Written by
McKenzie Dillon,
Taylor Leamey
Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission.
Reviews ethics statement
McKenzie Dillon Writer
McKenzie, a Certified Sleep Science Coach and proclaimed mattress expert, has been writing sleep content in the wellness space for over four years. After earning her certification from the Spencer Institute and dedicating hundreds of hours to sleep research, she has extensive knowledge on the topic and how to improve your quality of rest. Having more experience with lying on mattresses than most, McKenzie has reviewed over 150 beds and a variety of different sleep products including pillows, mattress toppers and sheets. McKenzie has also been a guest on multiple radio shows including WGN Chicago as a sleep expert and contributed sleep advice to over 50 different websites.
Expertise Certified Sleep Science Coach, Certified Stress Management Coach, Bachelor of English.
Taylor Leamey Senior Writer
Taylor Leamey writes about all things wellness, specializing in mental health, sleep and nutrition coverage. She has invested hundreds of hours into studying and researching sleep and holds a Certified Sleep Science Coach certification from the Spencer Institute. Not to mention the years she spent studying mental health fundamentals while earning her bachelor's degrees in both Psychology and Sociology. She is also a Certified Stress Management Coach.
Expertise Sleep, Mental Health, Nutrition and Supplements Credentials
- Certified Sleep Science Coach, Certified Stress Management Coach
With five-plus years of mattress-testing experience, we use our different sleeping position and body type perspectives to offer well-rounded, honest reviews.
How we sort our mattresses
A king-size mattress can give you the space you need to sleep comfortably. If you have a big enough room and budget, a king-size bed is a great investment that can add a touch of luxury to your home. Whether it's for your master bedroom or your guest bedroom, a king-size mattress is a wonderful way to improve your nap time and nightly rest.
When it comes to finding the right king-size bed, there are a ton of options to sort through. The best ones will add comfort and support based on your sleeping position, firmness preference and more. Whether you prefer memory foam or innerspring mattresses, there's a king-size option that'll work for you. Plus, there are various size options under the king-size umbrella, including regular king, California king and split king.
After spending hundreds of hours testing over 250 mattresses, we've put together this list of our top picks. Whether you're buying a new king mattress or replacing an old one, we've got an option for you. For this list, we considered the accommodating features (especially for couples), fair price, quality of construction and performance. Read on to find the best king-size mattress models for your needs.
What is the best king-size mattress overall?
The best king-size mattress overall should check several boxes. It should be accommodating for a wide range of sleeping positions and body types and have solid edge support and motion isolation for couples who share a bed. The Brooklyn Bedding Signature mattress fits the bill to a tee. Plus, it offers excellent value.
Watch CNET's Owen Poole review the best king mattresses for 2024.
Read more: Best California King Mattresses for 2024
Best king-size mattresses of 2024
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Firmness
Soft: (3) Medium: (5) Medium firm: (7)
Warranty
10-year limited warranty
Nectar Premier
Best king-size memory foam mattress
Our take - It's the best king-size bed for people who want the traditional memory foam feel you can find in a Tempur-Pedic mattress at a more wallet-friendly price. It has a thick memory foam construction, giving it a relieving and slow-responding memory foam feel. It takes a few seconds for your body to activate the foam, but once it does, the memory foam slowly contours around your curves and nestles you into the bed.
7.5 /10
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Jon Gomez/CNET
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Type
memory foam mattress
Firmness
medium to medium-firm or 6
Warranty
forever warranty
WinkBed
Best firm king-size mattress
Our take - WinkBed is an affordable luxury mattress that’s widely accommodating. The steel coils and fluffy pillow top make the WinkBed mattress a standout choice if you’re looking for a supportive and durable bed.
8.4 /10
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My Slumber Yard
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Firmness
3 firmness levels | softer: medium-soft (3) | luxury firm: medium (5) | firm: medium-firm (7) | plus: firm (8-9)
Warranty
lifetime warranty
Nest Bedding Sparrow
Best king-size mattress for couples
Our take - The Sparrow Signature Hybrid from Nest Bedding is a unique mattress that's a particularly great option for couples, thanks to its dual firmness capabilities. If you and your partner have varying sleep preferences or positions (as many couples do), you can choose a different firmness for each side with the dual split options: medium/firm, firm/plush and plush/med. Even with the dual firmness, there's no awkward gap in the middle of the bed. This feature is available only in the Sparrow's king and California king sizes.
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Firmness
3 firmness levels available
Warranty
lifetime warranty
DreamCloud Premier Hybrid
Best king-size bed in a box mattress
Our take - The DreamCloud Premier Hybrid is the best king-sized bed in a box mattress. It’s a premium, 13-inch-thick bed that combines layers of gel memory foam and durable coils. The hybrid construction gives the DreamCloud Premier mattress a nice mix of pressure relief and durability, with reinforced edges and reduced motion transfer.
6.9 /10
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Type
responsive memory foam mattress
Firmness
medium to medium-firm or 5 to 6
Warranty
lifetime warranty
Allswell
Best affordable king mattress
Our take - You may not be familiar with Allswell, but you're likely familiar with its parent company Walmart. As its entrance to the bed-in-a-box game, Walmart introduced the affordable Allswell mattress. The Allswell mattress is a good hybrid mattress for the price of a low-budget foam mattress, giving it a well-deserved spot on this best king bed list.
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6.9 /10
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Firmness
Medium to medium firm: (6)
Warranty
10-year limited warranty
Saatva Rx
Best king-size mattress for back pain
Our take - If you live with back pain, you need a king-size mattress that relieves it, not adds to it. The Saatva Rx mattress was designed to alleviate back pain from chronic conditions like scoliosis or sciatica.
9 /10
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9 /10
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Warranty
lifetime warranty
Layla Hybrid
Best king-size mattress for side sleepers
Our take - In a sea of bed-in-a-box mattresses, brands have to add a little sauce to their designs to make them stand out. The Layla Hybrid is unlike most other hybrid mattresses because it comes with a two-in-one deal. What I mean is that it's flippable, and you can sleep on each side of the mattress comfortably.
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Type
flippable hybrid mattress
Firmness
Medium to medium firm: (6)
Warranty
10-year limited warranty
Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe: Many mattresses make embellished claims about their cooling abilities, but the Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe effectively cools with multiple cooling enforcements, including cooling foam, Titan Cool technology and a cooling cover. With three firmness levels to choose from and a strong hybrid construction, it's a versatile mattress that works for any sleeping position and body type.
Purple mattress: There aren't many mattresses out there like the Purple. It's made with a special gel-like material the brand calls its GelFlex Grid. It's squishy and firm at the same time, offering a nice balance of support and pressure relief. It has a medium firmness level that suits all sleeping positions.
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CNET editors pick the products and services we write about based on editorial merit. When you buy through our links, we may get a commission.
Our Mattress Smasher 9000 objectively tests the firmness level of a bed.
Dillon Lopez/CNETTesting a king-size mattress is similar to how we test most of our mattresses, and we pay attention to a handful of important factors.
- Firmness: The measure of how firm or soft a mattress feels is an important factor in deciding if a bed is suitable for you or not. Firmness, a lot of the time, indicates how pressure-relieving or supportive a mattress feels. Side sleepers usually like a softer mattress because it offers more give, and thus, more pressure relief around the hips and shoulder areas. Back and stomach sleepers, on the other hand, tend to sleep better on firm beds that keep the spine properly supported.
We test firmness in one of two ways. First, we use our judgment and deliberate among team members after testing the mattress. However, firmness is subjective, and a lot of times, body weight can determine a bed’s feel and firmness. So, CNET created a tool to objectively test a mattress’ firmness. Our proprietary machine, properly named the Mattress Smasher 9000, presses into the middle of a bed and our corresponding software measures firmness on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the softest and 10 being the firmest. While we also test each bed personally for perceived firmness and feel, we have data from the MS9000 to back up our conclusions. - Construction and features: We take a close look at the construction of a mattress, which is a good tell on how it feels and how supportive it is for certain body types. We also consider any extra or special feature a mattress might have to stand out from the rest of the competition. Is it cooling? Does it have a special cover made with Celliant fabric or cashmere? Does it have an extra durable construction? We take all of this into consideration when testing mattresses and delegating best list picks.
- Performance: This refers to motion isolation, temperature regulation and edge support abilities. How well does a mattress perform when we put it to the test? We test motion isolation by having couples judge how it sleeps, or placing a glass of water at the end of the bed to see how much it shakes when we move. Edge support is tested by laying on the sides, bouncing and checking how sturdy it feels. Personal experience is also how we test temperature, with the help of a thermometer gun.
- Feel: Feel is a separate topic from firmness. This refers to how a mattress' materials are perceived. Is it dense and morphy like memory foam, neutral and soft like neutral foam, or supple and bouncy like latex foam? We like to describe the feel as best we can since you're unable to feel it through your computer screen.
Here are the objective firmness levels we gathered testing the best king-size mattresses with our Mattress Smasher 9000, sorted from the softest to the firmest.
Read more on how we test mattresses.
When looking for the best mattress, you should take in some key considerations. You should follow the same guidelines when looking for a king-size bed, with the same considerations.
- Hybrid vs. foam: The more you weigh, the more supportive your mattress should be. Hybrid beds are best for all body types, including those over 230 pounds, while foam beds are typically ideal for people under 230 pounds.
- Firmness is a key indicator of how accommodating a bed will be. One of the first things to think about while looking for the best king mattress is firmness. Are you a side sleeper, back sleeper or stomach sleeper? Side sleepers typically need softer mattresses, while back and stomach sleepers benefit from a firmer mattress because having a firm bed will help support the spine, decreasing back pain. Medium beds right in the middle are perfect for combination sleepers.
- Key features like cooling tech, edge support reinforcements and Celliant covers can help you decide if a bed fits your lifestyle and circumstances. Strong edge support is great for couples who share a mattress, while beds with Celliant covers are perfect for people with active lifestyles.
- Price matters when looking for a king bed. The bigger the bed, the more expensive it is. King beds are often more than $1,000, but there are budget options like Allswell to consider if you're looking for maximum savings.
Check out our size guide to compare mattress sizes. If you're looking to upgrade your whole sleep setup, we have suggestions for sheets, pillows and other sleep essentials.
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Not everyone needs a king-size bed, but it is mighty convenient and comfortable during these situations:
- Couples who want more space than a queen size offers
- Taller people who don't want to feel cramped (queen beds are about 6.6 feet long)
- Sleepers who share a bed with their kids (king beds are wider than California king beds)
King and California king mattresses are the most popular of the king variety, but a host of beds are technically classified as king. Here's an overview of the different types of king beds if you're looking for something a little different.
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| Type | Dimensions |
|---|---|
| Standard king (aka Eastern king) | 76 x 80 inches |
| California king | 72 x 84 inches |
| Split king | Two twin beds (36 x 80 inches) |
| Split California king | Two twin XL beds (36 x 84 inches) |
| Alaskan king | 108 x 108 inches |
| Wyoming king | 84 x 84 inches |
| Texas king | 80 x 98 inches |
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A king-size mattress measures 80 inches long by 76 inches wide and 4 inches thick. Compared to a queen-size mattress, it offers the same length but with 16 additional inches in width.
Typically, the best king-size mattress is a bed that's able to accommodate two sleepers because it's the most popular size among couples. Some of the best king beds have pocketed coils and reinforced edge support, can isolate motion well and/or have a breathable design. Some of CNET's picks include:
- Brooklyn Bedding Signature
- Winkbed
- Nectar Premier
- Layla Hybrid
- Allswell
There are a ton of king-sized mattresses out there, which means you have a lot to sort through. It’s important to look at every bed you’re considering through the lens of your sleeping needs. For example, if you weigh over 230 pounds, you probably want a hybrid bed over an all-foam alternative. You’ll also want to narrow your selection by your preferred firmness level. Side sleepers will want to hang on the softer side of medium, while back and stomach sleepers will want to aim for medium-firm and up.