The 5 Best Queen Mattresses for a Restful Sleep, As Tested by Our Editors
Updated: May 29, 2024
We put these queen mattresses to the test to find which ones provide comfort, support and cool sleep.
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The best mattress—suits your sleeping preferences while fitting comfortably into your budget. But shopping for a new mattress is an individualized process, starting with the size of your bed and deciding if you need a queen-sized mattress or a king-sized mattress.
Thankfully, a queen is one of the most common mattress sizes, so you’ll have plenty of options to choose from, from memory foam mattresses to hybrid mattresses and even cooling mattresses for hot sleepers.
“Queen mattresses are versatile and convenient for sleeping alone or with company. They can easily fit most spaces’ bedding sheets, and maintenance is affordable,” says Carleara Weiss, Ph.D., MS, RN, sleep science advisor at Aeroflow Sleep.
To find the best of the best, we tried queen mattresses of all types and price points, from budget-friendly options to luxe memory foam and hybrid models. Our editors tested them in their own homes for months at a time, assessing the mattresses’ comfort, support, motion transfer and cooling capabilities in real sleep scenarios. Here are our honest reactions.
Best queen mattress overall
Saatva Classic
This hybrid innerspring mattress suits all sleeping positions and is naturally breathable for a cool night's sleep.
Pros:
- Hybrid design combines springs and memory foam
- Comes in three firmness options and two heights
- Suitable for all sleep positions with the right firmness level
- Strong edge support
- Free white-glove delivery
- 365-night sleep trial
- Lifetime warranty
Cons:
- Returns have a $99 fee
With a luxury design and sophisticated construction, the Saatva Classic queen mattress offers a restful night’s sleep for those who can’t decide between innerspring and memory foam. A hybrid innerspring bed, it features an attached pillow top and a layer of memory foam over the durable steel coils, all enveloped in a breathable organic cotton cover.
The Saatva Classic comes in three firmness levels (plush soft, luxury firm and firm) to choose among based on your sleep position and preferences. It also features two height levels whether you prefer a lower-profile or a taller bed. Thanks to its supportive materials, the Saatva ranks as one of the best queen mattresses for back pain.
Take it from our product reviews home editor, Madi Koetting, who tried the Saatva Classic and thought it was an “absolute dream” to hit the perfect balance between comfort and support. “My partner and I completely disagree on the firm-to-plush ratio of a mattress, [but] my Saatva mattress review taught me I don’t have to sacrifice soft, plushness for a strong, supportive mattress,” she says. “We both agreed we’ve never slept better since we can’t feel each other move around in the middle of the night, thanks to the responsive coils that reduce motion transfer.”
Best budget queen mattress
Zinus Green Tea Mattress
This budget-friendly mattress delivers plenty of bang for your buck with its contour support and pressure relief.
Pros:
- Won't break the bank
- Features cooling gel foam to prevent overheating
- Comes in four height options
- 100-night sleep trial
- 10-year warranty
Cons:
- Takes up to 72 hours to fully expand
If you’re shopping for a queen mattress on a budget, the Zinus Green Tea mattress fits the bill. In fact, we named it the top memory foam mattress when it comes to the best cheap mattresses. But its comfort doesn’t mean you’ll have to skimp on support. The Zinus has three layers of pressure-relieving foam. The topmost layer features Zinus’s Green Tea memory foam infused with a special cooling gel to offer a cradling feel that won’t leave you overheated. Below this, a layer of Zinus comfort foam provides a “cloud-like feel” to the bed. The base layer is a high-density, durable foam for optimal support.
In her reviews on Zinus memory foam mattress, our senior shopping editor, Megan Mowery, calls it “the perfect blend” between the softness of her favorite memory foam topper and the firmness of a more supportive mattress. She says, “No matter which sleeping position I’m in—I alternate between stomach and side sleeping—I feel supported and comfortable. My back and joints are in good condition when I wake up in the morning, with no stiffness or soreness at all.”
Best organic queen mattress
Avocado Green Mattress
This organic mattress comes in three firmness levels that cater to all different sleeping positions.
Pros:
- Made with certified organic latex, wool and cotton
- Zoned support for ergonomic alignment
- Offers one-year sleep trial
- 25-year limited warranty
- Free returns
Cons:
- Organic materials come at a higher price
While many non-toxic mattresses claim to be made of natural materials, the Avocado Green boasts certifications that verify its composition of organic cotton, wool and latex. The hybrid mattress uses a cotton cover for breathability and to wick away moisture. The layer of latex contributes to its medium-firm feel while its individually wrapped coils serve as a responsive base layer, designed in five zones for optimal support. In short, the Avocado Green is an excellent hybrid mattress crafted with materials that have a lower impact on the environment.
Our tester wanted a non-toxic mattress for better sleep and health, as well as to lessen her environmental impact. “I’ve slept on the Avocado Green mattress for an entire year and I’m thrilled to report that I’m just as happy with it now as I was on the first night,” she says. “The Avocado Green mattress has held up to the addition of my boyfriend and his dog on most nights. I haven’t experienced any sagging, worn spots or discomfort. And I sleep better knowing my loved ones aren’t inhaling fire retardants through the night. Sleeping with a pillow between my knees is a distant memory.”
Best memory foam queen mattress
Nectar Premier Copper Memory Foam
This memory foam mattress is made with phase change material that helps keep you cool while you sleep.
Pros:
- Supportive memory foam mattress
- Made with cooling materials
- Near-instant decompression from unboxing
- Excellent motion isolation
- 365-night sleep trial
- Lifetime warranty
- Free returns
Cons:
- Lacks strong edge support
Nectar is a well-known bed-in-a-box brand that makes one of our favorite queen-size beds, the Nectar Premier Copper memory foam mattress. It features four layers of foam, one of which features gel infusion to enhance the mattress’s cooling capabilities, plus a copper cover that also battles night sweats. Overall, the Nectar Premier has a medium-firm feel and, at 14 inches, is the tallest Nectar mattress.
Our deputy shopping editor, Reina Galhea, rated the quality of sleep she got in her Nectar mattress review according to five categories: comfort, support, heat retention, motion transfer and pain relief. “Nectar passed each of my sleep quality categories with flying colors,” she gushes. “Three hundred and sixty-five days later and my Nectar mattress still feels fresh out of the box—same unbeatable cooling quality, soft yet supportive foam and extremely limited motion transfer. My husband and I revel on a daily basis about how comfortable this mattress is. It’s in an entirely different league than our old spring mattress, and we’ll never ever go back.”
Best cooling queen mattress
Helix Midnight Luxe
This cooling mattress has a medium feel and delivers plenty of pressure relief.
Pros:
- Cover, foam and spring design all feature cooling elements
- Coils arranged for zoned support
- 100-night sleep trial
- 15-year limited warranty
- Made in the U.S.A.
Cons:
- More expensive than some competitors
Shopping for the best queen mattress as a hot sleeper? The Helix Midnight Luxe features materials that promote temperature neutrality while sleeping. The best cooling mattresses employ gel-infused foam to help absorb and dissipate heat, but as a hybrid mattress, the Helix Midnight combines a breathable Tencel fabric cover with copper-infused foam and an innerspring design that allows for natural airflow.
Overall, it has a medium level of firmness, but the Helix’s coil support layer zones for better support in heavier areas of the body, like the hips and lower back, and lighter support at the head and foot areas.
Aside from its phenomenal cooling features, the supportive construction helps reduce back pain. Our tester has had bouts of back pain ever since she can remember. “After a few weeks of sleeping on the Helix mattress, my lumbar pain improved so dramatically that my husband noticed I was waking up earlier each morning. Now, that may sound like less sleep, but for me, it means restful, uninterrupted sleep.”
What to look for when buying a queen mattress
Aside from setting your budget, you have several types of mattresses to consider as you narrow down the best queen-size for you.
Memory foam mattresses are a popular, often affordable bed-in-a-box option, though they can feel overly firm or overly squishy, depending on the density of the materials. Hybrid mattresses combine foam layers with traditional innersprings, often offering a best-of-both-worlds feeling of comfort and support, but they tend to be pricier.
“The general recommendation for a healthy adult, weighing 130 to 230 pounds, without sleep disorder or other conditions, is to pick a hybrid medium-firm queen mattress,” Dr. Weiss explains. “It is important to adjust this recommendation according to the body weight, sleep disorder or other conditions, as well as sleep positions.”
Regardless of the mattress type, make sure the bed suits your sleeping preferences, including your sleep position and whether you’d benefit from cooling attributes if you tend to sleep hot. And before clicking “add to cart,” look into the brand’s policies, such as whether it accepts returns and if its product comes with a warranty should there be a defect.
Why you should trust us
Lauren Allain, the author of this piece, is a journalist with almost 20 years of journalism experience. She focuses on health, wellness, travel and product reviews, and her work has appeared in dozens of publications, including Insider, U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Refined and space.com.
We enlisted the help of our trusty editors to personally test out these best queen mattresses and give us their honest feedback. For this piece, we spoke with Carleara Weiss, Ph.D., MS, RN, a sleep science advisor at Aeroflow Sleep, to give insight into shopping for a queen-size mattress. Weiss shares educational content about sleep and circadian rhythms for quality life and wellness for adults, women, shift workers, parents, athletes and older adults.
Nina Derwin is a commerce updates editor for Reader’s Digest, Taste of Home and Family Handyman. She has experience researching and reviewing various items to help shoppers find the best products on the market. She researched and updated this piece.
How we found the best queen mattresses
Here at Reader’s Digest, we strive to find the best of the best products—and what better way to confirm them than to test them ourselves? We reviewed dozens of highly rated options online to find the best queen mattresses. We combed through hundreds of reviews, examined their materials and dove deep into their value to develop a healthy variety for all types of sleepers. Then, we had our shopping-loving editors test the top mattresses for at least 30 days. Only the ones that we couldn’t stop talking about made our list of the five best queen mattresses.
FAQ
Who is a queen mattress best for?
People often use queen mattresses in master bedrooms or guest rooms, where a couple likely sleeps. Roomier than a full-size but not as big as a king, the queen size offers plenty of space for two adults or a solo sleeper who likes to spread out.
What are the dimensions of a queen-size mattress?
A queen mattress measures 80 inches long and 60 inches wide. It’s 5 inches longer than a twin or full, the same length as a twin XL and king-size mattress, but not as wide as a king.
How much does a queen mattress cost?
Like anything, queen mattresses range in price from a couple of hundred bucks for the cheapest models to thousands of dollars for the most luxurious beds. For a decent price on a new bed, look for mattress deals around holidays, such as Memorial Day, and other sale times, like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
What is a split queen mattress?
A split queen comprises two separate mattresses, each measuring 80 inches long and 30 inches wide. When placed side by side, they equal the size of a standard queen bed. Split mattresses are a smart option for couples who have different mattress preferences and those who sleep on an adjustable base where each side adjusts independently. A split queen mattress size is less common than a split king.
Originally Published: May 17, 2023
