The Best Innerspring Mattress in 2024

Our CNET Sleep editors have tested more beds than the average sleeper—about 300 different ones, in fact—and devoted hundreds of hours to the craft. We pride ourselves on our mattress testing methodology.

Firmness and feel

When we start testing a mattress, we first determine the firmness and feel of the mattress. Firmness is simply how firm or soft a mattress is. We have several team members test and rate each bed to get the most complete picture of how a bed performs in these categories.

The feel of the mattress describes the response of the mattress. Is it slow to respond like traditional memory foam? Does it snap back like latex foam? This will translate into how you feel when you roll over in bed at night.

We also objectively test hardness using our proprietary CNET device, the Smasher 9000 mattress. This machine is pressed into the middle of the 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 firmness and feel, we can back up our opinions with Mattress Smasher data.

Endurance

Durability, or how long a mattress will last, depends on what it’s made of. Mattresses with individually wrapped coils as a base are more durable than all-foam options. They also tend to be more expensive.

Mattress performance

The main performance criteria we evaluate for mattresses include motion isolation, edge support and temperature.

We test how well mattresses isolate movement by placing a glass of water on the edge of the bed and rolling around to see how much it moves. Motion isolation is a big deal if you have a partner who rolls around and wakes you up.

Edge support is how strong the perimeter of the bed is. The test for this is simple: we sit and lie on the edge to see if it gives under pressure.

When evaluating temperature, we examine the materials and construction of the mattress. Materials such as latex and gel memory foam can prevent the mattress from trapping body heat.

Read more at how we test mattresses.