Casper Mattress Review
Casper sent us a mattress for free to review and participate in affiliate their programs, where we get a small commission if you purchase one through links from our site (at no cost to the buyer).
This Casper mattress review highlights the updated version of the bestselling mattress from one of the leaders of the online mattress industry. Casper made some changes to their mattress which helped change the mattress industry a few years back, and in this review we take a look at the much improved mattress.
Casper spent a significant amount of time doing research and development recently which has resulted in creating 3 mattresses – the updated original Casper (which we review here), the Wave – which we have reviewed here, and the Essential – a lower priced mattress.
With the launch of Casper Labs, Casper applied millions of data points, renowned expertise in foam research, and years of sleep science to the goal of reinventing the mattress once again with the introduction of the Wave – as well as revamping their original best-selling mattress which we are reviewing here.
Casper Mattress, King size
Casper launched in 2014 and revolutionized the mattress industry with an affordable, comfortable mattress that allowed customers to order online and have shipped directly to their doorstep – bypassing retail stores with their expensive overhead, overpriced mattresses, and high-pressure sales.
FAQ: Read about our overall favorite mattresses in our Top 10 Best Mattresses of 2018 Guide
This in-depth review of the Casper mattress evaluates all of the criteria we use to determine what constitutes a good mattress, which includes firmness / support, comfort, sleeping hot, and other features as outlined below. Review updated
Construction and Materials – What is the Casper made of?
The Casper mattress is a 10″ all foam mattress made up of 4 layers. All Casper mattresses now include Zoned Support – which enables the mattress to contour to your body with different firmnesses to provide optimal support in the areas that need it most. The mattress adapts to your hips, shoulders, and core by providing support where it is needed most.
- 1.5″ Top Comfort Layer – This layer is 1.5″ of open cell foam that is designed to provide cooling and comfort to the mattress.
- 1.5″ Response Layer – This layer is 1.5″ of responsive memory foam which provides bounce and responsiveness.
- 1.5″ Support Layer – This layer is 1.5″ of Zoned Support memory foam, which provides primary support and multi-regional zoned support for the body – providing optimal support to the back, hips, and shoulders where it is needed most.
- 5.0″ Foundation Layer – This layer is 5″ of durable support foam that acts as the foundation and provides deep compression support.
Casper mattress layers
The cover of the Casper mattress is made of a soft polyester blend. It’s thick and snaps back into place quickly, which means it won’t bunch up when you move around at night. The cover is removable as well, so that it can be taken off and cleaned.
The exterior small dimples give the mattress a good feel, and allow the mattress to breath via increased airflow through the various layers, which is important.
Casper mattress cover
Firmness & Support of the Casper
The Casper mattress comes in one firmness option, which is known as a “universal comfort” type of bed, designed to appeal to 80% of sleepers. The model we tested we rate it at a 6.5 out of 10 (10 being the firmest).
This differs from the original Casper we reviewed, where we actually rated it as a lot softer since my heavy weight compressed through the mattress and came to rest on the support layer, which in most cases makes beds feel FIRMER- but in the first version of the Casper, I felt it was too squishy as the foam core was not that dense.
The new all foam Casper has a faster response top comfort layer that makes it mores supportive – similar to the previous latex layer, but without the negative features of latex (which we don’t personally like.) We are very happy that Casper removed the latex layer from the mattress, as that was part of what contributed to us not liking the previous one very much.
The underlying comfort and support foam layers provide the body contouring and “sinking in” sensation that memory foam is normally known for, without being too squishy and causing us to sink down too far and feel “trapped in foam”.
As mentioned, with many mattresses, since I am a heavier sleeper, I tend to press through the top comfort layers and feel more of the support layers which are often harder and not as comfortable. Unfortunately, the previous version of the Casper mattress had a foam core that wasn’t that supportive, so it made the mattress just feel like mush.
This isn’t the case with the newly redesigned Casper, however, as the updated mattress provides enough support in the comfort layers without making me compress through them and come to rest on base support layers, AND the core support layers are also much denser and better made.
The all foam Casper does a great job at providing body hug and contour without feeling “trapped in foam”.
Casper mattress corner view
We felt the Casper mattress does a good job of providing support in all sleeping positions for both Kaye and myself sleeping as a couple.
In terms of support, the Casper mattress does a good job of providing excellent support in all sleeping positions. Since Kaye and myself are primarily side sleepers, we like mattresses that provide enough give in the top comfort layer to support our shoulders and hips, while also having the firmness if we switch to our stomachs and backs.
The Zoned Support design and construction of the Casper also provides you with the support where you need it most, with firmer sections beneath your hips, back, and shoulders – giving you that core support where you need it most. Something that most mattresses don’t include in their design.
Back sleepers and stomach sleepers will also find the Casper good for those styles as well, as it is firm enough to provide support and comfort for sleeping on your back or stomach without being too soft and causing excessive sinkage.
All in all, the new Casper mattress does an excellent job at providing a supportive, comfortable mattress that we like MUCH better than the previous model.
Comfort
As mentioned above, the new Casper mattress is much more comfortable than its predecessor, largely due to the removal of the latex layer and by including better foam layers overall.
The open cell foam used in the top comfort layer provides cooling and breathability and makes the mattress feel very comfortable for all types of sleepers as we mentioned previously.
The layer of responsive foam provides the bounce response needed to switch positions during the night and support my heavy bodyweight with ease, without causing too much movement during the night for Kaye when I get up or move around. Plus its great for sex 😉
The Casper has that classic memory foam body contouring and hug feel without experiencing that “sinking down into a hole” feel that traditional memory foam mattresses often feel like. Some review sites mentioned they feel the Casper is firmer and they feel that they “sleep on top of” the Casper, – but we don’t feel that way at all.
The old Casper, with the latex layer in, made the mattress feel that way – for lighter sleepers such as Kaye. Latex in general seems to defeat any foam layers designed to provide body hug or contour in mattresses, and makes beds that use latex instantly feel firmer and more buoyant. Which personally, we don’t like in the least bit.
Almost all mattress companies that used to include latex layers in their mattresses have replaced them with responsive foam layers, and most likely for a reason. If you really like the feel of latex, then purchase a latex bed, otherwise by including even a thin layer of latex, it turns any mattress into a MUCH firmer bed no matter how many layers of plush foam you embed in it.
Thankfully, Casper removed the use of latex and replaced it with responsive memory foam – which provides the bounce and responsiveness but allows your body to be cradled and have the hug and contour that memory foam is known for. One of the reasons that I personally like the redesigned Casper that much more.
All in all, the new Casper is not only comfortable, but supportive and sleeps cool (more on that below), which all the design improvements made by Casper Labs has clearly helped them improve their flagship product.
Sleeping Hot? Not on the Casper.
The Casper mattress does a great job at not sleeping hot, as it was designed to sleep cool through advanced testing and molecular engineering. The open-cell foam used in the top comfort and cooling layer helps promote airflow throughout the night, ensuring that heat is not trapped in the mattress.
Casper even went so far to have the thermal resistance tested by a third party lab, Element Materials Technology, and found it outperformed competitors.
We don’t just rely on what companies say about their beds – we sleep test them and as a couple living in Texas, we are very tough when it comes to beds that sleep hot and don’t do what they advertise. The last thing you want when sleeping next to your partner is to wake up sweaty and sticky, and that is a complaint that many memory foam mattresses often have.
The Casper does not sleep hot at all– preventing heat buildup or causing sweating during the night. The design and construction used in the Casper mattress does an excellent job at preventing this.
What about Sinkage & Motion Transfer with the Casper mattress?
The original Casper mattress did a poor job at supporting my heavier weight (at 235 lbs), as well as our combined weight as a couple sleeping on it. I would “bottom out” when sitting up on the mattress, and roll off the edge when sleeping near the edge.
As such, we did not rate the original Casper very favorably, and given it was the second mattress we ever tested at Memory Foam Talk, it was quickly surpassed in the ratings by much better beds.
As we always preach, sinkage (and motion transfer) is largely weight dependent, and as mentioned, the fact that I weigh around 230lbs tends to have a rather large bearing on the degree of sinkage I experience when sitting and lying on a mattress. Kaye, who is half my weight, experiences much less sinkage than I do, but again this is to be expected due to her much lighter weight.
Even at only 10″ thick, the redesigned Casper mattress does a MUCH better job at preventing sinkage – as I no longer bottom out on the mattress or roll off the edges.
Casper replaced the latex layer in the bed with a memory foam layer to provide a good degree of bounce and responsiveness without causing excessive motion transfer, which the original one suffered from as well.
Casper mattress profile
Motion transfer is a big issue for couples sharing a bed, and something we are very particular about. Most all-foam mattresses do a good job at preventing this, and the Casper is no exception.
Replacing the latex layer with foam did a great job at making the mattress responsive without causing excessive motion transfer, and we give the company high marks for making the mattress better in this regard.
As mentioned, edge support is great with this mattress, and better than most all foam 10″ mattresses we have reviewed. The high density foams used in the construction of the mattress do a good job at providing even support throughout the mattress, including the edge.
Smell / Off-Gassing – Does the Casper mattress stink??
The Casper mattress gets high marks in this category for not having too much of a noticeable smell upon opening the box. Most all foam beds have a degree of odor by reason of the foam being compressed in plastic and shipped in a box, something that makes them smell when opened.
Some beds smell more than others (we have had some that were so bad, we had to put them outside on the balcony for a week) and these were ones made in the USA – not China – which often makes beds that don’t smell at all!
There was markedly less off-gassing and odor that foam mattresses usually have, which was rather surprising to us given the all foam construction.
Customer Service
Casper offers a high degree of support and customer service as the original “bed in a box” company, which includes:
- Engineered in-house at Casper Labs
- Designed and assembled in the USA
- Compatible with Casper sheets, pillow, duvet, foundation, and adjustable bed frame.
- 100 night Trial period
- 10 Year warranty
- Free Shipping
- 100% money back guarantee for Returns / Refunds
- Certi-Pur certified
Price
The Casper mattress is very reasonably priced, coming in at $995 for a Queen, which is an excellent price for the materials and construction in the bed. $1000 is the average price for these types of beds these days.
| Casper | Wave | Essential | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twin | $595 | $1095 | $350 |
| Twin XL | $645 | $1195 | $400 |
| Full | $895 | $1695 | $500 |
| Queen | $995 | $1995 | $600 |
| King | $1195 | $2395 | $725 |
| Cal King | $1195 | $2395 | $725 |
Summary
So all in all, we were much more impressed with the newly redesigned Casper mattress. We admittedly were rather harsh on our original review of the Casper, as we felt compared to other beds that had entered the online market, the company had not kept up with innovations in the only mattress space.
Not now. Casper has raised the bar and regained their leadership (well, did they ever lose it?) with the introduction of not only a redesigned Casper mattress, but the development of the Wave and Essential beds as well. The Zoned Support technology used in all the mattresses provide optimal support for your body when sleeping, and prevents any hip, back or shoulder pain.
The Casper mattress is excellent for heavier sleepers such as myself, as well as for couples. The mattress sleeps cool via the use of open-cell foam technology, and does not leave you feeling sticky or sweaty. It is quite comfortable, has minimal sinkage or motion transfer, and has excellent edge support as well.
We hope this review of the Casper mattress helps in your next purchase decision, if you have any questions or need assistance – feel free to comment or email us at anytime.
Casper
Pros
- Great zoned support
- Comfortable
- Sleeps cool
- Updated design
Loom and Leaf vs Casper
In this comparison we’ll be comparing the Loom and Leaf mattress to the newly released updated version of the Casper mattress.
The Loom and Leaf is a full memory foam mattress coming with high-end materials, traditional look and a bit higher prices, while the new Casper, unlike its predecessor featuring latex, is also entirely made of foam. It comes with a Zoned support layer designed to provide support to the areas of the body where it is needed most, and although it is recently released, it is already voted as the best mattress in many categories.
Read the full Loom and Leaf vs. Casper comparison.
Nectar vs Casper
This comparison will be between the full memory foam Nectar and the hybrid (latex and memory foam) Casper.
Nectar has recently hit the market with its best material and best possible price, whereas the young 2-year-old Casper acquires its reputation for a reasonably-priced, direct-to-the consumer “Bed in a Box” type distribution model. Does the notion “With age comes wisdom” still have relevance in this case?
Read the full Nectar vs. Casper review.
Novosbed vs Casper
Memory foam mattresses continue to grow in popularity with every year, and there are many good reasons why. They are known for their ability to relieve pressure points, isolate motion transfer and provide a better and more comfortable night’s sleep. But, if you are considering purchasing one, it may be difficult for you to make a decision because of a huge range of options available on today’s market.
In this review, we’ll be comparing two all foam mattresses: Novosbed vs Casper to help you make your decision easier. Both are popular bed-in-a-box mattresses, and both provide extraordinary comfort for all sleeping positions and that classic memory foam feel and hug without causing the feeling of being enveloped by a mattress.
Read the full Novosbed vs. Casper comparison.
0 Comments