The best time to buy a mattress is on the holidays. Pick a holiday, any holiday. Is Amazon Prime Day a holiday? If it wasn’t a holiday, would there be mattress deals on Amazon Prime Day that include the best price we’ve ever seen on the best mattress we’ve ever tested?
As with all of WIRED’s Amazon Prime Day deals coverage (including our roundup of the best Prime Day deals and the best deals under $100), everything we recommend here has been tested by a member of our team or one of our contributors and is legitimately discounted off the regular price. Prices shown are for queen beds.
We test products throughout the year and carefully select these offerings. We will update this guide periodically throughout the sale event.
Photography: Helix
To put together our guide to the best mattresses, WIRED tests beds by sleeping on them for at least a week in our homes, which is a more rigorous protocol than many other review sites. Thanks to that protocol, the Helix Luxe mattress has been our top-rated mattress for five years running. The Helix is new to selling on Amazon, and while there are always mattress deals to be had, you might not see this unique Prime Day deal again for a while.
You can also get 30 percent off the entire Helix Core linethe biggest discount the company has ever had on these models. We haven’t tested the entire line, but we have tried a few of them and have been impressed in that limited experience. There are five firmness levels in the Core line, and because of its responsive foam, I’d suggest going with a mattress that’s a little firmer than you think you want.
Photography: Leesa
The Leesa Sapira Hybrid was our long-time runner-up to the Helix before being replaced on our list by its cooling sibling, the Sapira ChillThe Sapira Hybrid is a true luxury mattress with high-end details and American craftsmanship, available to Amazon Prime members at a significantly larger discount than the current list price on the site. The Leesa site itselfThat makes this a true Prime Day mattress deal like you don’t often see from a third-party retailer.
Photography: Casper
Casper was the original boxed mattress maker and still makes some very nice mattresses – the new The only I was really impressed when I tested it out. This is an older model that was on our guide as the best bed to buy if you weren’t sure what you wanted, because it’s nice and neutral. This price was $1,195 right before Prime Day, so this deal isn’t as impressive as the listing suggests, but it’s still cheaper than usual.
Photography: Nectar
We show queen mattress prices, but the interesting thing about this deal is that you can currently get a California king mattress for the exact same price, which is a real bargain. Nectar is another well-established brand that makes memory foam mattresses that have a loyal following. This model was our long-time pick as the best mattress for side sleepers before being replaced by the Bear Elite. I have tested this mattress (medium firm gel memory foam) with a copper cooling layer (you can get it at Amazon with a smaller discount) and I found it a bit too soft, but it’s a solid bet for a lot of people, especially side sleepers who want a softer, more luxurious foam feel.
Photography: Amazon
The Linenspa is my favorite ultra-cheap mattress after trying a lot of cheap mattresses (a chore that’s often unpleasant and feels like more in the morning than I’d like), and it’s typically just under $300. As I always tell people, it’s not especially well-made, and if you can afford to spend more on an everyday product, you should go for it, but for a guest room or first apartment, it’s pretty good, especially if you’re on a tight budget. I’ve slept on mattresses that cost 10 times as much and liked them less. Amazon Prime Day is offering a huge discount—30 percent off the usual price—and this would be a good buy for a younger person heading off to college or an apartment share.