We are extremely hands-on when testing the firmness and feel of each mattress.
Our nine mattress experts have been testing and reviewing mattresses for years. From beds to travel pillows to headphones for sleepingwe have an overall experience. At this point, our team has collectively tested around three hundred mattresses. Along the way, we've established a methodology for testing every mattress in our Reno testing facility.
Read more: Here's how we test the mattresses
Our team of experts includes people of different genders, body types and sleeping positions, which helps us to ensure that we represent all types of people.
Firmness
Firmness is one of the most important factors we need to review a mattress for you. During testing, we evaluate and record two hardness ratings: subjective and objective. On subjective hardness is our team's experience with the bed. When I'm lying on the bed, I test it in every sleeping position and notice how it feels on my back, hips and stomach. The whole team does this, and we rate the bed.
After the team tested and found the subjective rating of the mattress, CNET uses the 9000 mattress for an objective score. This impressively orange machine objectively measures how firm a bed is based on the strength of a 160-pound person.
Motion isolation
Testing the motion isolation with a glass of water on the end and flipping it around. It passed.
Motion isolation describes how well the bed reduces movement across the surface. If you sleep with another person who moves around a lot or have a furry friend who jumps on and off the bed, you know how important motion isolation is.
We test motion isolation in two ways. First I lie down on the bed and close my eyes. Then a teammate moves around on the bed next to me, varying the degree of movement to get the full picture. Second, we do the water test, which involves rolling towards and away from a glass of water on the edge of the bed. We note how much the water moves and whether the glass is tipped over.
Edge support
The edge support is the strength of the perimeter of the bed. This is a huge factor if you are like me and tend to sleep on the edge of the bed. To test the edge support, we sit and lie on the edge of each bed and test and rate how much it sags.
Temperature
How well a bed regulates temperature is especially important for hot sleepers. To ensure consistency, all CNET mattress testing takes place in a temperature-controlled room. In addition to evaluating our first-hand experience with the bed, we also examined its construction to determine if any cooling properties were included.