The Beautyrest Black is a member of Beautyrest’s premium mattress line. Beautyrest is the flagship brand of Serta Simmons. I’ve reviewed the Beautyrest Black in the past, but I wanted to take another look at it now because the brand is changing up its strategy a bit. Is it comfortable? Let’s find out!
Because the Beautyrest Black is marketed as a luxury mattress, I was curious to see if it lived up to the hype. I threw every test in the book at it so I could give you a comprehensive review, and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned!
Does the Beautyrest Black offer a premier sleep experience? Read the rest of my comprehensive review to find out! Or skip down to my review summary if you just want the nuts and bolts.
A combination of balanced foams and pocketed coils, the Beautyrest Black is a supportive mattress ideal for a wide range of sleepers.
Brand Snapshot
Beautyrest is the flagship brand of major mattress brand Serta Simmons, which has been around in some form since the 1920s. These days, the company is selling more online since merging with bed-in-a-box mattress brand Tuft & Needle. The brand says it was the first to create Queen and King mattresses as well as pocketed coils and the non-flip mattress. The industry titan introduced the Beautyrest Black line of mattresses in 2006 and claims this line is now the #1 luxury innerspring line in the mattress industry.
Though Serta Simmons sells a bevy of bedding products, I’m going to be focusing exclusively on the Beautyrest Black mattress in this review. So, that being said, let’s get into it by dissecting its construction.
What is the Beautyrest Black Made Of?
The standard version of the Beautyrest Black is 13” tall and features multiple thin, foam comfort layers over supportive pocketed coils. While the foam offers some pressure relief, this mattress is pretty firm. The bed has an optional comfort upgrade for folks who want a plusher feel, but we’re just focusing on the standard version here.
Let’s take a closer look at this mattress’s innards!
Cover – The cover is made from a blend of polyester and rayon, which creates a feel that’s cool to the touch and fairly breathable. It’s quilted with two layers of soft poly foam that let you sink into the mattress just a little bit.
Comfort Layer – Underneath the cover you’ll find a ½” layer of gel memory foam. True to memory foam form, this layer has a fairly slow response to pressure and offers some pressure relief. However, because it’s pretty thin, it doesn’t take away from the mattress’s firm feel. You won’t sink in much at all, which is good news for back and stomach sleepers.
Transition Layer – Beneath the comfort layer is a 1 ½” layer of transitional poly foam. It’s a bit firmer than the memory foam above it, which adds some bounce to the mattress and helps ease you from the pressure-relieving comfort layer into the support layer of pocketed coils. It also helps prevent you from feeling stuck in the mattress.
Support Layer – The pocketed coils in this layer create a bouncy, supportive feel like you’d find in a traditional innerspring mattress. Along with the transitional poly foam above, the coils make it easy to move around on the mattress. The coils are individually wrapped, which means they do a better job of isolating motion transfer than coils that can’t move independently. This is good news for couples.
Edge Support – Wrapped around the pocketed coils, you’ll find a thick, high-density poly foam edge support layer. This section helps support the mattress at the edges so you can sleep all the way to the side of the bed — again, this is a plus for couples who want to utilize the full surface of their mattress.
How Firm Is the Beautyrest Black?
Did you go over the construction info in the previous section with a fine-tooth comb? Of course you did! And that’s good news, because it will help you understand what it feels like to lie on top of the Beautyrest Black! Let’s start by checking out the mattress’s firmness.
First, a reminder: Firmness is subjective. Your body weight, shape, and size and personal preferences will affect how firm a given mattress feels to you — and the same is true for me! So remember that when it comes to these assessments, your mileage may vary.
Personally, I rated the mattress at a 7.5 or 8 out of 10 on the firmness scale. The industry standard for medium-firmness is 6.5 out of 10, so this tells me the mattress is pretty firm.
The contents of the mattress help explain why it falls on the firmer side. It only has a few very thin layers of soft foam on top of the firmer transitional foam layer and the supportive pocketed coils. While you’ll get a bit of pressure relief from the softer layers, you’ll mostly feel the firmness of the support layers. Because this mattress is so supportive, it should be a good fit for back and stomach sleepers, who need plenty of lift to keep their spine in proper alignment.
A combination of balanced foams and pocketed coils, the Beautyrest Black is a supportive mattress ideal for a wide range of sleepers.
Testing the Beautyrest Black
While firmness tells you a lot about a mattress, it doesn’t give you the full picture. To really understand whether a mattress is right for you, it’s also important to consider Pressure Relief and Motion Transfer. So let’s get to it!
Pressure Relief
No, we’re not talking about chilling on the couch after a pressure-packed day (though who doesn’t love that?). In this case, Pressure Relief refers to a bed’s ability to alleviate tension at sensitive areas such as the hips, lower back, and shoulders. It tells you whether a mattress will ease pressure on relevant parts of your body so you can sleep comfortably in your position of choice.
To test the Pressure Relief on the Beautyrest Black, I enlisted the help of my trusty pressure map. I put this device on top of the mattress, climb on top, and let the map track my body’s force as I try out different positions. Low-pressure areas are highlighted in blue, and the highest pressure areas show up as red.
Back – When I’m on my back, I feel like my weight is evenly distributed, and I’m not experiencing any pressure points. The foam in the cover lets me sink in just a touch for some pressure relief. At the same time, my hips don’t sink in too far — so my spine stays aligned and I feel on top of the bed (instead of “in” it). I think many back sleepers would like this mattress.
Side – It’s easy to transition to my side thanks to the bounciness of this mattress and the fact that I’m not sinking into it — two factors that mean I don’t feel stuck at all. When I land on my side, I’m feeling a bit jammed up at the shoulder and some pressure at my hips. I think this bed might be too firm for a lot of strict side sleepers. That said, the pressure map isn’t showing as much pressure as I expected. Side sleepers who like a firm mattress or combo sleepers who only spend part of the night on their side might do okay.
Stomach – Once I’m on my stomach, I again feel like my weight is evenly distributed (just as it is on my back). My hips are well supported, and I don’t feel like they’re bowing into the mattress. I like this mattress as an option for strict stomach sleepers.
Motion Transfer
Like Pressure Relief, Motion Transfer is another factor that will play a big role in determining whether a mattress suits your sleep needs. That’s especially true if you sleep with a partner, pet, or child, because Motion Transfer is all about whether you’ll feel a sleeping partner’s movements if they shift around during the night.
To test out motion transfer on the Beautyrest Black, I dropped a 10 lb. steel ball from 4 inches, 8 inches, and 12 inches. These heights mimic different movements, from tossing and turning to getting out of bed or jumping on top of it. Then I measured the disturbance caused by each of these drops. The bigger the lines, the bigger the disturbance!
Because this mattress uses coils and is firm and bouncy, I had pretty low expectations when it comes to motion transfer. So I was surprised and impressed with the results of my bounce test! The mattress actually does a decent job of isolating motion, so it could be a viable option for couples.
Is the Beautyrest Black Right for You?
The time has come to answer the million-dollar (or, er, the approximately 2,000-dollar) question! Is the Beautyrest Black the right mattress for you? While I can’t make that decision for you, I can leave you with a final summary of my pros and cons for this mattress!
A combination of balanced foams and pocketed coils, the Beautyrest Black is a supportive mattress ideal for a wide range of sleepers.
Pros
- This should be a nice fit for most back or stomach sleepers. The mattress’s firm support does a great job of preventing the hips from sinking too far into the mattress, which helps keep the spine aligned when you’re on your back or stomach.
- This might also be a great choice for people who prefer to sleep cool. The airflow through the coils, combined with the breathable cover, does a good job of dissipating heat and preventing the dreaded heat trap.
- Finally, this is also a good option for people who like an innerspring feel. The mattress is firm and supportive with a lot of bounce thanks in large part to its pocketed coils.
Cons
- Most side sleepers will probably find that the standard version of the Beautyrest Black is too firm to stay comfortable in this position all night long. The firmness and lack of deep comfort layers means side sleepers are likely to feel jammed up at the shoulder. If you have your heart set on this mattress but you’re a side sleeper, you might want to consider the comfort upgrade.
- If you’re a lover of memory foam and the sinkage and body contouring it provides, you won’t find that on this mattress. You feel more on top of the bed (as opposed to “in” it), and it doesn’t offer a ton of pressure relief.
Basics
- Trial: 100 Nights
- Shipping: Free White Glove Delivery
- Warranty: 10 Years
How Much Does the Beautyrest Black Cost?
A combination of balanced foams and pocketed coils, the Beautyrest Black is a supportive mattress ideal for a wide range of sleepers.
| Size | Dimensions | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twin XL | 38" x 80" x 12.5" | 114 lbs | $1,299 |
| Full | 54" x 75" x 12.5" | 140 lbs | $1,669 |
| Queen | 60" x 80" x 12.5" | 165 lbs | $1,799 |
| King | 76" x 80" x 12.5" | 209 lbs | $2,299 |
| California King | 72" x 84" x 12.5" | 209 lbs | $2,299 |
- Materials
- Comfort
- Support
- Value
- Cooling
- Edge Support
- Sex
- Smell
- Company
- Refunds
- Trial
- Warranty
Summary
The Beautyrest Black line from Simmons all feature classic innerspring builds that comes in several different firmness levels. These mattresses feature great bounce (a plug of innerspring mattresses). Overall I see this as a good choice specifically for stomach and combo sleepers.
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