Here’s Our King Size Review of the Purple Mattress

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This article was originally published on Mattress Finder.

Maybe you’ve heard some buzz about Purple — a mattress company popular for its gel grid, a responsive top layer made from a material called hyper-elastic polymer.

The unusual mattress design is eye-catching but may offer cushioning support, pressure relief, and breathability. Keep reading to get our take on the brand and its signature Purple Mattress to decide if it deserves space in your bedroom.

Purple is considered a mattress-in-a-box company, but each mattress arrives in a bag.

The brand is well-known for its signature foam mattress that’s topped with an adaptive gel grid layer. This layer adds a soft “squishy” touch and breathability, thanks to its airflow-friendly design. The company says the gel grid is also CleanAir GOLD and CertiPUR-US certified.

The brand offers a few different types of mattresses, sheets, bedding, bed frames, and seat cushions. Below, we get into the nuts and bolts of the original Purple mattress.

You may love this mattress if you’re looking for a medium-firm mattress with a different type of feel.

It’s designed to work for all sleeping positions, including side, back, and stomach sleepers.

You may not like it if you prefer a traditional memory foam bed or if you’re looking for a firm mattress.

Plus, it may be a good choice for active sleepers (those who toss and turn). Motion transfer is another area where Purple performs extremely well. We were initially skeptical, since the top layer isn’t memory foam or latex foam, but our concerns were short-lived.

We placed a can at one of the bed and then started rolling/walking around near the can, and it never tipped over. So, we think it’s pretty safe to say this bed will be just fine if you or your partner are active sleepers.

The Purple Mattress is also a good choice for shoppers looking for responsiveness. Unlike memory foam, the hyper-elastic top layer snaps back to its original form almost immediately after removing pressure. Even though you can feel yourself moving around the grid, the mattress doesn’t leave a body impression.

Sinkage and durability are big concerns for some sleepers drawn to foam mattresses, and understandably so. But we don’t envision any sinkage with this mattress — we think it will be durable over the long haul.

Mattress construction and special top layer

Like many bed-in-a-box mattresses, the Purple contains a couple of layers of foam. The bottom two layers comprise polyurethane foam. The bottom layer gives the bed its foundation and support, while the middle layer is a little thinner and designed to absorb pressure.

But as we mentioned, where Purple differs from all other companies is their top layer. Instead of using gel memory foam, latex foam, or some proprietary blend, the company uses hyper-elastic polymer material.

The material is patented by the founders of Purple, one of which is an actual rocket scientist. This 2-inch top layer is laid out in a grid formation.

The material feels like little gel squares, but it’s not gel. It’s a pretty unique feeling — it’s super soft and flexible but also very responsive.

And when you lay down on the bed, you can feel yourself displacing the grid formation. The little squares fold, bend, compress, and mold to your body’s shape.

I have to admit, it was a little weird at first, but after a while, you start to like the feeling.

Wrapping the three layers is a soft, comfortable cover. Like most bed-in-a-box mattresses, the company recommends you just spot-clean the cover instead of machine washing it.

Along with its original mattress, Purple offers a few other types of mattresses:

• Purple Plus: This model offers a medium feel instead of medium firm like the original mattress. This is due to the addition of one extra comfort foam layer. It may also offer extra pressure relief.
• Purple Hybrid: This is the brand’s firmest option, using the gel grid and individually wrapped coils for the company’s highest level of support.
• Purple Hybrid Premier 3: This model is medium soft and includes 3 inches of the gel grid layer (compared with 2 inches on the other models) on top of individually wrapped coils.
• Purple Hybrid Premier 4: As the most responsive option from the brand, this mattress has 4 inches of the gel grid layer, giving it the softest feel on top of individually wrapped coils.

Purple is one of the pricier bed-in-a-box mattresses out there. However, we wouldn’t consider it expensive. It tends to be $100 to $200 more expensive than competitor beds.

The one factor with Purple is that they rarely offer coupon codes. So, while you can nearly always find mattress coupons for other brands, Purple maintains that this is a premium mattress that’s affordable enough. It’s hard to argue with that.

Here’s a breakdown of pricing for the original Purple mattress:

*Prices valid as of February 2023

While Purple doesn’t offer promo codes, they frequently run specials — you can check on Purple’s website for deals and promotions. Sometimes they’ll throw in sheets or a seat cushion with the purchase of a mattress.

The Purple mattress has high marks on the brand’s website and a good rating from Google reviewers, who say it’s comfortable.

It’s worth pointing out that the brand currently has a poor reputation on Trustpilot — a third-party review website — receiving 2.3 out of 5 stars at the time of writing. Unhappy reviewers here report either having delivery issues or that their mattress didn’t offer the same level of support over time.

However, Purple currently has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

Shipping

Purple will ship their beds directly to your door for free. Instead of coming in a box, though, the mattress comes rolled up in a thick plastic cover with handles, which makes it convenient to move around — although it’s pretty heavy.

Once you get it situated and unrolled, Purple offers a 100-night risk-free trial. So, if you decide the bed isn’t for you during that time, just call the company. They’ll refund your money and send someone to come pick it up free of charge.

Purple also backs the mattress with a 10-year warranty, which is standard for the online mattress industry.

Purple entered the bed-in-a-box game in 2013 and has since exploded to become one of the industry’s biggest and most popular brands. And a lot of that success is due to the unique construction of the mattress.

Here’s a look at how Purple performs in key categories against its main competitors. We based pricing here on original model queen mattresses.

How long does a Purple mattress last?

According to the brand, the Purple mattress has a 10-year lifespan.

Is the Purple mattress good?

People who like a medium-firm mattress and are open to a different mattress “feel” (the grid technology has a squishy feel) may like this mattress.

It’s also said to be pressure-relieving, cooling, and good for all sleepers (side, back, stomach, etc.). People who like firm mattresses or those who prefer traditional memory foam may not like the Purple mattress. Sleepers weighing 250 pounds or more may need a firmer choice for better support.

Can I flip my Purple mattress?

No, the Purple mattress is not designed to be flipped due to the constructed layers of foam. If flipped, the soft and responsive top layer would become the bottom layer. This top layer is not created to work as a supportive base layer.

Is the Purple mattress hot?

According to the brand, this mattress is cooling, offering competitive airflow compared to other mattresses.

Does the Purple mattress come with a cover?

Yes, the Purple mattress comes with a soft, stretchy protective mattress cover, or Purple GelFlex grid technology already built in to its mattresses.

Or you could always just buy a more affordable mattress protector on Amazon. We’ve found that mattress protectors can be helpful, but they limit how much you feel the true mattress, since you’re adding another layer.