Saatva Rx Mattress Review

Written by Amelia Jerden, Senior Staff Writer

Our Methodology

Our Certified Sleep Science Coaches have reviewed more than 300 mattresses in our lab, testing each one on its materials, comfort, cooling, support, and other categories.
Learn more.

In This Review

I’ll cover my experience testing the Saatva Rx mattress, including the results of our tests in factors like cooling, pressure relief, motion transfer, and more.

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Back pain and joint pain are common issues many people experience — and issues that many people try to resolve with a new mattress. The Saatva Rx, which Saatva calls “the first luxury mattress specifically designed for sleepers with chronic back and joint conditions,” aims to tackle both these issues head on.

To find out just how well the Saatva Rx performs, I put it to the test. In addition to assessing the firmness and feel of this bed, I ran it through a series of tests to see how it performs in areas like pain relief, motion transfer, cooling, and more.

Short on time? Click here to skip to my review summary.

Saatva Rx Mattress Overview

The Saatva Rx is a sturdy, high-quality mattress designed to relieve joint and back pain. The mattress is a hybrid, made with foam and coils, but includes a few unique design features like a layer of microcoils encased in foam, a zoned foam section for lower back support and pressure relief, and foam end caps on the coils. This gives the bed a supportive feel that easily works for people of all weights, but still allows the bed to feel plush and comfortable. All this doesn’t come for a low price tag, but Saatva is providing a good bang for your buck with this mattress. It’s versatile, durable, and it balances support with pressure relief.

Saatva Rx Mattress Review Video

Want to see the Saatva Rx mattress up close? Take a look at my video review, where I put the Saatva Rx through some of the tests discussed in this review. After all the tests, I gave the Saatva Rx a final score of 4.7 out of 5.

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What Is the Saatva Rx Mattress Made Of? 

Let’s take a look at what the Saatva Rx is made of.

Cover – The Saatva Rx has a quilted organic cotton cover, which adds a plush feel to the surface of the mattress. The cover is treated with Guardin botanical antimicrobial treatment. Additionally, the cover has a fire barrier made with plant-based thistle pulp — no fiberglass or chemical flame retardants.

Zoned Support Layer – In the middle section of the mattress is a ½-inch gel-infused memory foam strip, which provides extra support and pressure relief around the lumbar region.

Comfort Layer – The Saatva Rx has an unusual comfort layer, consisting of a 1-inch microcoil layer encased by 2 ¾-inch high-density foam layers above and below. This combination of foam and microcoils creates a comfortable, but highly supportive feel right off the bat.

Support Layer – The Saatva Rx also has a unique support layer. It features an 8-inch section of pocketed coils made from recycled steel, with firmer caliper spring coils around the edges for reinforced edge support. 

On top of each coil is a 2-inch Rx Foam Module. These look like small, cylindrical foam caps. The foam is infused with cooling graphite and phase change material to provide a cooler sleep experience. These foam caps are intended to improve motion isolation and provide additional body contouring.

Base Layer – Underneath the coils is a layer of what Saatva calls an “eco non-woven base layer,” which provides a sturdy surface for the coils to rest on.

Saatva Rx Mattress Firmness 

Now let’s talk about the firmness and feel of this bed. At Sleepopolis, we rate firmness on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is the softest and 10 is the firmest. We use 6.5 as the standard for medium-firm, the most common mattress firmness. To determine the firmness of each mattress, we test laying on it in different positions and compare it to the hundreds of other mattresses we’ve tested. Then we rank it on the scale.

After testing it out, I rated the Saatva Rx as 6.5 out of 10 on the firmness scale, as I thought it had a true medium-firm feel. The mattress offers a pleasant mix of comfort and support to create that balanced, medium-firm feel. While lying on the bed, I experienced plushness and cushioning from the quilted cover and upper foam layers, but felt firmly supported by the coils below. I think the unique design of this bed, with features like microcoils and the foam caps on the pocketed coils, contributes to this very balanced feel.

Sleeping Position and Body Weight

Now let’s talk about how sleepers of different weights will feel in each sleeping position on this mattress.

We recognize that people come in all shapes and sizes, and people of every size deserve a mattress that works for their body type. We use the weight categories light, average, and heavy to more easily categorize sleepers based on how mattresses will perform for their body type, as most mattresses are designed for the group we call “average” (130 to 250 pounds).

As a general rule, lighter sleepers don’t require as much support as average weight sleepers, and mattresses will tend to feel firmer to them. On the other hand, heavy sleepers tend to need more support than average weight sleepers and tend to sink into the mattress more.

As far as sleeping positions go, side sleepers tend to need a softer mattress while stomach sleepers usually need a firmer, more supportive one. Back sleepers are usually somewhere in the middle.

Here’s my take on how different sleepers will experience the Saatva Rx.

Is the Saatva Rx a Good Mattress for Light Sleepers (Under 130 pounds)?

• Light Back Sleepers –  I think light back sleepers should be happy on the Saatva Rx, although it may feel a touch firmer to these folks than it did to me. Still, the Saatva Rx’s highly balanced feel means light back sleepers will find their spines easily aligned, while still receiving some plush comfort.
• Light Side Sleepers – The Saatva Rx may be a bit too firm for light side sleepers, who won’t sink very deeply into the material. It could work for occasional side sleeping, but for light sleepers who strictly rest on their side, I’d recommend something a little softer.
• Light Stomach Sleepers – Light stomach sleepers should be very comfortable on the Saatva Rx. I think it is firm and supportive enough to keep these sleepers’ hips lifted up for proper spinal alignment.

Is the Saatva Rx a Good Mattress for Average Weight Sleepers (130–250 pounds)?

• Average Weight Back Sleepers – The Saatva Rx is an excellent match for average weight back sleepers. As someone who falls into this category, I felt extremely comfortable on the Saatva Rx. This bed is highly supportive, so I felt my spine was neutrally aligned and supported. But the bed still offers plushness and comfort.
• Average Weight Side Sleepers – I think the Saatva Rx is a good match for average weight side sleepers. I felt my shoulder and hip were both well-cushioned while resting on my side on the Saatva Rx.
• Average Weight Stomach Sleepers – I didn’t expect the Saatva Rx to work well for stomach sleeping, since I had felt so much cushioning in the other two positions, but I was surprised to find my hips weren’t sinking into the material. I think the microcoils likely played a role here in providing that extra lift. All that being said, this bed is a good match for average weight stomach sleepers.

Is the Saatva Rx a Good Mattress for Heavy Sleepers (over 250 pounds)?

• Heavy Back Sleepers – I think heavy back sleepers should be extremely comfortable on the Saatva Rx. As I mentioned before, this bed is super supportive, so heavy folks shouldn’t have to worry about being adequately supported. This bed provides a nice lift, but still offers comfy cushioning.
• Heavy Side Sleepers – Heavy side sleepers should be quite cozy on the Saatva Rx, too. I think it can be hard to find a sturdy bed that also provides enough cradling and contouring for heavy side sleepers, but I think the Saatva Rx should be a good match.
• Heavy Stomach Sleepers – The Saatva Rx may work for some heavy stomach sleepers, but I would caution that they might find their hips sinking into the material more than I did. A slightly firmer bed might work better for some heavy stomach sleepers.

Saatva Rx Mattress Performance

In addition to assessing the materials, firmness, and feel of each mattress, we also like to put mattresses through a series of tests on performance factors like pain relief, motion isolation, cooling, and more. Below, I’ll detail the results of my tests on the Saatva Rx.

Saatva Rx Mattress Pain Relief Performance

Pain relief is one of the Saatva Rx’s biggest promises, so this test was of special interest to me. To test how well a bed relieves pressure and pain, we use a heat-mapping pressure map. This device is a mat we lay on top of the mattress that uses thermal imaging to measure pressure buildup. We then lay on the mat in different sleeping positions and it generates a color-coded image to show the pressure points.

As you can see, the Saatva Rx did a good job relieving pressure for me in both the back and side sleeping positions. There is very little pressure buildup showing on these pressure maps, indicating this bed should be effective at pressure relief for back and side sleepers.

Motion Transfer

Motion transfer is an important test for those who share the bed with a partner or pet. If you’ve ever felt like you were bobbing up and down every time your partner tossed and turned, then you’ve experienced motion transfer. Ideally, a bed should be able to isolate motion at the source and prevent it from transferring across the bed.

We come up with our motion transfer score using a few different tests. The first one is simple: we just lie down on the mattress with a colleague, roll around, and see how much of each other’s movement we feel. We also place a full wine glass on the mattress and see how much the wine moves around with us. If the liquid has zero to little movement, then it’s a safe bet that the mattress has low motion transfer, which is what you want to see.

Finally, there’s our seismometer test. This involves dropping a 10-pound steel ball from heights of four inches, eight inches, and 12 inches, then measuring the disturbance it causes: the bigger the lines on the graph, the bigger the disturbance and the higher the motion transfer.

These are pretty good results, showing that the Saatva Rx isolates most motion and prevents it from transferring across the bed. You might feel some larger movements on this bed, but overall I think it will prevent most motion from causing disturbances among couples (or those who sleep with a pet).

Responsiveness

We also like to test responsiveness, or how quickly a bed responds to pressure. This corresponds to how easy it is to move around on the mattress. We test responsiveness by moving around on the mattress and seeing how easy or difficult it is.

I found the Saatva Rx pretty easy to move around on. While the bed doesn’t offer a ton of sinkage to the point of making it difficult to change sleeping positions, I also didn’t find the bed to be overly bouncy. It took a little effort to move around, but nothing too extreme. Overall, I would say the Saatva Rx is fairly responsive.

Cooling

Cooling is an important factor for many people, whether they live somewhere warm or simply run hot at night. We look at two things to determine how cooling a mattress is: its construction and how it performs in our thermal gun test. 

Looking at the Saatva Rx’s construction, I felt it should be a decently cooling mattress. Being a hybrid with a large section of coils, the Saatva Rx should be breathable and have room for hot air to escape. The bed also has a cotton cover, which is another breathable material. But there is still a decent amount of foam, which could cause some heat trapping.

We also test out each mattress with a device called a thermal gun, which uses color-coded imaging to measure how much and how quickly a mattress heats up when we lie down on it. If it heats up more than 15 degrees Fahrenheit, we consider it to have poor cooling capabilities. 10 to 15 degrees indicates decent cooling, 5 to 10 degrees indicates good cooling, and less than 5 degrees indicates excellent cooling.

After I laid on the Saatva Rx for five minutes, its temperature increased by about 8 degrees — this would qualify as good cooling. With these results and the bed’s breathable construction in mind, I can confidently say the Saatva Rx is a solid option for hot sleepers.

Edge Support

Edge support refers to how well the perimeter of a bed bears weight. Ideally, you should feel as supported along the edge of the bed as you do in the middle. If a bed has poor edge support, you may find the edges collapsing beneath you or might feel as if you are going to roll off the bed when sleeping near the edge.

I tested the Saatva Rx’s edge support by sitting and lying along the edge, to see whether the edge stayed supportive or sagged down. When I sat on the edge, I was disappointed to see a decent amount of sinkage on the edge. However, when I laid on the edge, I felt much more supported and saw very little sinkage. So this result was a bit of a mixed bag, but overall I would say the Saatva Rx has pretty good edge support.

Saatva Rx Mattress Performance For Couples

When deciding whether a mattress is a good fit for couples, we look at how well the bed performed in our motion transfer, responsiveness, cooling, and edge support tests. The Saatva Rx performed decently well in all these categories, meaning it could be a good option for couples. The low motion transfer means couples are less likely to be disturbed by one another’s movements. The good responsiveness means the bed should work well for sex. The cooling capabilities mean the bed should sleep cool with the added heat of two bodies. And the strong edge support means couples can maximize the surface area of the bed and sleep all the way to the edge.

Other factors that make the Saatva Rx a good fit for couples include its highly supportive construction and versatile feel. With such a sturdy and supportive construction, the Saatva Rx should easily be able to support couples (including heavier couples or mixed-weight couples). And with a medium-firm feel that can work well for many different people (as an average weight sleeper, I felt comfortable in all three sleeping positions), this bed could work well for couples with different preferences and needs.

My Final Thoughts about the Saatva Rx Mattress

Now that we’ve covered all the tests, I’ll recap this review of the Saatva Rx with my final recommendations of who should and shouldn’t consider buying the Saatva Rx.

Who I Recommend the Saatva Rx Mattress For

• Combination sleepers should be happy on the Saatva Rx, as it is decently responsive and works well for a variety of sleeping positions.
• Couples should appreciate how the Saatva Rx isolates motion, is fairly responsive for sex, sleeps cool, and has strong edge support.
• Sleepers with joint pain should enjoy the mix of pressure relief and support the Saatva Rx offers.
• Heavy sleepers who weigh 250 pounds or more should find the Saatva Rx supportive enough to maintain spinal alignment and comfort.

Who I Don’t Recommend the Saatva Rx Mattress For

• Priced over $3,000 for a queen size, the Saatva Rx isn’t a great pick for shoppers on a budget.
• Lightweight side sleepers may find the Saatva Rx to be too firm and may not receive enough pressure relief.

Saatva Rx Pricing and Sizing

Curious how much the Saatva Rx costs? Here is a breakdown of pricing, by size.

Size	Dimensions	Price
Twin	38″ x 75″ x 15″	$1,995
Twin XL	38″ x 80″ x 15″	$2,195
Full	54″ x 75″ x 15″	$2,995
Queen	60″ x 80″ x 15″	$3,295
King	76″ x 80″ x 15″	$3,795
California King	72″ x 84″ x 15″	$3,795
Split King	76″ x 80″ x 15″	$4,390

Saatva Rx Mattress Policies and FAQs

How does the Saatva Rx ship?

The Saatva Rx ships for free. Saatva provides free white glove delivery, which means a team will deliver the Saatva Rx mattress to your house uncompressed, set it up in your room of choice, and even take away your old mattress for free (if you want).

Does the Saatva Rx come with a sleep trial?

Yes, Saatva offers a 365-night trial period with this mattress. That means you can test it at home for 365 nights and if you decide during that trial period you don’t like the mattress, you can return it for a full refund. One thing to note: Saatva does charge a $99 processing fee for returns.

Does the Saatva Rx come with a warranty?

Yes, Saatva offers a lifetime warranty on this mattress.

What other mattresses does Saatva offer?

Saatva sells a variety of other mattresses, including the Saatva Classic, Saatva Latex Hybrid, Loom & Leaf, Saatva Youth, Saatva Memory Foam Hybrid, Zenhaven, Saatva Solaire, and Saatva HD. Take a look at our Saatva mattress comparison, in which we compare a few of the brand’s top beds to one another.

Saatva Rx Mattress Vs

Still not sure if the Saatva Rx is the best mattress for you? Let’s compare it to some similar options.

Saatva Rx vs Big Fig

The Big Fig — short for “bigger figure” — is a hybrid mattress specially designed for heavy sleepers, who weigh 250 pounds or more. Even though this bed has a firm feel (we rated it as an 8 out of 10 on the firmness scale), it still offers some plushness in its quilted cover and comfort layers.

• Price: The Big Fig is less expensive than the Saatva Rx, by about $1,500.
• Sleeping position: The Big Fig is best suited for back and stomach sleepers, although it may work for some heavy side sleepers too.
• Cooling: As a hybrid with some added cooling features, the Big Fig is a solid option for hot sleepers. 
• Body weight: Designed with heavier folks in mind, the Big Fig is a great pick for those who weigh 250 pounds or more.

Read more in our full Big Fig mattress review.

Saatva Rx vs Helix Midnight Elite

The Helix Midnight Elite is the middle-firmness option in Helix’s most luxurious line of hybrid mattresses. This bed is quite hefty, but offers a softer than average feel — we rated it as a 6 out of 10 on the firmness scale. The Helix Midnight Elite has a plush, cloud-like feel but still keeps the sleeper well supported.

• Price: The Helix Midnight Elite is more expensive than the Saatva Rx, by about $500.
• Sleeping position: With a supportive but soft feel, the Helix Midnight Elite is best suited for back and side sleepers.
• Cooling: The Helix Midnight Elite is a hybrid with some added cooling tech, making it a good choice for hot sleepers.
• Body weight: This bed should be comfortable and supportive enough for people of all weight groups.

Read more in our full Helix Midnight Elite mattress review.

Saatva Rx vs Purple Rejuvenate Plus

The Purple Rejuvenate Plus is part of Purple’s most luxurious line of mattresses. This hybrid bed is quite large, with a 16.5-inch profile. It also utilizes the iconic Purple grid in its construction, giving the bed a responsive but cushy feel. We rated this bed as 6.5 out of 10 on the firmness scale, meaning it is medium-firm.

• Price: The Purple Rejuvenate Plus is considerably more expensive than the Saatva Rx — almost twice the price.
• Sleeping position: Back sleepers should be universally comfortable on this bed, while it’s better suited for light to average weight stomach sleepers and heavy side sleepers.
• Cooling: With a hybrid construction and inclusion of the temperature-regulating Purple Grid, the Purple Rejuvenate Plus sleeps very cool.
• Body weight: This mattress can easily support people of all weight groups.

Read more in our full Purple Rejuvenate Plus mattress review.

Other Models from Saatva

If you think you want a Saatva mattress but aren’t sold on the Rx, don’t worry. Saatva offers a variety of other mattresses, a few of which I’ll compare to the Saatva Rx below.

Saatva Rx vs Saatva Classic

The Saatva Classic is the brand’s flagship mattress. It is an innerspring mattress with a coil-on-coil construction and plush Euro pillow top. It comes in three firmness levels (Plush Soft, Luxury Firm, and Firm). We rated the Luxury Firm model as a 7 out of 10 on the firmness scale, making it just a touch firmer than average.

• Price: The Saatva Classic is less expensive than the Saatva Rx, by about $1,000.
• Sleeping position: With three firmness options, the Saatva Classic can work for all three sleeping positions. We recommend the Plush Soft for side sleepers, the Luxury Firm for back sleepers, and the Firm for stomach sleepers.
• Cooling: We found the Saatva Classic to be a fairly cooling option. Its breathable cotton cover and steel coils allow for lots of airflow, although it doesn’t have any special cooling tech.
• Body weight: The Saatva Classic is supportive enough for people of all weights.

Read more in our full Saatva Classic mattress review. 

Saatva Rx vs Saatva Latex Hybrid

The Saatva Latex Hybrid is, as the name suggests, a hybrid mattress with latex and coils. This bed has a bouncy, responsive, and firmer than average feel. We rated it as a 7.5 out of 10 on the firmness scale.

• Price: The Saatva Latex Hybrid is less expensive than the Saatva Rx, by about $1,000.
• Sleeping position: As a firm mattress, the Saatva Latex Hybrid is best suited for back and stomach sleepers.
• Cooling: Made with breathable coils and naturally cool latex, the Saatva Latex Hybrid is a great pick for hot sleepers.
• Body weight: This mattress is supportive enough for people of all weight groups.

Read more in our full Saatva Latex Hybrid mattress review. 

Saatva Rx vs Saatva HD

The Saatva HD is the brand’s mattress designed with heavy sleepers in mind. It’s a hybrid made with latex foam, polyurethane foam, memory foam, and sturdy steel coils. We rated this bed as a 7 out of 10 on the firmness scale, meaning it is just firmer than average,

• Price: The Saatva HD is the same price as the Saatva Rx.
• Sleeping position: The Saatva HD is a great choice for back sleepers all around. It can work for stomach and side sleepers too, depending on weight.
• Cooling: Made with breathable coils and including latex foam, the Saatva HD sleeps quite cool.
• Body weight: This bed was made with heavy sleepers in mind and easily provides enough support for this group. It can work for light and average people, too.

Read more in our full Saatva HD mattress review. 

Our Review Process

At Sleepopolis, our team of Certified Sleep Science Coaches personally test each mattress. We start by unboxing the mattress to figure out how difficult (or easy) it is to get the mattress from the box to the bed. Then, we spend time laying on the bed in different positions, taking time to assess it on our backs, stomachs, and sides. Next, we perform our Sleepopolis tests, using specialized tools to measure qualities like motion transfer, bounce, and pressure relief. Our last step is to open up the mattress and take a look at each layer. These steps allow us to give our final verdict on the mattress.

Amelia Jerden

Senior Staff Writer

About Author

Amelia is a Senior Staff Writer for Sleepopolis. She primarily covers bedding and sleep accessory products in reviews, how-to guides, and more. You can also find her over on the Sleepopolis YouTube channel. Amelia is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with double majors in media and journalism and in dramatic art. Outside of work, Amelia can usually be found on a hike, traveling to a new city, or at her local thrift store.

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