As promised, below is a comparison of the TOP 3 air mattresses. You’ll see their overall ratings, testing results and ratings in the 10 quality categories.
Let’s dig right in…
Rating | & price comparison |
|
|---|---|---|
| Series Air Mattress  | |  |
| air mattress  | |  |
| Bamboo Cover  | | |
SoundAsleep seems to be here to stay
When the SoundAsleep hit the market back in 2013, we sincerely didn’t expect much – we certainly didn’t expect the bed to dominate in ratings like it’s been doing over the last few years.
Apart from simply testing best in all important aspects like: Air retention, Comfort & Durability one of it’s main advantages is the fact that they are a small family-run company and they treat every customer like it’s the one.
We know because we did some mystery shopping with SoundAsleep over the last year, returning mattress just because “we thought it’s a different hue of blue”
That last one is actually a quote from one of our mystery shopping sprees. We’re not proud of it, but we did it to test the customer service – what we can report back is that went above & beyond every time.
At the moment, SoundAsleep has no real competition in all aspects that matter
How are the mattresses rated and what is an Overall Quality Rating
The air mattresses are rated based on a statistical model I’ve crafted over the years of doing air mattress reviews. It excludes any bias because it relies on user reviews that are gathered from all around the web.
Here is how the rating process works:
Step 1: We buy the air mattresses with our own money and never accept “testing samples” which we are offered on daily basis from companies not saying it, but implying that they expect a favorable review in return. For the company representatives reading this, don’t bother messaging us about this.
Step 2: We send the air mattresses out to our featured testers – these are are people active in the blogosphere but from all walks of life, from campers and adventurers to moms.
*if you have a blog that you think might be relevant, contact us about the opportunity to become our tester*
Step 3:We ask them to rate the airbed in 10 quality categories
- How well it holds air
- Comfort
- Design
- Pump
- Materials and finish
- Price
- Easy to handle/store
- Edges sturdiness
- Durability Customer Services/Guarantee
Step 4: We pool that information with our own ratings and in-house testing in the same categories and find the average score in each category. Overall Quality rating you see here is the average of all those ratings.
Step 5: We follow up and ask them if they want to update
Looking at our evidence about the Sound Asleep we sent out 27 SoundAsleep air mattress over the last 4 years.
It’s the top rated airbed in 8 out of 10 categories – in the category of price some of the lower-quality cheaper models are rated 10/10 because you can get them for a price a lunch but they are likely to give in before you’re finished with the lunch.
The other category of Durability it’s rated 9/10 and there are air mattresses for extreme conditions that are extra thick but bulky,heavy and at least twice as expensive.
With hope that our reviews are helpful,
James Menta
James Menta
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Hi James, thanks for all the great info! I have narrowed my list down to 3 (size queen): Sound Asleep Dream Series, Insta-Bed raised w/ never-flat, and the Simply Sleeper ss89Q based on your site and Amazon reviews. My top need by far is durability, with cats in the home, frequent camping/travel, and a large, rowdy family who visits often… we have gone through too many airbeds to count. It also must be comfortable for two adults and hold air reliably. Other details are incidental. Your input for choosing one over the others would be highly valued and appreciated!
Hi Erin,
At this point I have no dilemmas when I say I would go with the Sound Asleep, best air bed on the market today…
Thanks for reaching out
Hi James,
I’m looking to purchase an air mattress from Christmas tree shops. Although it is not advertised the Mattress is made by Bestway and it cost only 25 bucks for a queen. Would you know how good this product is?
Hey Jason,
I think you probably know the answer to your question. I know you’d like me to say that these cheap air mattresses or the ones that are always on huge discounts are just as good as any of them.
But think about how anybody could manufacture a good air bed for $25 (in Asia or wherever). A friend own one of these and he was waking up on the floor within 2 months.
So, yes, it’s a bargain but you get what you pay for.
Sorry if this comes as a disappointment
James,
1) How important a feature is the “Never run flat” constant monitoring of air pressure and pumping to keep firmness constant?
2) Which bed, if any, best isolates sleepers from feeling pressure differences when one or the other rolls over or moves?
Gary
Hey Gary,
Thanks for the questions…
1) If you do do get a good air bed like the Sound Asleep the never flat option becomes somewhat of a moot point, especially if you are a light sleeper because of the humming sounds of the neverflats…the sounds coming from the pump that’s always on
2) I think that the patented air coil design in the Sound Asleep would probably do the best job with that
I hope this helps
Hi James. Thanks for all your work in not only putting together all this information, but publishing it for the rest of us indecisive fellows. I have currently narrowed my choice down to three options (all in twin or twin xl size): Fox Airbed, Serta Raised Never Flat Air Mattress, and the SoundAsleep Air Mattress. I think that all of these are probably great choices, but I’m really here to get the very best.
More to my point: I was very surprised that you have not reviewed any Fox Airbeds, considering that they have been in the market for several years and seem to have quality products. They would probably be willing to send you an air mattress to review since they have a pretty active customer service. I would love to see how the Fox Airbed stacks up for you against the competition! But, thanks to your glowing review, you have swung me over to the SoundAsleep side (I only regret that it doesn’t come as a Twin XL; I am 5’9″).
Again, thank you for your thorough reviews! Happy sleeping!
Hey Soobin,
I have certain criteria an air mattress should meet before I do a full review and it’s based on the customer reviews and I simply didn’t have enough material on Fox models to do that. However, there is one model from Fox that I’ve been compiling a review for over a month now and will probably be published soon, it’s of the Plush High Rise.
As I get more data I hope that I will get more and more of these mattresses reviewed.
Thanks for the suggestion
My boyfriend and I were in a car accident a year ago and are now looking for a very comfortable, durable (lasts a long time AND keeps air in) air mattress at a cheaper price. I can’t decide which one to get, so I was hoping you could tell me which bed has the best of all of these. Thanks!
Thanks Mikey for sharing that, I’m sure it will help someone.
my best
Had really bad experience with Intex mattress…..Bought one to take to friends in London for a wedding…I live in Canada!!….as not enough beds…..turned out it had a manufacturing flaw and was made with a hole in the seam!!!…..bought another one later in the year….used it about 10 times and it developed a split….DO NOT BUY INTEX!!!!
Hey Kinley,
I’d have to agree with some of your thoughts. If you dig a bit through my website you’ll see that I haven’t been doing any significant work on Intex in a pretty long time.
I wouldn’t completely dismiss them, I am still trying to figure out their outsourcing. Because some of their beds still stand tall in the ratings and other plummeted…nothing can ruin a brand like bad outsourcing…
James
Your research is awesome! Thanks for all that work. Just researching your research is a chore. Do you know if the SoundAsleep company makes a full size air bed? I need it to fit my Murphy bed. It will be a “main” bed. You are so right, finding full size air mattresses is the most difficult. The 13″ height is perfect as the bed is already slightly elevated. I would also be interested in the “never flat” dual (triple?) pump bed, yet again haven’t seen a full size. Any insights?
Hey Suzy,
Thank you so much for the kind words. I like doing what I’m doing with my website. I can’t really do all the outdoorsy stuff that I used to do, so this kind of makes up for it…
About your question – I guess it’s a market thing but none of the beds that you expressed interest in have a full size. You can find a special section in the right sidebar that lists the top rated full size beds…I hope that will be of some help
Thanks again
Hi,
I would like to purchase the SoundAsleep Dream Series Air Mattress but in a twin size. Amazon does not seem to have them, and don’t know if they will be in stock in the future. Any idea’s where to get one?
Hey Doug,
That’s a good decision, the SA is a great bed and Amazon does carry it. Check the full review HERE with the link to Amazon’s page
Take care
Hi!
I am so happy to have found your site. This I just what I needed. I need an air mattress for my in-laws for occasional nights at our house. They are both plus size and I would like a queen size. I really like the aerobed you recommend but I am in Canada and not sure which is the easiest to find here. Any suggestions that come to mind?
I am going to try to find it here in the meantime, bit joint I would ask 🙂
Thanks so much for all your hard work!
Hi Veronica and thanks for the kind words,
I can definitely recommend a nice bed. This inflatable is the best, most durable and at the same time very comfortable bed to hit the market for as long as I can remember.
https://www.bestairmattressguide.com/air-mattress/review-soundasleep-dream-series/
Hope this helps
Thanks
I am debating between the Coleman queen quick pump ($75 at target), the Intex deluxe pillow rest raised queen ($43.99 on Amazon), Intex raised downy air mattress queen ($41.99 on Amazon) and the Intex ultra plush queen ($56.99 on Amazon). The Coleman seems to not get as many leaks and has better customer service according to Amazon reviews, but is it just luck of the draw that way? I’d rather save as much as I can, this will be used for when visitors come to town. Looking forward to your response…
Hey Steph,
It’s my personal opinion that the Coleman is the best option of the mentioned. Take a look at the full review here to understand why:
https://www.bestairmattressguide.com/air-bed/coleman-double-high-quickbed-review/
Generally, I think that Intex has gone a bit downhill in quality recently and personally would never go for Intex these days.
Cheers
Great reviews and information. I have heard that PVC is the devil in air mattresses. It is cheap but as it heats up it expands so it forces the air mattress to require filling throughout its use (as body heat warms the air and plastic.
I did not notice anything about materials in your reviews, or country of manufacture. Any ideas for US manufactured mattresses?
Hi Bill,
As I explain on the homepage when I talk about my review process there are beds made in the USA, there are those that are outsourced but the quality is every bit as good and there are those that ruin the quality by outsourcing.
I keep a close eye on companies and models and delete the beds that I deem are poorly outsourced.
Having said that, if the bed being made in the USA is something important to you, than I would go with a Serta. You have the guide on best Serta air beds in the left sidebar.
I hope this helps
Hi James,
Great Job at breaking down all the info. Thanks for the step by step inspection process of the beds. I have a very bad back from an accident in the US Navy 30 years ago. I am understanding that Air beds are supposed to be the direction I should be going for my back. Any thoughts on this for a 6′ tall 215 lb person sleeping on this on a daily basis with my 100lb wife? Thanks for the info.
Fred
Hey Fred,
I guess that depends on your budget but sleeping on an air mattress did help me with my back problems.
So, I would go with Sound Asleep for even weight distribution (you won’t sink to the middle) and a good pillow, take a look at those here https://www.bestairmattressguide.com/pillows/best-pillow-neck-pain-top-5/
I would like an air bed approximately 36 inches high — who is the manufacture?
Hi William,
Are you sure we are talking about height, because that seems extreme. The highest air mattresses I know are luxury ones like the Innomax Medallion you can see here https://www.bestairmattressguide.com/air-mattress/innomax-luxury-support-medallion-air-bed-review/
I hope this helps
Hello, My wife and I are plus sized people. I weight about 300 lbs, she is about 175. We like queen size when we go camping, but we have trouble finding ones that will keep air over the long term. We go through 1-2 a year. Want one for 5-10 years. What brands/beds do you suggest for plus sized people.
Hi Reed,
Thanks for reaching out. My best bet in your situation would be the Sound Asleep Dream Series. However, I have to say that these are not designed for everyday for two plus sized persons and to be honest, I don’t see you getting 10 years out of it. My estimate is that 2-3 is the best you can hope for.
I hope this helps and do let me know how it works out
One question, after thanking you for doing all that for us; I don’t see any info about weight capacity of bed user once inflated. There must be one. Would I find that anywhere? The one link to sell didn’t provide it.
Big issue, pardon my pun.
Hi Sherry,
I understand and I agree that it’s an issue. When I review a mattress I try to be as detailed with information as I can. My first step is to provide the information if it’s in the company listed.
If not, I phone the companies trying to get unofficial info about the weight limit. Sometimes this works but often they just don’t provide it.
In these situations there is nothing I can do but use subjective experiences of other users and use those to rate the mattress for durability. Now, I know that’s not specific but if I don’t have the information it is the best I can do.
if there is a specific question about a specific model you might have, please feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to help…
Thanks
GREAT STUFF!!!!!!!
Here is a thought you might consider: the number of air mattresses that are offered for RESALE ON AMAZON.
It might correlate with lack of failure(non-resalability!) I also noticed that most of the beds pictured look like they came off the same assembly line (from China I would guess) in that the air components look in the exact same locations in different “Brands” that should be made by different companies.
So, since mine “Intex branded” model 67710 size queen is so poor that it started to fail along the bottom seam and has had to be patched numerous times along the failure line, and has NO WARRANTY when i called INTEX.
This means that the company that manufactured it AND ALL THE OTHERS cares NOTHING ABOUT QUALITY or customer care. The failed seam is where the middle of the mattress by height is.
Poor craftsmanship makes me angry! Intex should care.
I DO NOT SUGGEST ever buying INTEX AT ALL! Also, I would like to see post mortem measurements of component thicknesses and conclusions VS delivered cost.
Also, a list of beds and brands by each manufacturer …
I hope this helps.
BTW Awesome job!
Thank you very much Glenn, I’ve been developing the rating method and tested a few so far to come up with the formula I am using right now.
Some great thoughts in your comment, I will definitely look into how I can include this into the ratings (especially the resale numbers, great idea there). There’s a lot of variables to stay on top of. especially what’s made where. That’s exactly why I’ve included two different parts in my final rating formula – all time rating and the rating for the last three months.
I do have contacts in the industry and I most of the time I know when somebody poorly outsources something, but there’s no replacing customer experiences.
Anyway, I’m always looking to improve my rating methods and my website overall. Your suggestions are great and are going straight to my list of ideas for the website improvement.
Thanks you kindly