A good night’s sleep is important for everybody’s health and might be the most important aspect of recovery for those with an active lifestyle. With that in mind, Hyphen has produced a mattress that aims to improve your sleep experience so you can perform at your best the next day.
Interested in finding out if Hyphen is the right mattress for you? Read on for my full review!
Looking for a quick read? Click here to jump to the review summary.
Company
Hyphen is a division of Diamond Mattress, which has been family owned and operated since 1946. With over 70 years of experience in the industry, Hyphen has one of the most established backgrounds of any mattress in the bed in a box market.
Also of note is that Hyphen owns its own factory, which is uncommon in the bed in a box market. By managing the entire process in house they are able to control everything from the design to the manufacturing and testing of the product. This also allows them to ship directly to the consumer, which cuts down on the cost of the mattress.
Construction
WIth the construction of this mattress, Hyphen are aiming for a general feel that should be able to handle a wide range of body types and sleeping positions. The mattress consists of three layers of foam totaling 10 inches in height and is meant to have a medium firmness, to appeal to a wide range of sleepers.
Cover – The cover of the Hyphen is made of a polyester/spandex blend, which makes it pretty stretchy. I saw that it snapped back to place quickly when I pulled at it, so you shouldn’t worry about it bunching when changing positions on the mattress. I also found the cover to be soft, and while not super thin, it did allow airflow through to help with cooling.
Comfort Layer – The top layer of the Hyphen is 2 inches of Hyphen’s proprietary foam. It’s a soft foam with 3.5 lbs of density which should help with pressure relief and allow some contouring to the body. I found that it has a faster response to pressure than memory foam, so you shouldn’t feel stuck in one position.
For temperature regulation the Hyphen foam is aerated, with holes punched in the layer as shown in the graphic below, to increase airflow through the mattress for improved breathability. It is also infused with copper to help draw heat away from your body and the foam was actually cool to the touch.
Transition Layer – Below the comfort layer there is 2 inches of polyfoam with 1.5 lbs of density, acting as a transition layer from the soft top of the mattress to the firm base below. This layer is pretty springy to provide bounce to the mattress, which should help you change positions on the mattress without interference.
Base Layer – The base of the Hyphen is 6 inches of a high density (1.8 lbs) poly foam. This is a pretty common layer among foam mattresses that provides support to the comfort layers above as well as the sleeper, to protect against excessive compression of the mattress. This layer also gives the mattress its shape and lends durability to the structure.
Like that foam mattress feel? Check out some of my favorite foam mattresses I’ve reviewed.
Firmness
To get a sense for the feel of the mattress I first pressed in with my hand. I found the top layer of Hyphen foam to be very soft and contour to my hand to help relieve pressure. The mattress also has some good bounce and regained its shape quickly after I compressed it with a push, so moving around shouldn’t be an issue when changing positions during the night.
When discussing the firmness of a mattress it is important to note that everyone will feel a mattress a bit differently due to differences in size and body type. So instead of giving just my opinion on the firmness level of the Hyphen, I brought in three other testers to test it out as well. This should give you a better sense of the range of firmness you can expect.
Our testers found that the firmness ranged from a 4.5 – 6.5, which puts it in a medium firmness edging towards a softer mattress. This goes along with Hyphen’s goal of creating a single mattress that is good for a wide range of sizes and positions. As long as your sleeping preferences aren’t too specific, the firmness of the Hyphen should be a good fit for you.
I was actually the tester that found the Hyphen to be on the softer side of the scale. The Hyphen foam is very soft to provide pressure relief and should help side sleepers, who sometimes have issues with pressure points at the hips and shoulders. I also found that the bounce of the mattress helped to keep me from feeling as though I was sinking in, which allowed me to avoid putting my back in a bad position.
Pressure Map
Instead of just describing the feel of the mattress I wanted to give a visual representation of where you may feel pressure points while lying on a Hyphen. To do this I placed a pressure map on top of the mattress and lied on my back, side, and stomach. On the image below, the results will range from blue (low pressure) to red (high pressure).
While on my back my weight is evenly distributed in this position, and you can see on the pressure map that there was low pressure across my entire back. When I first lied down I could feel the soft top layer of Hyphen foam contouring to my body well and filling in the space beneath my lower back. This lumbar support is very important for back sleepers to protect against waking up with aches and pains in the lower back.
Because I felt this mattress is a bit softer, I expected the hyphen to perform well on the pressure map for side sleepers and it didn’t disappoint. Side sleepers can often experience the formation of pressure points at the hips and shoulders, due to increased weight concentration. The pressure map results show a slight increase in pressure while I was on my side, but some increased pressure is to be expected and overall this is a very good result.
Once I rolled onto my stomach I didn’t feel any increased pressure on my chest, so I was able to breathe easily. The pressure map confirms that feeling and, with my weight evenly distributed, there is low pressure across the board here.
One thing to note about stomach sleepers in general is that tend to prefer firmer mattress as softer mattresses can allow their hips to sink in, putting their backs in a bad position. I found that the Hyphen had enough bounce that it still did a pretty good job of keeping my spine aligned, but if you are a bit heavier, for reference I’m about 5’10” 190 lbs, you may experience some issues in this position.
Motion Transfer
If you plan on sharing your bed with a partner, you will want to know what it will feel like when another person gets into and out of bed or tosses and turns during the night. To test the intensity of motion detectable from one side of the mattress to the other we set up our Motion Transfer Test.
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.
The 4 inch drop is designed to show what it would be like if someone is rolling around on the other side of the bed during the night. The results above show that the Hyphen does a good job of isolating low levels of motion.
As I expected the 8 and 12 inch drops show higher spikes in disturbance, these drops tend to represent someone getting into and out of bed, or maybe a pet jumping up in the morning to wake you. Both of the seismometer readouts for the higher drops are pretty reasonable when compared to other mattresses I have tested.
Sinkage Test
Many people buying a mattress will want to know if they will feel like they are lying on top of or sinking into the mattress. To test this, I used 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.
- 6 lb medicine ball: 1 inch of sinkage.
- 8 lb medicine ball: A little more than 1 inch of sinkage.
- 10 lb steel ball: 2 inches of sinkage.
- 50 pound medicine ball: 4 inches of sinkage.
Edge Support
If you are going to be sharing your bed with a partner and need to use the entire surface area of the mattress, then edge support is going to be very important. Foam mattress can sometimes struggle to live up to the edge support of traditional innerspring mattresses, so I wanted to test the Hyphen to see how much compression I would see near the side.
While lying on my back near the side of the mattress I was evenly supported from the center of the mattress to the side, which helps protect against the feeling that you’ll slide out of bed. I was also able to roll around a bit and change positions confidently. I hung off the mattress a little bit and felt the soft top layer of foam compress, but the support layer below held up and I never felt like I would roll out of bed.
This position simulates putting your shoes on in the morning or getting into bed at night, and as you can see there is some compression. By placing all of my weight over one area I can press the corner of the mattress down a bit, which is a pretty common result among foam mattresses. This may not be the most important position for you when deciding on a mattress, but just a good way to show what added pressure can do to the edge.
Basic Information
- Sleep Trial – There is a 100 night sleep trial.
- Warranty – Hyphen offers a 20 year warranty that covers any manufacturing defects or irregular indentations.
- Shipping – Shipping is free and the mattress will arrive compressed in a box.
Use the bed for more than just sleep? Check out my picks for the best mattresses for sex.
Size and Pricing Information
Convinced Hyphen is the right mattress for you? Be sure to use SLEEPOPOLIS to save $200 on your order!
| Size | Dimensions | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twin | 39” x 75 x 10" | 40 lbs | $575 |
| Twin XL | 39" x 80" x 10" | 44 lbs | $675 |
| Full | 54” x 75” x 10” | 55 lbs | $800 |
| Queen | 60” x 80” x 10” | 66 lbs | $950 |
| King | 76” x 80” x 10” | 82 lbs | $1095 |
| California King | 72” x 84” x 10” | 84 lbs | $1095 |
Is the Hyphen Mattress right for you?
Now that we’ve gone over what makes up a Hyphen and put it through our Sleepopolis tests, it’s time to discuss who this would be a good fit for.
- Medium Firmness – As I mentioned before, our firmness tester found the mattress to be right in the mid range when it comes to overall feel of the mattress. The Hyphen has a general feel and if your sleeping needs aren’t too specific then this could be a good fit.
- Good Bounce – By using their proprietary foam as the comfort layer, Hyphen was able to provide relief with a material that responds a bit quicker to pressure than memory foam. The polyfoam layer in the middle also has some springiness to it that allows you to change positions without interference.
- Side Sleepers – Pressure relief is incredibly important for side sleepers as they concentrate more of their weight over a smaller surface area. The pressure map results above show a good result for the Hyphen, with only a small increase in pressure at the hips and shoulders.
- Good Value – Hyphen is one of only a few online retailers that owns their own factory and as such can truly ship direct to the consumer. By cutting out the middleman they can offer a good mattress at a lower price.
If you’re looking for a little more information on the Hyphen mattress, visit HyphenSleep.com.
Hyphen Mattress
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Materials
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Comfort
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Support
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Value
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Cooling
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Edge Support
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Trial
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Warranty
Summary
The Hyphen mattress is an all foam mattress designed to meet the needs of most sleepers. As an all foam mattress, Hyphen offers a great level of support, pressure relief, and body-contour. The bounce and responsiveness of this mattress is above average for an all foam design. Hyphen could be a great choice for all sleeping positions as well as those sleepers who prefer memory foam, but don’t want to lack bounce or response.
