Tango Mattress has come out with a double sided mattress to allow the owner to choose between two levels of firmness. It’s an interesting idea, especially for those that may not know what kind of mattress is right for them.
The question I had going into the review was, “Does trying to do two things with one mattress reduce the quality of both sides?” Read on to find out how both the plush and the firm side of the Tango Mattress stack up.
Tango Mattress Review Video
Just Beginning your mattress search? Start at the beginning with my mattress reviews breakdown.
Construction
The obvious difference in the construction of the Tango mattress compared to other foam mattresses is the fact that it is double sided. Because of this, the Tango layers have more of a sandwich layout with memory foam on the outside and firm polyurethane foam in the center.
Cover – In order to make sure you don’t sleep too hot, the Tango cover utilizes phase change material to help regulate temperature. Along with the benefit of temperature regulation I found the cover to be stretchy so that it didn’t bunch up as I moved around on the mattress.
Firm Top Layer – The layer just below the cover of the mattress is a gel memory foam meant to conform to your body and help to make sure your mattress doesn’t retain heat. In my test I could feel a thin layer of memory foam, but the firm side of the mattress is really defined by the layer beneath, as you’re not supposed to sink in too far on this side of the mattress
Firm Second Layer – The layer between the base and the memory foam is very firm. This is really the defining layer of this side of the mattress due to its ability to keep the sleeper from sinking into the mattress. It responds very quickly to pressure so that whoever is sleeping on the mattress will not get stuck. This foam is noticeably firmer than the plush side and acts as more of an extension of the base layer than as a transition layer from the memory foam top layer.
Base Layer – This is where the aspect of a double sided mattress really comes into play. As opposed to most foam mattresses, whose main support layers sit at the bottom, the Tango has its base support layer in the center of the mattress. This dense foam supports either side and ensures the sleeper doesn’t fall through the comfort layers.
Plush Second Layer – While both second layers of the Tango are made of polyurethane this side was a bit more of a transition layer to go from the memory foam top to the base layer in the middle. It responded pretty quickly to pressure and while it does allow the sleeper to sink into the mattress a bit more than its counterpart on the firm side (more on sinkage later) I never felt stuck in the mattress on the plush side.
Plush Top Layer – This layer is also a gel infused memory foam. It is made of a softer foam than the firm side and definitely takes a bit more time to respond to pressure. It did a good job of conforming to my body and relieving pressure when I lied down on it. Again the gel helps to keep the top layer from retaining heat, which can be a problem with memory foam.
Firmness
People of different body types and shapes will feel firmness differently. Rather than giving just my opinion on the overall firmness level, I enlisted three other people to give their opinion as well. This will give you a better sense of the firmness range you can expect.
As you can see, our testers found the firm side of the Tango to live up to its name. The layer below the memory foam gives a firmer feel, and while lying on this side of the mattress I felt that I was more on top of the mattress, as opposed to sinking into it.
If you get a Tango and sleep strictly on your stomach, like I do, this is the side for you. The firm second layer did a good job of making sure my hips didn’t sink into the mattress and kept my back in line. This may not be the best choice for side sleepers as the firmness could cause some pressure points. If you sleep on your back or stomach the firm side will do a good job of aligning your back while still giving you a memory foam feel from the top layer.
Stomach sleeper? See my recommendations for the best mattress for stomach sleepers.
The testers all agreed on the firmness of the plush side of the mattress for the Tango. There is is definitely more pressure relief on this side of the Tango, and everyone agreed that they felt themselves go more into the mattress than on the firm side.
If you’re a side sleeper and decide to buy a Tango, this is definitely the side of the mattress you will want to use. The plush side does a good job at avoiding pressure points at the hips and shoulders, which can normally cause issues if you sleep on your side.
While the plush side is noticeably softer, I didn’t sink too far into the mattress, and I could still change positions without feeling stuck. I would say that this side is a better option for strict side sleepers.
Pressure Map
To give a visual representation of where someone may feel pressure points while lying on a Tango mattress, I placed a pressure map on top of the mattress and lied on my back, side, and stomach. On the image below pressure will be represented from blue (low pressure) to red (high pressure).
Firm
As you can see from the images above, the firm side of the Tango does cause some increased pressure in certain areas.
With my weight evenly distributed on my back the pressure map doesn’t show any areas of increased pressure. This goes along with what I felt while on the mattress and if you sleep on your back and prefer the feeling of being on top of the mattress, you shouldn’t be concerned with any pressure points arising with the Tango firm side.
If you are a side sleeper the firm side of the mattress is probably not for you. In this position I started to feel the increased pressure from focusing my weight and you can see that show up in the shoulder area on the image above.
While lying on my stomach there wasn’t any pressure on my chest so I had no problem breathing. A mattress this firm is great for stomach sleepers as it doesn’t allow the hips to sink in and throw the back out of line. The pressure map shows there isn’t much pressure at the hips while on my stomach and I found that it left my back well aligned.
Plush
The plush side of the mattress provides more pressure relief than the firm, and this shows in the results from the pressure map.
While on my back the map shows mostly blue as the memory foam did a good job of relieving pressure in this position. I felt myself sink into the mattress a bit more on this side but never felt like I was getting stuck in any way,
On my side there is a little increased pressure when compared to lying on my back, as should be expected, but it is clearly less than what we saw with the firm side of the Tango mattress. If you are a side sleeper and get the Tango you are definitely going to want to use the plush side of the mattress so you get more pressure relief and avoid issues in the shoulders.
Finally on my stomach on the plush side of the mattress, much like on my back, my weight is evenly distributed and we don’t see any high pressure areas pop up on the map. I was able to breathe without issue but if you strictly sleep on your stomach it may be a bit too soft.
Motion Transfer
If you are sharing the mattress with a partner, you will want to know what it will feel like when the other person gets into and out of bed or tosses and turns during the night. This next test is helpful in showing the intensity of motion that is detectable from one side of the mattress to the other.
For this test I dropped a 10 lb steel ball from heights of 4 inches, 8 inches, and 12 inches and measured the disturbance on the other side of the mattress. This should be pretty intuitive: the bigger the lines, the bigger the disturbance.
Firm
Motion will transfer more the firmer the mattress is, so I was expecting to see higher disturbance from the drops on the firm side of the mattress. As you can see, the drops cause consistently higher disturbance as they begin from greater heights.
Plush
The plush side of the mattress handles motion transfer in a similar way to the firm side with the 4 and 8 inch drops looking almost identical. This tells me that both of these drops created similar disturbances on the other side of the mattress. The 12 inch drop spikes in a similar way to the firm side of the mattress, meaning this drop likely got through to the base layer as well.
Sinkage Test
In order to get a good idea of how someone might sink into a mattress, I use four balls of varying sizes and densities (a 6 lb medicine ball, an 8 lb medicine ball, a 10 lb steel ball, and a 50 lb medicine ball) and place them on the mattress to measure how much they compress the surface.
These different sizes, weights, and densities help to imitate different body parts or different sized people to show how far into a mattress you may sink.
Firm
- 6 lb medicine ball sinks in less than 1 inch
- 8 lb medicine ball sinks in about 1 inch
- 10 lb steel ball sinks in about 1.5 inches
- 50 pound medicine ball sinks in about 3 inches
Plush
- 6 lb medicine ball sinks in about 1 inch
- 8 lb medicine ball sinks in about 1.5 inches
- 10 lb steel ball sinks in a little more than 2 inches
- 50 pound medicine ball sinks in a little more than 4 inches
Edge Support
If you’re going to share a mattress and need to use the entire surface then edge support is something you are going to want to take a look at. Foam mattresses sometimes struggle to live up to the edge support of traditional innerspring mattresses, so I wanted to have a look at how I would feel near the side of the mattress.
Edge support on the Tango performs the same whether you are using the firm or plush side. While lying on the side I felt evenly supported from edge to center of the mattress. Even when hanging off the mattress I never felt like I would roll off because of too much compression.
While sitting on the side of the mattress, like you might if you were to put your shoes on in the morning, there was some compression. I didn’t feel as though I bottomed out through the mattress in this position, but I did press through the memory foam to the base layer in the middle.
Basic Information
- Tango mattresses are made in the United States
- Free shipping and is sent out within 1-2 days
- 120 night risk free sleep trial
Size and Pricing Information
Get 30% off the prices below (for each size) using the coupon code “SLEEPOPOLIS30” – some big savings off the current price, especially for the larger size mattresses!
| Size | Dimensions | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Twin | 39” x 75” x 12” | $649 |
| Twin XL | 39” x 80” x 12” | $699 |
| Full | 54” x 75” x 12” | $799 |
| Queen | 60” x 80” x 12” | $949 |
| King | 76” x 80” x 12” | $1,099 |
| California King | 72” x 84” x 12” | $1,099 |
Is the Tango Mattress right for you?
Now that we’ve taken a look at what both sides of the tango mattress have to offer it’s time to talk about who this mattress would be a good fit for.
- If you are looking for a mattress with a memory foam feel – Both the plush and firm sides of the mattress have a memory foam layer, so if you are looking for the feel of memory conforming to your body, this would be a good choice.
- If you are unsure of the firmness that is right for you – If you don’t quite know what you are looking for in terms of the firmness of your mattress then the Tango may be a good choice so you can try out a few different firmness levels.
- If this mattress will be for guests – If you plan on using this in a guest room this could be a good option as you could quickly change the firmness of the mattress depending on the guest’s preference.
Ready to order your Tango? Head over to tangosleep.com and order online!
