Saatva HD Mattress review: The first bed I've felt truly comfortable on as a plus-size person
Saatva is known for its luxurious materials, free home set-up, and generous trial and warranty policies. The Saatva HD is designed to support sleepers ranging from 300 to 500 pounds. After sleeping on the mattress for over a month with my partner, both of who are larger individuals, I can confidently say that it's made me a believer in mattresses designed for heavy people.
Design
The Saatva HD is a hybrid, combining the best qualities of foam and innerspring mattresses for a blend of comfort, support, and breathability. It follows a design similar to its flagship mattress, the Saatva Classic, but with more durable materials. It has seven distinct layers. From top to bottom, these layers are: a three-inch pillow top cover for a cushiony feel, an inch of zoned latex with extra support for your back, an inch and a half of contouring foam that molds to your body, two inches of comfort foam for a cushioned feel, individually wrapped steel coils surrounded by foam rails for extra body support and edge support, and two inches of base foam.
The mattress is made for people weighing between 300 and 500 pounds, so each design aspect supports heavy bodies. The foams, for example, are high-density, so you won't have to worry about your mattress sagging. The coils are also made with 14-gauge tempered recycled steel, a half-inch thicker and more durable than the coils in the Saatva Classic. The foam rails around the coils are six inches for extra edge support. With its intentional design, extra layers, and strong materials, the mattress can withstand a combined weight of 1,000 pounds.
The Saatva HD is CertiPur-US and GreenGuard certified, which means it's made with safe foams and doesn't contain harmful pollutants. It's available in all standard sizes, plus full, split king, and California king.
Delivery
Saatva offers free white glove delivery for all mattresses. The mattresses are made-to-order, and the lead time is about two weeks. Once the mattress was ready for delivery, I received a call to schedule my delivery, which I set for the following week. The delivery crew removed my old mattress and box spring and set up my Saatva HD within 15 minutes. I'm grateful for this service because this is a hefty mattress — the king size weighs in at 169 pounds.
Comfort
My partner and I, both of us large people, run the gamut of sleep types. I sleep on my stomach but sometimes gravitate toward my side, whereas he's a true back and side combination sleeper. Despite our different sleep styles, we both found this mattress to be incredibly comfortable. I weigh about 350 pounds, and he's lighter than I am, but we were both happy sleeping on the Saatva HD in our preferred sleep position.
I rate it as a six out of 10 in terms of firmness, which puts it at medium-firm. Many plus-size mattresses can feel too firm, but this wasn't the case with the Saatva HD. When I sleep on my side, I feel the mattress contour to my body, sinking just right to support my hips and chest while cradling my waist. When lying on my stomach or back, I sink in just enough to feel comfortable without feeling stuck in the bed.
The mattress exhibited excellent pressure relief and kept my spine aligned, as it nicely molded to my body. When using the Mattress Checker app, I only noticed a small curve in my back.
I also don't usually suffer from back pain, but I regularly go to the gym, which can sometimes make my body achy and sore. I never had trouble falling or staying asleep, even after a particularly tiring workout, or woke up with back, hip, or neck pain..
There was also a noticeable difference in my sleep quality when sleeping with the Saatva HD. I went out of town during the testing period and slept at a hotel. Before using the Saatva HD, I had never really noticed a real difference between my mattress at home and a hotel mattress. During this trip, though, I felt noticeably sorer and more tired the next day. I also woke up multiple times throughout the night trying to get into a comfortable position. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to return home and be reunited with my Saatva HD once our trip was over.
Heat dissipation
Good heat dissipation keeps you cool overnight if you're a hot sleeper like me. To test heat dissipation, I took the mattress's temperature three times with an infrared thermometer: before lying down, immediately after waking up in the morning, and two minutes after getting up. I repeated this process for three mornings and took the average of the numbers.
On average, the mattress was 72.8 degrees Fahrenheit before lying down, 81 degrees immediately after waking up, and 74.5 degrees Fahrenheit two minutes after getting out of bed. For reference, the median temperature after getting up is 89.5 degrees Fahrenheit, so this mattress sleeps significantly cooler than other mattresses.
Subjectively, I was comfortable using this mattress when testing. The mattress is not cool-to-the-touch — the cover is made of cotton, meaning it's naturally breathable, but it doesn't incorporate special cooling gels or materials to actively lower the surface temperature. I also never felt like I overheated at night. It's a good choice if you're a hot sleeper, but I would pair it with cooling sheets if you like a noticeably cool feel.
Edge support
Edge support refers to how secure you feel lying or sitting on the edge of the bed, and can make it easier to get in and out of bed or sit. It is particularly important if you sleep with another person to increase the usable surface area.
To test edge support, I sat on the edge of the bed and used a ruler to measure how far the mattress sank. I also slowly rolled off the side of the mattress to see how far I could go before falling off the bed.
The Saatva HD sank 3.5 inches when I sat on the edge, which is average compared to other mattresses. For my second measure, I was almost parallel to the floor before I rolled off. In my experience using the bed, I had no problems with edge support. I always feel supported and stable, whether lying near the edge or sitting to put my socks on in the morning.
Motion isolation
Good motion isolation ensures you won't feel your sleep partner or pet's movements at night. To test motion isolation, I place a soda can in the middle of the bed and drop a 20-pound weight six inches away from it five times, watching to see if it tips over. Additionally, I drop the weight on one side of the bed with a vibrometer placed on the other side and record the level of vibration.
As I was testing, I was impressed with how the mattress absorbed movement. The soda can barely moved and never once tipped over. The vibrometer picked up low readings.
Subjectively, I was impressed with the Saatva HD's motion isolation. My partner and I are restless sleepers, and neither of us awoke at night because of the other's movements. We don't notice when our dog jumps on or off the bed, either. The Saatva HD's excellent edge support and motion isolation make it an excellent choice for couples, especially if both people are plus-size.
Trial period and warranty
Saatva has one of the longest trial periods of 365 nights to try the mattress. If you aren't happy with your mattress during the trial, you can return it for a refund minus a $99 processing fee, which covers the pickup process. Saatva does require you to sleep on the mattress for at least 30 days before initiating a return.
All Saatva mattresses come with a lifetime warranty that protects you from any manufacturing defects or flaws that arise during your ownership of the bed. Saatva will replace your mattress for a $99 processing fee for the first two years. After the first two years, you'll pay a $149 processing fee, and Saatva will repair your mattress. You can also buy a replacement mattress at a discounted price after two years.
Cons to consider
I loved the Saatva HD; it performed well in all our tests, making it difficult to find cons. While minor, it's important to note that this mattress is extremely heavy. I'm already nervous about transporting it the next time I move. I also use sheet straps on my bed to keep my fitted sheet snug on my mattress, and I found it difficult to put them on alone since the mattress is difficult to lift. Keep this in mind if you live alone or move frequently.
What are your alternatives?
The best mattress for heavy people in our best mattress guide is the Big Fig Classic Mattress. At $1,899 for a queen, it's significantly more affordable than the Saatva HD. It's also a seven out of 10 on the firmness scale, so if you like a firmer mattress, this is the one for you. It can support up to 1,100 pounds of weight. The bed ships in a box, but you can purchase white-glove delivery for a fee. The sleep trial is 120 days. Read our Big Fig review for more details.
If you're a plus-size sleeper but still prefer a mattress with a softer feel, the Titan Plus Luxe combines support for bigger bodies with a pillowy feel. It lacks edge support, but only costs $1,599 for a queen. Read our Titan Plus Luxe review.
Saatva also offers another mattress that is plus-size friendly, the Saatva Solaire, which has fully adjustable firmness, and could be a good investment if you and your partner have vastly different builds or sleep preferences. It can support up to 800 pounds per sleeper for a combined weight capacity of 1,600 pounds, meaning it can support heavy bodies. Read our Saatva Solaire review for more information.
The bottom line
I wholeheartedly recommend the Saatva HD for plus-size sleepers. With its supportive comfort and durable build, I think it's one of the best mattresses for heavy people. Since it performed well in our tests for motion isolation and edge support, it's also a great choice for couples.
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