What is the best king mattress? The answer to this question isn’t easy, as everyone has different sleep needs, so defining a single jumbo sized mattress isn’t possible, but we can tell you all about some of the best king mattresses to suit some very common sleep styles and bedding needs.
For those who like to cut right to chase – maybe because you are in such desperate need of a better night’s sleep on a great king mattress – here’s a quick rundown of the king mattresses we’ve chosen as our top picks:
- Best for Back Pain: Sealy Posturepedic Plus
- Best for Hot Sleepers: Layla Mattress
- Best for Heavy Sleepers: DreamCloud
- Best for Side Sleepers: Nectar
- Best Value: Zinus Green Tea Mattress
As you can see, we’ve tried to cover as many people as we can, and our testers – who helped us come up with this list by, well, sleeping a lot, – came from all these demographics. When making our final picks we also took the opinions of online reviewers into account as well.
As it is a big-ticket item, doing as much research as you can into your mattress choice can never be a bad .idea. With this in mind let’s take a closer look at each of our picks for best king mattress.
Best Mattress for Back Pain: Sealy Posturepedic Plus
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Why You’ll Love It: Back pain sucks. Sleeping on a mattress that makes it worse is terrible. This bed was engineered with back pain sufferers in mind and can really help you sleep – and wake up – back pain free.
Sealy is one of the best-known names in the orthopedic mattress field and this mattress is a great example of why that is. Crafted using both gel infused memory foam and responsive coils extra support is targeted around the heaviest areas of the body to provide even support and prevent pressure points.
Pros: Developed with orthopedists, offers excellent support for the back and neck, materials are hypoallergenic. Users report decreased morning back pain and fewer stiff neck problems too, offered in a variety of firmness levels.
Cons: An expensive choice, not an easy set up.
Best King Mattress for Hot Sleepers: Layla Mattress
Why You’ll Love It: If you have a tendency to ‘sleep hot’ some mattresses make things even hotter. This mattress features advanced cooling technology to help solve that problem.
Some memory foam mattresses have a reputation for sleeping hot, as they hug the body a little too closely. The Layla mattress solves this problem by infusing the memory foam in this mattress with copper. Copper naturally draws heat away from the body, leaving you to sleep cooler and more comfortably.
Pros: Cooling copper technology, flippable mattress offers two firmness choices, copper is also anti-microbial, helping eliminate germs and allergens.
Cons: May be too thin for some people’s tastes, only offered in a single ‘dual firmness’ level.
Best King Mattress for Heavy Sleepers: DreamCloud
Why You’ll Love It: If you need a mattress that can support a little more weight, then this fusion of balanced coils and sturdy but supportive memory foam is an excellent choice.
Often a person who is a heavy sleeper benefits from a deeper mattress that not only offers more support but extra support at the edges where a lot of options lack it. The Dream Cloud is a hybrid mattress – meaning it makes use of both coils and memory foam – that provides superior edge to edge comfort for even, comfortable support that neither too hard or too soft.
Pros: Support goes all the way to the edges of the mattress, hybrid construction offers even support, features a cooling gel layer.
Cons: Some people find the set up a little tricky.
Best King Mattress for Side Sleepers: Nectar
Why You’ll Love It: Side sleepers usually need a little extra support from head to toe as their weight is not evenly distributed as they slumber. The Nectar mattress offers targeted support that helps you sleep easier and avoid that ‘stiff’ feeling when you wake.
The Nectar mattress was designed to provide a ‘sweet spot’ between firm and soft support that cradles the body in a way that feels very comfortable but is not so soft that side sleepers will feel like they are being swallowed up by it! It is a memory foam/latex hybrid, so is naturally anti-microbial as well.
Pros: Offers excellent, even support for side sleepers, boasts a layer of cooling gel, is very reasonably priced.
Cons: Not suitable for anyone allergic to latex.
Best Value King Mattress: Zinus Green Tea Mattress
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Why You’ll Love It: If you don’t want to spend a fortune on a high-quality mattress this option can be purchased for under $400.
Spending $1000+ on a new mattress is not an option for some, but budget mattresses are not always bad, as this one proves. Infused with charcoal and green tea to help combat germs and allergens this memory foam mattress offers good medium support and a soft microfiber pillowtop that is super easy to clean.
Pros: Very affordable, offers good support, available in several different heights. Sleeps cool.
Cons: Some people felt this mattress is a little too firm and did not inflate out of the box to its ‘true height’.
King Mattress FAQs
Have more questions about king mattresses? We have some answers!
What size is a King size mattress?
The industry standard size for a king mattress in North America is 76 inches by 80 inches (193 cm by 203.5 cm).
What is the difference between a King and a Split King?
A split king mattress is designed for couples sleeping and allows each partner to ‘customize’ their side of the bed. A split king is not a single mattress however, it’s really two mattresses pushed together. Some people find that a bit weird and uncomfortable but for others it’s the best solution for different sleep styles and mattress needs.
What’s the difference between a King bed and a California King bed?
A California King – which is also sometimes referred to as a Western King – is longer and wider than a standard king – they measure 72 inches by 84 inches – and can be great for couples and for sleepers who are offer six feet tall.
What are the two most popular types of mattresses?
You may have noticed that there are a number of different ‘types’ of mattress available to choose from right now. The two most popular however are memory foam mattresses and hybrids, mattresses that make use of both memory foam and innerspring coils.
Is a Bigger Bed Really Better?
Do you really NEED a king-size mattress/bed? After all, they take up more space and cost more than their queen- or full-size counterparts. King bedding is more expensive too. But for many there are some definite advantages, including the following:
- More room for couples. Did you know that a full-size mattress only gives each partner two feet of ‘personal space’ which is less than a baby has in a crib!
- More room to move. Very few people stay dead still for seven to eight hours when they sleep. A bigger mattress means more room to move without falling out of bed!
- We are all getting bigger. According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine over the past 50 years people across North America have got larger and taller, so therefore, most people need a bigger bed!
- Going up a size is not as expensive as people think, with the average difference in price between queen and king-size mattresses being under $50.