For this review, I’ll be checking out one of the most popular innerspring mattresses on the market: the Saatva. Built with gentle memory foam and a sturdy coil-on-coil system, this bed was designed to offer folks a luxuriously supportive sleeping experience, and all without breaking the bank.
Hmm… this sounds fantastic, but is it too good to be true? I won’t know for sure until I hop on the bed and try it out for myself. So come along with me as I test out the Saatva’s motion transfer, sinkage, pressure relief, and bounce to figure out if it might just be the bed of your dreams!
Don’t have time to read the whole review? No worries! Skip on over to my review summary. Otherwise, let’s get started!
The Saatva mattress combines a luxurious pillow-top layer with two sections of coils for that classic innerspring feel. Earn a $75 Visa gift card with you purchase of a Saatva mattress!
Brand Snapshot
One of the earliest pioneers of the direct-to-consumer mattress movement, Saatva officially got started in 2011 with its namesake innerspring bed. Over the next few years, the company would release two other mattresses under the Saatva name: the all-foam Loom & Leaf and the eco-friendly Zenhaven latex mattress.
While we won’t be digging too much into these others beds in this review, I will be taking a little time later on to compare the Saatva to both the Loom & Leaf and one of its biggest competitors, the Casper mattress.
But before we do all that, let’s bring it on back to the bed of the hour and get into its construction!
What is the Saatva Made Of?
The Saatva is a unique product in the modern mattress space because it’s an innerspring, not a bed-in-a-box hybrid. This means it’s got less foam and more springs, resulting in a feel similar to the traditional innerspring mattresses of yore (think the bed in your grandma’s house). While this vibe isn’t ideal for everyone, it can be a great fit for those in need of extra support.
Another thing to note about the Saatva mattress is that it actually comes in three different firmnesses: Plush Soft, Luxury Firm, and Fim. I’ll touch on all three throughout the review, but am only personally testing out the Luxury Firm model, designed to be just about medium firm.
All that considered, let’s dive under the covers and see what’s going on inside!
Cover – Made from 100% cotton, the Saatva cover is soft and breathable. It’s also quilted with a bit of foam, providing sleepers with some immediate comfort and relief.
Pillow Top – Overlaid by a thin layer of gentle memory foam, the pillow top section of the Saatva is comprised almost entirely of individually wrapped coils. This layer brings some great bounce to the bed, and helps to position the sleeper more on top of the mattress than in it. Since these coils are individually wrapped, they’re also going to work to isolate motion and encourage airflow throughout the structure.
Support – Below the pillow top, you’ll find the main support system of the mattress, built with a layer of steel coils and foam edge support (wrapped around the coils to maximize the bed’s surface area). The coils here work to double down on the bounce of the pillow top springs, producing an even more powerful lift.
How Firm is the Saatva?
Now that we’ve got the construction specs all squared away, let’s get into how the Saatva feels! To start the conversation, I thought we’d go over its firmness (again, looking only at the Luxury Firm model).
Pressing my hand into the mattress, the first thing I notice is how cozy the quilted cover is. It’s soft under my fingers and provides some pleasant pressure relief. Pushing in further, I can feel my hand pressing through the thin layer of memory foam and hitting the first layer of pocketed coils. It’s immediately bouncy, and only gets bouncier the harder I push, which tells me this bed is likely to do a fantastic job of lifting the sleeper up and out of the structure.
Alright, now I’m ready to jump on this bed and see how it feels on my back, stomach, and side! But I won’t just be relying on my own experience to figure out how firm the Saatva is — when speaking about firmness, I think it’s super important to involve other folks. And why? Because everyone feels mattresses differently, so I want to provide you with a wide range of perspectives.
To do this, I invited three of my coworkers to come test out the bed with me. After we all gave it a go, we shared our personal firmness ratings, which I then averaged out to the score you’ll see on the graphic below.
We were all pretty much in agreement about the firmness of the Saatva, landing on an average rating of 6.75. When compared to the industry standard of 6.5 for medium firmness, it seems that this bed is just a touch above medium firm.
I personally gave the mattress a 7 as I found its coil-on-coil construction to produce quite a firm feel. While it’s true that you’ll likely experience a little give with the quilted cover and memory foam comfort layer, the bulk of the bed is made up of its different coil systems, which really sets the tone for its overall vibe i.e. bouncy and taut. This may not be the best feel for strict side sleepers (which we’ll get into more specifically below), but could be great for combo sleepers in need of excellent mobility.
I’ll also remind you that we’re only talking about the Luxury Firm Saatva here. According to the company, the Plush Soft version lands somewhere in the 3-5 range, allowing for more sinkage and pressure relief at the shoulders, while the Firm hovers at about an 8 on the firmness scale, providing better support for the hips.
The Saatva mattress combines a luxurious pillow-top layer with two sections of coils for that classic innerspring feel. Earn a $75 Visa gift card with you purchase of a Saatva mattress!
Pressure Relief
Another important component of feel is pressure relief. If you’re a human being (which… I assume you are), you likely experience some aches and pains at your lower back, hips, shoulders, or joints. Therefore, your bed needs to be able to alleviate as much of this tension as possible so you can get a restorative night’s sleep.
To demonstrate the Saatva’s ability to relieve pressure at sensitive spots along the body, I’m going to stretch out on a pressure map! As I move around the map, it’ll create a visual representation of how I’m interacting with the bed: all blue means I’m experiencing little pressure while red means we’re getting into uh-oh territory.
Back – Lying on my back, I felt as though my weight was evenly distributed across the surface. I could feel the quilted cover and memory foam comfort layer filling in the space at my lumbar region for some nice pressure relief, but mostly what I experienced was the buoyant lift of the coil-on-coil construction. This kept me positioned on top of the bed, making it incredibly easy to move around and change positions.
Side – Rolling onto my side, I began to feel a bit of discomfort. In this position, I could feel a bit of pressure starting to form at my hips and shoulders (which you can clearly see in the graphic above). Strict side sleepers tend to prefer softer structures that produce more sinkage and body-contouring, so I’m not sure I would recommend the Saatva Luxury Firm for these sleepers.
Stomach – Turning onto my stomach, I actually felt pretty good! The firm support of the coil-on-coil construction lifted my spine into a healthy, natural alignment by placing my hips in line with my shoulders. Though I’d say this bed could be a decent fit for stomach sleepers, I think it’d probably be better suited for combo sleepers who need to move through different positions in the night. If you are a strict stomach sleeper the Firm option could be the way to go.
The Saatva mattress combines a luxurious pillow-top layer with two sections of coils for that classic innerspring feel. Earn a $75 Visa gift card with you purchase of a Saatva mattress!
Saatva Vs.
In this next section, we’re going to put a pause on the Saatva-specific talk and get into some of its biggest competition in the space. As I mentioned above, this means we’ll be comparing it side-by-side to both the Loom & Leaf and Casper mattresses.
Loom & Leaf
- As I mentioned up top, the Loom & Leaf is also made by Saatva, but it’s an all-foam mattress featuring a ton of pressure-relieving memory foam.
- In this vein, the bed offers some great body-contouring and sinkage, making it an excellent option for side sleepers.
- Costwise, it’s slightly more expensive than the Saatva, coming in at $1,299 for a Queen as compared to the Saatva’s $1,099 price tag.
For more, check out my full review of the Loom & Leaf mattress. You can also take a peek at my comparison of all the Saatva beds, including the latex Zenhaven.
Casper
- Arguably the most well-known brand in the mattress game, Casper is an all-foam bed-in-a-box, making it incredibly different from the Saatva (which is, again, built almost entirely of springs and does not come in a box).
- The Casper also features layers of Zoned Support, which help to bring targeted relief to the lower back and shoulders.
- When it comes to price, the Casper is the least expensive of the ones mentioned here, costing $995 for a Queen.
To learn more, read my full review of the Casper mattress. You can also check out my full comparison between the Saatva and Casper mattresses.
Motion Transfer
Competition aside, let’s get back to the Saatva with a motion transfer test. This assessment is basically going to show me how much movement is detectable from one side of the mattress to the other, which could be an especially important piece of information for those of you who share your bed with a partner or pet.
To illustrate this motion transfer, I dropped a 10 lb. steel ball from heights of 4 inches, 8 inches and 12 inches and measured the disturbance it caused: the bigger the lines, the bigger the disturbance.
As you can see on the graphic above, there’s quite a bit of motion transferred across the Saatva. This isn’t that surprising when you consider the tremendous bounce of the coil-on-coil construction, but is something for couples in particular to take notice of!
Sinkage
We’ve finally arrived at our last test, which is all about sinkage! In this section, you’ll get a better understanding of how far into the Saatva you’re likely to sink aka if you’ll be positioned more “on top” of the bed or “in” it.
To visualize this sinkage, I placed four balls of varying sizes and densities (a 6 lb medicine ball, a 10 lb steel ball, a 50 lb medicine ball, and a 100 lb medicine ball) on the mattress and measured how much they compressed the surface.
The variations in size, weight and density are meant to simulate different body parts and different sized sleepers.
These are fairly average sinkage results, which tells me that you’re likely to feel more “on top” of the bed than “in” it. This is consistent with what I’ve observed of the mattress thus far, and shouldn’t come as too much of a shock to the discerning reader who’s likely picked up on the fact that bounce reigns supreme in the Saatva.
Is the Saatva Mattress Right for You?
We made it to end, so now it’s time to answer the question you came here asking in the first place: Is the Saatva mattress right for me? While I can’t say definitively if it’s going to be the 100% best bed for you, I can share some final thoughts and recommendations about who I think would like it most.
The Saatva mattress combines a luxurious pillow-top layer with two sections of coils for that classic innerspring feel. Earn a $75 Visa gift card with you purchase of a Saatva mattress!
Saatva Recommendations
- With its coil-on-coil construction, the Saatva could be a great fit for those after a more traditional innerspring feel.
- As we discussed, the Saatva is super bouncy, making it a solid option for combo sleepers who need to change positions through the night.
- Additionally, I think the added edge support could make it a nice pick for couples who need to maximize the usable surface area of their bed.
Saatva Complaints
- The innerspring nature of the Saatva means there’s not a lot of contouring, which could be a deal breaker for those after some cushiony pressure relief.
- If I’m really nitpicking, I’d also say that it sleeps a little hot, so may not be the best fit for those in search of an ultra-cooling mattress.
Basic Information
- Sleep Trial: Saatva offers a 120-night trial.
- Warranty: There is a 15 year warranty on the mattress.
- Shipping: Free shipping with white-glove delivery and mattress removal
- Made in the USA!
Size and Pricing Information
| Size | Dimensions* | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twin | 38" x 75" | 11,5" - 90 lbs 14.5" - 100 lbs | $599 |
| Twin XL | 38" x 80" | 11.5" - 95 lbs 14.5" - 105 lbs | $749 |
| Full | 54" x 75" | 11.5" - 100 lbs 14.5" - 110 lbs | $999 |
| Queen | 60" x 80" | 11.5" - 110 lbs 14.5" - 120 lbs | $1,099 |
| King | 76" x 80" | 11.5" - 130 lbs 14.5" - 145 lbs | $1,499 |
| California King | 72" x 84" | 11.5" - 130 lbs 14.5" - 145 lbs | $1,499 |
*The Saatva comes in a Premier Luxury version, which is 14.5 inches tall, and a Custom Slim version, which stands 11.5 inches tall. Both styles are meant to have identical feels and firmnesses, and during testing, our testers found this to be accurate.
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Just bought a Saatva mattress by telephone based on your excellent reviews. How do I apply for the $75 gift card?
It’s usually automatically applied via the link on our site. I would recommend calling back and letting them know to attach it to your order number. I should let you know that the card does not arrive until after the trial period is over.
Both my husband and I suffer from pretty significant lower back & hip pain due to disc issues. Unfortunately, due to other injuries, I also have neck & shoulder issues. To complicate things further, I am a mainly a side sleeper, and get over-heated pretty quickly and he is a combo sleeper- back & side. Based on what I have read, a firmer mattress might be better. I have been reading reviews, and watching your videos. Any input will be greatly appreciated.
It’d be wonderfully helpful if I win a new mattress
I appreciate the chance
I have been researching several mattresses, we like the Heavenly bed at the Westin Hotels, so we will be purchasing two of the Saatva Luxury firm mattresses, one for our room and one for our guest room.
This mattress looks like what I need for my back issues. I need to stay on top and not sink in too much.
just got a Saatva firm mattress 60+ day ago got a little indention forming where I sleep on my back and stomach not much problem about half inch if that is this normal for this type of mattress?
did you find a mattress yet, same problem with back, did you buy Saatva?
I have arthritis is my lower back, and am looking for a firm mattress. Sounds like Saatva is medium support?
I presently have KIngsdown 400 Red series, about 4 yrs old. Have to sleep at edge of mattress to get the firm support I want.
Any suggestions?