmness levels of 2.1 and 2.2, respectively. Soft steps like these are best suited for side sleepers who need as much pressure relief as possible on the shoulders and hips.
The Mattress Smasher 9000 pushes the operator arm into the bed.
To no one’s surprise on our team, the extra strong side of Plank Company It’s rated as the firmest of all, scoring a 9.5 out of 10 by Mattress Smasher – confirming it’s best for back and stomach sleepers looking for the most support possible from their mattress.
As we continue to test and break down beds, we expect the average hardness level to remain between 5 and 6. Many mattress companies offer medium-sized beds that can accommodate all sleeping positions and body types and provide a combination of pressure. Relief and support.
Read more: Best firm mattresses of 2024
What we learned about mattress firmness
We shouldn’t toot our horns, but we will… This new addition to our testing process has confirmed that our team of sleep experts are highly accurate when assessing and rating a bed’s firmness level. Brands are also very precise in how they rate the firmness of their mattresses.
to Original bear Ranked, Mattress Smasher provided 7.6, 7.6, and 7.8 scores for an overall average firmness of 7.65 out of 10, while Bear scored 7.1. Although it’s not exactly identical, it’s close, considering that we have different ways and means of evaluating and determining firmness – and both ratings mean that the mattress falls around the average firmness.
We always test a mattress’s subjective firmness first, followed by its objective score.
It is important to remember that even when using technology to find an objective hardness level, hardness is ultimately subjective. The way one person perceives the firmness and feel of a bed may differ from another, depending on body type and weight. Our sleep team is made up of members of various body types, weights, and genders, allowing us to test each mattress from different perspectives and provide a comprehensive bed review.
Regional support
Many mattresses feature zoned support, meaning that different firmness levels throughout the bed provide support and pressure relief where your body needs it most. It is intended to help maintain neutral spinal alignment throughout the night.
This is accomplished by changing the bed’s construction, usually by having a slightly firmer foam or a layer of individually wrapped coils in the middle to enhance support for the torso and hips. The outer thirds are often a little softer to relieve pressure on your head and shoulders. An example of this is Sattva Classicwhich features an additional layer of thin memory foam in the middle third of the bed.
The Mattress Smasher 9000 has proven that brands’ claims of split support are generally true and accurate. Even if we can’t necessarily feel the divided support while lying on certain beds, the Mattress Smasher can ensure there are different firmness levels.
the Sattva Rx is a prime example of this. Designed specifically for those who suffer from Chronic back And joint pain, it features a patented lumbar region technology. This technology provides more support in the middle third of the mattress, with the goal of keeping your spine in neutral alignment. We moved the actuator to test each third of the mattress and were sure to hold true—the inner third received a rating of 6.1 out of 10, and the outer third was a little softer, about 5.4 out of 10.
Using the Mattress Smasher, we can test the firmness of different areas in a split-support mattress, like the Saatva Rx.
Interesting discoveries we had during testing
Like any technology, the Mattress Smasher 9000 is not always 100% accurate. Sometimes a bed may be rated higher or lower than we know it to be, and we always use our best judgment and discretion to determine why and if a result is far from the bed’s true firmness rating. We’ve encountered some interesting breakthroughs as we continue to work out any kinks in Mattress Smasher.
Mattresses with a very unique construction, e.g Layla Al Hajincan sometimes throw off the degree of assertiveness provided by the attractor. We always check to determine the cause, and in this case, because the Layla Hybrid is flippable, the mattress base is soft when the firm side is up, leading to some funky results.
We also found the beds to have layers or comfortable pillows with a soft surface Pillow tops They tend to register softer than they are. This is because the Mattress Smasher’s operating lever does not press down on the layers of the mattress as it would in a bed without a pillow top, making it provide a softer tone than a real person might feel lying on the entire bed.
An example of this is Titan Plus Lux. In our tests, we found this bed to be medium firm, while the Mattress Smasher consistently gave us lower scores between 3 and 4, which would be medium soft. We know this is because of the soft, cushioned foam upper on the Titan Plus Luxe.
The Titan Plus Luxe has a thick cushion that slightly impacted the Mattress Smasher points.
Temperature affects the results of the Mattress Smasher
When a bed (especially one with memory foam) is cold due to being outside in cold weather or an unheated room, it will score higher (firmer). The bed can become firmer when it reaches a certain limit, because memory foam is sensitive to temperature fluctuations. Foam particles become more compact when cold, resulting in a firmer feel. Memory foam beds are usually the best among 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
Read more: The foam in your mattress is important. Here’s how to make it
Our sleep team knows this well. We’re patient when taking memory foam mattresses off the cold delivery truck in the winter, because they’re firmer and firmer than they will be when they’ve had a chance to warm up and inflate properly. It’s the same when lying on a memory foam bed in a cold room – it takes extra time for your body temperature to warm up before the foam starts to respond appropriately, sinking in and contouring around you.
The building in which our mattress warehouse is located has recently had heating issues, meaning there is no heating in the rooms where we store, photograph and break beds. The resulting coolness Room temperatures It affected Mattress Smasher’s scores for memory foam mattresses, causing it to rank higher than it should have.
Watch us unbox the super cold Casper Snow Max.
Why we use technology to test families
Our sleep experts always provide in-depth descriptions of bed firmness and feel in our reviews to help you decide if this is the right bed for you. These qualities are largely subjective. The feel of the bed will vary from person to person. We take turns lying on the mattress frame and dissecting it, gathering opinions on the level of firmness from several CNET sleep experts with different body types and preferred sleeping positions because it’s important to test and review this property from a wide range of perspectives.
Until CNET Labs created the Mattress Smasher 9000, this was the only way we could test the firmness of a bed. Now, having an objective way to test and determine hardness complements our expert ratings and makes our reviews even more accurate by providing completely unbiased data. As a dedicated member of CNET’s sleep team, the Mattress Smasher 9000 will continue to test and analyze beds alongside the rest of us for the foreseeable future.
Read more: How CNET’s sleep experts test mattresses
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