CNET video producer Jon Gomez captures mattress expert Dillon Payne testing the edge support of a mattress.
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Firmness: Our team takes turns trying out the mattress and laying on top to determine if it’s soft, firm or somewhere in between. Firmness level is an important factor in choosing the best mattress for you.
Feel: We get hands-on with our mattresses; we squish, squeeze and lay on the beds to get a feel for the materials inside. Memory foam makes a mattress slow-responding and pressure relieving, while coils or latex foam are bouncy.
Durability: We typically analyze construction to get a sense of how durable a mattress is, since most of our beds don’t go through the type of wear and tear in our testing period that occurs over the eight-plus years you’ll be sleeping on it. Hybrid mattresses made with coils are more durable and long-lasting than foam beds.
Body type: Heavier individuals should opt for a hybrid mattress because these types of beds offer more support and durability, especially in the long run.
Sleeping position: We get really physical and flip around the mattresses, testing each sleeping position: side, back, stomach and combination.
Motion isolation: If you sleep with a partner you’ll want to consider this feature. We test motion isolation by placing a cup of water at the end of a bed and bouncing it around to test how well it absorbs motion.
Edge support: We analyze a mattress's materials and physically lay on each edge of the mattress to get a feel for how well it'll keep us feeling sturdy.