We Spent 100+ Hours Reviewing Dozens of Air Mattresses. Here are the Best.
Air mattresses are ubiquitous and yet overlooked. We all need them, yet we never think about them.
So it seems like a good night’s sleep is worth some investigation. Our team has now spent more than 120 hours (not counting sleep time) testing, researching, and reviewing the best air mattresses on the market. No matter what your need for an air mattress, read on for this comprehensive guide to getting the best.
AT A GLANCE: Our Top 3 Best Air Mattresses (Read below for the full guide)
| Best All-Around | Intex Comfort Plus | Buy Now |
| Best for Camping | Coleman SupportRest Double High | Buy Now |
| Best Value | Soarz Inflatable Blow Up | Buy Now |
The importance of selecting the right air mattress
There’s a wide range of air mattress options available on the market, so it truly does pay off, in the long run, to know what your primary use is, as well as your budget. The more you intend for people to sleep on your airbed, the more you’ll want to invest in comfort and durability.
So—consider what you’re going to use it for primarily: camping, temporary guests, or a permanent fixture?
Challenges associated with air mattresses
Buying an air mattress can be more challenging than buying a traditional bed. If you don’t have a full time or permanent place allotted for its use, you’ll want to be wary of buying a lower quality model. Why’s that? Because the more you move it around, the more you risk damaging it!
Air mattresses are inflatable, meaning the risk of developing an air leak is always a concern. Many models are very susceptible to things like pet claw punctures, sharp object tears, and seams ripping from too much tension from overinflation or external overload (for example, a person jumping or landing hard on the mattress).
How to think about choosing the right mattress for you
No matter what purpose you intend to use the air mattress for, you’ll clearly want something comfortable. If you intend to use it extensively, it makes complete sense to invest in the most comfortable option within your budget. The quality of any mattress greatly determines how well a person rests, and a good nights’ sleep is invaluable. It’s crucial to how well we function during our waking hours, making comfort a critical factor.
What about the size? If you have a spare room or area for visitors, but you don’t want that space filled up with a mattress when there are no guests staying, then you’ll want to ensure: a) you choose a mattress large enough to accommodate the person sleeping on it, AND b) small enough in size to fit into the area where it’s going to be put down. That’s why we recommend measuring the floor space out before buying anything.
Alright! With all of the above considerations in mind, let’s start reviewing the main factors you should judge an air mattress on before purchasing one.
What Matters in an Air Mattress? How We Chose The Best
Price
As with any purchase, the cost is always a prime factor. Consumers tend to “get what they pay for,” and spending a bit more upfront makes sense from a cost-effectiveness standpoint.
In the end, a high-quality air mattress is always a better value because it will not only last far longer, it’ll offer a better night’s rest for whoever is using it. And your guests will appreciate any investment which makes their stay more pleasant.
Comfort
Comfort is subjective. Think about the person who’ll be sleeping on it mostly, and consider their unique needs in regards to firmness. Some people swear by a firmer mattress, whereas others like one with a lot of “give.”
Even persons with back problems disagree about which is better for them because everyone is different! The great thing about an air mattress, however, is that firmness can always be adjusted.
Portability
Air mattresses were originally designed to be portable and easy to store, but how portable do you need yours to be? Portable doesn’t just mean being able to load it up into a vehicle to take camping, but also how easy (or not) it is to put into storage when it is deflated. Portability is also linked to durability, which is our next factor…
Durability
Made from urethane, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), latex, or nylon, air mattresses are relatively simple to inflate using a manual or electric pump. The more an air mattress is inflated and deflated, the more strain is placed on the seams. So it’s better to buy a good quality air mattress that’ll last for years rather than a low-quality one which will have to be replaced due to wear and tear relatively soon. After all, it doesn’t take much to puncture or split the seam of a low-quality air mattress.
Customer Satisfaction Ratings
Why do consumers ever go into a store and simply base their purchase decisions on the exterior marketing photos or product descriptions on the packaging? There are no reasons to do that when the internet is filled with reviews for virtually everything sold on the market today.
Carefully reading customer satisfaction reviews from people who’ve already bought a specific air mattress can often tell us far more than a box ever will. In fact, we’ve spent more than 70 hours reading air mattress reviews, so you don’t have to!
The Top 10 Best Air Mattresses
To help you narrow down your search, we put together a list of the best air mattresses for typical consumers. This means we aimed to find a broad range of options that are affordable yet high quality, rank well in each of our above factors, and feature the most positive customer reviews and the least complaints.
We’ll summarize what customers like most about each model on our list, and balance that with at least one commonly-referenced drawback. However, no model is perfect and dissatisfied customers are more likely to leave a review than happy ones. So please keep in mind that some drawbacks listed could be attributed to a consumer not having selected the right mattress for their specific needs in the first place.
Okay, let’s dive in!
Intex Comfort Plush Airbed
The Comfort Plush is an elevated offering from Intex’s popular Dura-Beam series. The queen mattress raises 22” off the ground and has a built-in electric pump for easy inflating. Constructed with 16-gauge vinyl on the sides and a sturdier 20.8 gauge on top, the mattress is covered with waterproof flocking and is rated for up to 600 lbs. All-in-all, it’s a popular and affordable option.
Coleman SupportRest Double High Airbed
Made for indoor or outdoor use, this queen airbed features a soft velvety plush top, 27 comfort coils for extra support, and a patented AirTight system to keep it leak-free. It’s also designed to be simple to fold and roll-up after deflation, for easy transport or storage. Coleman’s SupportRest also has a reinforced construction, making it rugged and ready to travel anywhere. Great for folks on the go!
AirExpect Airbed
Filled with 40 Duracoils for firmness and spinal support, the multipurpose queen size AirExpect has a 650-pound capacity and comes with a built-in 120V pump with a control dial. It also has an anti-skid base and a nice, thick waterproof quilt top, double-layered for durability. This airbed has a very high customer satisfaction percentage and offers a two-year warranty as well. Can’t beat that!
SoundAsleep Dream Series
The queen-sized SoundAsleep Dream is built for in-home use and features “double height” and 40 internal air coils for more durability and body support. It’s got a Sure-Grip bottom to keep it from sliding around, is made to be resistant to punctures, and has an extremely easy to use internal pump capable of inflating or deflating the airbed in 4 minutes.
King Koil Luxury Raised Airbed
Another airbed with an extremely high customer satisfaction ratio is King Koil’s California King luxury mattress. 20” high, this airbed is made from thick PVC, has a high output built-in pump, and advanced tech air coils plus internal layering to increase body support and spinal alignment. In fact, King Koil states they sell the only airbeds endorsed by the International Chiropractors Association!
Air Mattress Best Choice
The Air Mattress Best Choice really does look like a traditional bed with its included hypoallergenic topper and skirt. It’s made of vinyl reinforced with nylon laminate to increase durability, which also makes it a lighter weight overall. The powerful built-in pump quickly inflates and deflates the mattress, which is rated for 600 lbs weight capacity.
Lazery Sleep Air Mattress
Lazery Sleep boasts that it has “the most advanced air mattress on the market.” Made strictly for home use, their queen mattress inflates quickly with an integrated air pump made to be 20% quieter than competing products. Inside are 40 coils designed to provide whatever level of firmness one desires, from soft plush to extra firm—and all easily set using a remote control! Rated to hold up to 500 lbs, the Sleep is puncture-resistant and has a 100% satisfaction warranty for a full year.
Coleman Airbed Cot
The Airbed Cot is, as the name implies, an air mattress resting atop a foldout steel frame cot. It even comes with pullout side tables! The full height of the bed is 22” and it is capable of holding up to 600 lbs. With its patented AirTight and Double Lock systems in place, this Coleman airbed was engineered to be leak-free. Its ComfortStrong coils provide solid comfort, while the included battery-operated pump allows for easy inflation in any situation (except when you don’t have batteries).
Fox Airbeds – Plush High Rise Air Mattress
Fox doesn’t mind letting shoppers know they’ve got the Top Rated Air Bed with a “94% recommended” rate. Much of that satisfaction comes from the quality of comfort reported. Designed to allow air to flow throughout their entire surface, these airbeds also feature stable edges that don’t cave in easily. They’re constructed using much thicker vinyl than average and have strong seams allowing for greater weights (up to 750 lbs for the queen-size). The Plush High Rise also has a built-in pump, which should be expected in this price range.
Soarz Inflatable Blow Up Mattress for Guests
This popular Soarz model is protected by a 3-year warranty and boasts one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings of any air mattress we’ve reviewed. The compact design makes it ideal for apartments and condominiums where compact space can constrain hosting guests overnight.
Summary
Air mattresses are hardly a new invention. In fact, one of the earliest mentions of the concept was in Konrad Kyeser’s 1405 treatise on military warfare. For an army on the move, an inflatable bed makes a lot of practical sense! But as we’ve seen, today’s air mattresses have evolved into products that can not only be used for camping excursions but also for valued house guests and even to substitute traditional mattresses as one’s permanent bed. The only trick is doing your homework and deciding what’s right for you.
We hope our suggested consideration factors prove to be useful as you think about your options. There are hundreds of air mattresses out there besides the ones recommended in our list. Those are all highly-ranked among consumers if you’re ready to buy.