CNET sleep team members and married couple, Dillon and Aly, embarked on a mattress testing journey to find the perfect bed for their contrasting sleep preferences. Dillon, a side sleeper, favors soft mattresses with pressure relief, while Aly, a stomach sleeper, prefers firmer options for spinal support. This difference in preference often led to “sleep divorce,” with one of them resorting to the couch. Their latest trial involved the Nectar Premier Hybrid, a medium-firm mattress from Nectar’s new line. Previous experiences with the Casper Snow Hybrid revealed their shared appreciation for the conforming sensation of viscous memory foam, influencing their decision to try the Nectar Premier.
Upon initial testing at CNET’s facility, the Nectar Premier Hybrid felt softer than its advertised medium-firm rating, aligning with Dillon’s desire for a softer mattress to alleviate arm and shoulder pain. In their home environment, the mattress felt closer to a medium firmness. Motion isolation tests, crucial for their shared bed and light sleep tendencies, revealed impressive performance for a hybrid mattress. The mattress’s “Cooling Top Cover,” while cool to the touch, lacked the intense cooling of beds with active cooling technology. Edge support, important for Aly due to their cat’s nighttime habits, appeared promising thanks to reinforced perimeter coils.
The Nectar Premier Hybrid’s sleek design and diamond-patterned cover appealed to the couple. Its 13-inch height offered the perceived luxury and durability they appreciated. Weighing 107 pounds for a queen size, it was lighter than anticipated, simplifying the moving process. The 2-inch support layer was particularly appealing to Aly, promising better spinal alignment for stomach sleeping. Acknowledging the multitude of factors affecting sleep quality, the couple focused their 30-night trial solely on the mattress’s impact. Their sleep goals included increasing their average sleep times closer to the recommended 8 hours for Dillon and 8.5 hours for Aly.
The 30-night trial yielded mixed results. Dillon loved the mattress, finding it incredibly comfortable for both side and stomach sleeping, and experiencing significant sleep improvement. Aly, however, found it too soft, lacking the necessary support for stomach sleeping. The softness even affected her side sleeping, leading to neck pain and frequent migrations to the couch. While Dillon appreciated the airy memory foam feel, Aly found the softness problematic, causing her to roll towards Dillon due to his greater indentation in the mattress. This constant sensation of being pulled towards him significantly disrupted her sleep.
Using a custom scoring system, Dillon rated the mattress highly, praising its firmness, feel, motion isolation, and brand policies, resulting in an overall score of 85/100. Aly, on the other hand, gave it a lower score of 62/100, citing the inadequate firmness, issues with motion isolation due to the softness, and a decline in her sleep quality. Dillon’s sleep data showed a dramatic increase in total sleep time, exceeding an hour per night. Aly’s data, however, indicated a slight decrease in total sleep. While her REM sleep increased, deep sleep decreased, a less desirable outcome.
The Nectar Premier Hybrid’s retail price of $2,196 is frequently discounted, making it a good value for its quality. CNET’s Mattress Smasher 9000 rated its firmness at 4.9/10, aligning with the team’s assessment of a medium firmness. Dillon and Aly perceived it as slightly softer, closer to a medium-soft. This discrepancy highlights the subjective nature of firmness perception. The trial reinforced the challenge of finding a mattress to suit both their firmness preferences.
Despite the mixed results, the Nectar Premier Hybrid impressed them with its quality, especially given its price point. The trial further clarified their individual needs and preferences, with Dillon favoring the airy memory foam and Aly desiring denser foam and firmer support. Dillon declared it his favorite bed thus far, while Aly felt compelled to continue the search for a mutually suitable mattress. Their quest continues with the Beautyrest Black Series Three, hoping to finally find the elusive “perfect” mattress.
The Nectar Premier Hybrid is recommended for those seeking a premium mattress at an affordable price, preferring an airy memory foam feel, primarily sleeping on their side or as a combination sleeper, and desiring pressure relief from a hybrid construction. It’s not recommended for those disliking memory foam, preferring very dense memory foam, wanting a bouncy mattress, or requiring significant support as a strict back or stomach sleeper. The 365-night trial period offers ample time to determine suitability, potentially uncovering a surprising preference for memory foam.
