Leesa is a popular foam mattress a quality sleeping experience for an affordable price.
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Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored review. All opinions and thoughts expressed within this review had no bias or outside influence. We may earn a commission on referred sales, but content integrity is our top priority.
Features
10″ construction made of 3 layers of foam which offers minimal motion transfer, breathability and body contouring to relieve pressure. Includes a 100-night free trial period.
Function
Nice balance between firm and soft. Contours to body types and sizes to relieve pressure. Results in minimal motion transfer. Breathability to ensure a cool sleeping environment.
Price
MSRP ranges from $595 (Twin size) to $1,195 (King/Cal King) although discount coupons and promotional bundled items are sometimes offered throughout the year.
Pros
- 10″ foam construction comprised of a 3 layer design
- Contours to any body type or size
- Minimal weight transferring among sleeping partners or pets
- Foam material is breathable allowing a cool feel even on a hot night
- No need for a traditional box spring
- 1 Leesa Mattress donated for every 10 sold
- Made in the USA
- Free shipping & returns
- In-home delivery and setup (optional add-on)
- 100 night free trial (return period)
Cons
- On the higher-end of foam mattress prices
- Box may be too bulky for smaller consumers to carry up stairs or into bedroom
- Box arrived rather beat up, but internal mattress wasn't damaged
- You'll likely need an additional mattress pad to further protect mattress
- Had a pretty notable manufacturing smell for the first 24-48 hours (went away after)
Price
Setup & Installation
Features
Performance
Review Verdict
Having had the ability to evaluate the Leesa mattress over an ample period of a few months, we think the Leesa is a great buy for the majority of consumers, but it will depend on your needs and budget.
The Leesa offers a nice balance between a hard and soft mattress then the Leesa. We found the feel to be enough that we didn't feel pressure on our body in a lying position, yet firm enough to be able to easily turn or reposition without feeling to sunk within the mattress.
If you are sharing a mattress with your partner or with pets, Leesa's foam design handles motion transfer well to help avoid disturbing others through regular sleeping movements. The foam also offers excellent ventilation and sleeps cold for those in warm climates.
4/5
A Great Buy
The Ideal Buyer
The Leesa mattress is an ideal purchase for someone looking for a foam mattress that has a good balance of softness to contour to your body to help relieve pressure points, yet firm enough to not feel like you are stuck sinking deep into the mattress.
It is ideal for those living in a hot climate as Leesa's foam design is very breathable and will allow air circulation throughout the mattress to retain a cool sleeping environment. You'll need a decent budget to afford a Leesa mattress, but all of their sizes are still more affordable than a traditional mattress of the same quality.
Given that we are a technology-based website, we understand that it may be a bit odd for us to be reviewing a mattress. However, like many different consumer markets, the mattress industry has been turned upside down. This is due to the increase of e-commerce sales over those which used to be dominated by traditional retail stores.
With this shift, many different mattress companies are coming out of the woodwork with exceptional digital marketing campaigns selling their foam-based mattresses directly to consumers through their e-commerce sites. This type of strategy allows them to cut out of the retail middleman, handle their own distribution and offer similar quality products at lower prices than their traditional brick-n-mortar competition.
Article Shortcuts (Jump To A Section)
Leesa Mattress Models, Sizes & Pricing
Notable Features
Ordering, Shipping & Installation
Design & Build Materials
Performance & Function
Review Verdict
Leesa Mattress Models, Sizes & Pricing
Like any other mattress company, Leesa sells multiple models offered in different size variants. Their base model and the one that we received for evaluation is dubbed the ‘Leesa Mattress’. Priced competitively, the base Leesa Mattress is the model is comprised entirely of layers of foam, and it is the mattress that they recommend for most consumers.
However, Leesa now sells a ‘Leesa Hybrid Mattress’ which is their luxury model (was previously known as the Sapira Hybrid). Unlike the traditional Leesa Mattress, the Leesa Hybrid Mattress harnesses a hybrid construction blending the use of both foam and conventional mattress springs.
While priced significantly higher, the Leesa Hybrid is said to offer ‘enhanced pressure relief’ and increases the edge-to-edge support. Keep in mind, all of our opinions in this review are based solely on the base Leesa Mattress.
Our design and performance opinions for the Leesa Hybrid Mattress would likely differ from our evaluation unit so take our review with a grain of salt if you are planning on buying this more premium model.
In both the base and luxury mattresses, Leesa produces six different sizing options. These mattress sizes range from a conventional ‘Twin’ to a ‘California King’ increasing in price for each step up in sizing.
Remember that jumping up a size from your current mattress can be costly not only in the actual mattress price, but you may need to replace or upgrade your bed frame as well as buy a new mattress cover, sheets, pillows or duvet.
The prices listed in the table below show the Leesa and Leesa Hybrid Mattresses MSRP, but keep in mind Leesa often runs promotional coupons or offers providing up to $150 off or some money off and a free accessory (such as a Leesa Pillow).
Leesa (Base Model) vs. Leesa Hybrid Mattress Pricing (MSRP)
Shipping and returns are both included free, but you’ll pay taxes depending on the state that you are in.*
Leesa Pricing vs. Competing Foam Mattress Brands (MSRP Comparison For Base/Original Model)
As you can see, the Leesa is in the middle to high-end range of foam mattress pricing. The Purple is higher in cost mainly because it isn’t a pure foam mattress and on top of foam utilizes their “comfort grid” which contains hyper-elastic polymer materials for added comfort.
On the other hand, the Casper is one of their closest competitors used to be the same price as the Leesa. However, despite being very similar to the Leesa in design and build materials, Casper's pricing has been raised, and now the Leesa is considerably more affordable.
Exclusive 15% Off Coupon For Leesa Products
Leesa was kind enough to supply us with an exclusive 15% off coupon for any readers who finish this review and want to give the mattress a try. For those looking to order a Leesa Mattress or any other Leesa accessory (including their pillow or mattress cover), then you can use the coupon code ‘thetechreviewer' during checkout to receive 15% off any future orders.
Notable Features: What To Expect With The Leesa Mattress
Leesa’s focus on being a consumer-friendly mattress that caters to all sorts of body types and sleeping styles while giving back to the community. Below are some of the notable features and design elements that you’ll find within Leesa mattresses:
Leesa Mattresses Are Made In The USA
This is an important issue to many Americans who feel that the movement of jobs and manufacturing overseas is bad for our economy. Leesa has confirmed that they produce their mattresses, foundations, blankets and the Leesa Pillow in the USA. However, the company does state their Leesa Hybrid Pillow and Leesa x Third sheets are produced overseas (China and Israel).
Leesa Offers A 100 Night Free Trial Offer (Return Period)
If you don’t have a West Elm close to you or you don’t want to hassle of having to drive there for testing, Leesa makes it easy to get a refund if you decide their mattresses aren’t for you. Included with every sale from Leesa.com, you get a 100-night free trial.
This sounds too good to be true, but I have heard many success stories from previous Leesa buyers who ultimately found the mattress either too forgiving/soft or too hard for their sleeping preferences.
Below you can review the fine-print for their return policy/100 night free trial:
“We're confident you'll love our products, but if you don't you have up to 100 nights to let us know.
Try your mattress for at least 30 nights. This allows your body ample time to adjust to the feel of a new mattress. If you decide the mattress isn't for you, we'll pick it up from your home then refund the full purchase price.*
*Alaska & Hawaii Customers: There is a $100 fee for mattress returns.”
With an offer like this, it takes away pretty much all of the risks in buying a mattress online and gives you the ability to see if it’s right for your sleeping needs after a decent sample size (at least 30 days of night’s sleep).
0% Affirm Financing Offers
Some of you have probably already heard of Affirm, but they are a large financing company that has partnered with many large brands and online retailers as of the last few years. They do a great job helping consumers get low or 0% interest rates on 6, 12 or 18-month financing for higher-ticket items such as a Leesa mattress.
If you have good credit, then you’ll likely qualify for 0% APR, but if you don’t, you’ll be subject to up to 30% APR which may not make the financing a worth-while option. You can order a Leesa mattress and choose ‘pay with Affirm’ at checkout to get a decision in real-time. We haven't personally used Affirm (nor did we use it for this review) although we have several friends and colleagues who have had great experiences using Affirm.
For some, it is a lot easier to pay a smaller fee (as low as $29/mo) monthly rather than having to dish out a large sum all at once. While the Affirm offer isn’t ideal for everyone, it is nice to see Leesa offering it especially with the native implementation into their checkout which relieves the hassle of applying for third-party financing.
Leesa Is Sold Both Online & In Select West Elm Locations
Most of the new-age foam mattress companies are selling their products exclusively through their online store. Leesa was one of these companies, but they have since partnered with the high-end furniture retailer, West Elm, who sells their mattresses for similar pricing both on their website as well as in select West Elm retail locations.
The primary benefit to this partnership is that you can shop for the best pricing or promotional offer between Leesa.com and WestElm.com (in most cases, direct from Leesa will be cheaper). You also may have the advantage of going to the closest West Elm location and get a chance to touch, sit or lay on a sample Leesa Mattress to get a feel for whether it is right for your preferences.
Unlike a lot of the foam mattress brands, Leesa also has partnered with Amazon to offer its high-quality mattresses through the popular e-commerce giant. The beauty of the Amazon partnership is the Prime shipping, however, the Amazon page does state that while it ships free: “This item takes longer than usual to ship due to its size and/or weight.”
Your best bet from a consumer perspective is to shop of the pricing between Leesa.com, West Elm and Amazon to see which retail option will give you the best price (after any eligible coupons) and also which will arrive the soonest via free shipping.
Leesa Offers Promotional Bundles & Savings Regularly
While we listed the MSRPs of Leesa mattresses above, the truth is you’ll often not be paying full price or at least if you are, the company will make up for it with free accessories. With the foam or “bed in a box” style mattresses being such a big market right now with lots of competitors, Leesa often runs promotional offers on their products to help win-over potential buyers.
For example, at the time of posting this article, Leesa is currently running a 10% off promotional pricing campaign plus including a free Leesa Memory Foam Pillow with every order. Now this promotion can end at any time, but chances are if it is, another promotion will replace it. However, the new promotion might not be as lucrative so there may be a benefit in acting fast if the promotional pricing/bundle looks like a good deal.
If you are an active duty military, retiree, veteran, military spouse, military family member, first responder, student or teacher then you may be eligible for a 15% discount. This discount requires verification on the checkout page.
Keep in mind, we have worked out an exclusive deal with Leesa to provide our readers with a 15% discount via the coupon code ‘thetechreviewer' applied at checkout.
Ordering, Shipment & Installation
Some consumers are wary about how difficult ordering a mattress online may be or how long it takes to receive the Leesa from shipment.
The ordering process from Leesa's website is just like any other e-commerce platform, and the platform is run off the popular Shopify platform. Upon adding a Leesa mattress to your cart, you’ll be hit with an up-sell pop-up which may be useful if you need a new base (you don’t need a box spring), but for most, you’ll just click the ‘No thanks, continue to my cart’ option.
At this point, you’ll have the Leesa Mattress in your cart and potentially a free Memory Foam Pillow if it is during the promotional period. Clicking the red ‘Checkout’ button will bring you to the checkout pages where you’ll input your payment information, shipping address, and contact email.
This is the area where you’ll place any Leesa mattress coupons that you may have or verify your eligibility for the Military, First-Responder or Teacher/Student discounts. If you want, they do offer support for Paypal and Amazon Pay which simplifies the checkout process even further.
Once the checkout process is complete, you’ll receive an order confirmation via email from Leesa with a receipt of purchase. From there, you’ll get a follow-up email when your Leesa Mattress ships along with any tracking information or delivery estimates.
Here’s the timeline from our experience from placing the order to receiving the physical Leesa mattress sample at my home:
Leesa Mattress Ordered Online
January 29th, 2019
Leesa Mattress Arrives At Our Doorstep
January 28th, 2019
Mattress Ships From Leesa Warehouse
February 4th, 2019
Unlike a traditional mattress which requires a complicated delivery and installation process, the Leesa ships in a much smaller box. The way that Leesa achieves this is by wrapping the mattress in plastic and has been vacuumed into a small cylinder-like shape. This type of packing method allows the Leesa to be shipped and delivered via UPS versus through a specialized freight company.
Our sample unit arrived at my doorstep in one piece, but the box was rather worn and torn. This is likely more of a UPS than a Leesa problem, but maybe Leesa could introduce a more durable shipping container to keep this from happening.
While the box wasn’t the most pleasant sight upon arrival, the Leesa Mattress itself was packed tightly inside with several layers of plastic allowing the mattress to remain unharmed. Depending on the size of the mattress, the box could still be large and heavy for the average person.
You may need to get the help of a friend or family member to lighten the load and help you carry the mattress’s contents into your home. Installing the Leesa mattress isn’t a hard process. You’ll have to remove the box and plastic wrappings from the mattress, then unravel it onto your bed frame.
Due to the nature of it being a foam mattress that was shriveled up into the cylinder shape, the Leesa will begin to unravel and re-adjust to its native rectangular form automatically. According to Leesa, you should give it at least an hour to expand fully and a few days to get to its natural firmness.
Design & Build Materials
Compared to a traditional spring-based mattress, the “bed in the box” style foam mattresses like the Leesa are significantly different. Due to the reliance on an internal foam structure, the mattress is much more flexible thus having the ability to be shipped to your doorstep in a traditional rectangular box.
With a mattress such as the Leesa, there is no internal springs or rigid components. Instead, the entire structure is made of three layers of foam laid on top of each other and then held together through a thin covering (this is different than the actual polyester mattress cover.
Keep in mind, Leesa's foam implementation was updated recently to further improve the feel and breathability so this review will discuss the current configuration:
Layer 1: Comfort Layer – LSA 200 Foam
The top layer is comprised of 2 inches of LSA 200 foam. This layer is designed to be highly responsive to the sleeper's body position offering pressure relief, especially for side sleepers.
Layer 2: Recovery Layer – Memory Foam
Moving to the middle layer, there is another 2 inches of memory foam. This further enforces the body contouring. Due to the middle position, it keeps sleepers from experiencing the usual trouble points of memory foam. These issues are commonly feeling too warm or sinking too deep into the material thus feeling “stuck”.
Layer 3: Foundation Layer – Dense Core Foam
The last layer in the foam combination is a 6-inch dense core foam which provides a rigid base. While this layer provides ample support, it allows your body to have a firm base layer of foam that gives the mattress structure while without the need for any springs.
Outer Layer – Polyester Blend Mattress Cover
While the blend of the three foam mattress components is held together by the thin lining material, there is a higher-quality mattress cover that ships on the Leesa. This cover is much thicker than the lining material and is exceptionally soft to the touch and breathable.
It has a subtle woven pattern on the mattress comprised of a light gray polyester blend. There are four large white strips of fabric that span across the entirety of the mattress horizontally.
Keep in mind, while this mattress cover is a removable and washable, it isn't necessarily the best option for protecting the interior of the mattress.
If you have pets who will be on your bed or younger children where spills or accidents may occur then we'd recommend a dedicated mattress cover or pad like you'd often get for a traditional mattress. Just be sure this cover is also very breathable or else it will affect the “cool” feel of this mattress.
Function & Sleep Performance
Since receiving the Leesa review unit, I have been sleeping on the mattress for the last 60 days. In the following sections, I'll cover the major impressions and observations left from the Leesa sleeping experience as well as
Stiffness – How Soft Does The Leesa Mattress Feel?
The feel of a mattress is something that not every consumer agrees upon for the “perfect” fit. Some people love sleeping on an ultra-soft mattress while others would rather it be very stiff.
In the case of the Leesa Mattress, I would rate the Leesa at a 5 out of 10 on the soft to hard scale. This is an ideal balance between the two extremes. It allows you to have a contoured sleeping experience without feeling like you have sunk too deep into the mattress.
It still has the feeling of sleeping on top of the mattress as opposed to feeling like you are sleeping into the mattress which is a feeling that sometimes happens when too much memory foam is used.
I'm a back/stomach sleeper so the softness was ideal for my needs and it feels like I'm weightless in bed. If you are a side sleeper, then there is a chance that you may find it is a bit too hard for your liking.
This doesn't mean you won't get body contouring, but some users have complained that the softness isn't adequate to relieve the pressure on your shoulders or hips for a side sleeper. Fortunately, you can test this out for yourself with no risks thanks to Leesa's 100-night trial period.
Edge Support – How Stable Is The Leesa's Edges?
When moving from a traditional spring-based mattress to foam, one of the most significant differences you'll notice right off the bat is the edge support. If you are someone that likes to sit on the side of your bed while you get dressed in the morning or for any other reason, then this may negatively affect you.
The edge support on the Leesa (just like pretty much any other foam mattress) isn't great. It lacks any rigidity in the sidewalls of the mattress, and you'll feel yourself sinking pretty dramatically into the mattress when compared to the top or middle of the Leesa.
Breathability: How Cold Does The Leesa Mattress Sleep?
I tested the Leesa Mattress at my home in sunny St. Petersburg, Florida where the temperatures at night remain significantly higher than a lot of the United States. Since I'm naturally someone who likes to sleep in a cold room, I've always struggled with the heat buildup and resulting hot feeling that a traditional mattress would result in.
Since switching to the Leesa, I can immediately tell the difference in the temperature of the mattress throughout the night. I no longer wake up feeling overheated or feeling like sweat.
However, this can change from my experience if you choose a thicker or less breathable mattress cover to go over the existing mattress cover for protection. I initially made this mistake, but when I realized the resulting negative outcome when it came to breathability, I quickly stopped using it.
The best way to protect your Leesa Mattress without sacrificing breathability would be from Leesa's native mattress protector accessory. While it isn't cheap with prices ranging from $69 to $89 (our 15% coupon works across Leesa's entire store), Leesa's protector is designed to be ultra slim with 5-sided moisture protection while still maintaining the feel and breathability of the mattress itself.
Motion Transfer: How Well Does The Leesa Mattress Curb Motion?
One of the largest advantages of a foam mattress is the way that it handles motion transfers. With a traditional spring-based mattress, it is not uncommon for you to feel when your partner or pet moves on the bed which can wake you or disturb your sleep. In some cases, the springs themselves may be audible, and you can not only feel, but you'll hear movement on the mattress.
With a foam mattress like the Leesa, the motion transfer is very minimal in and some cases non-existent. For example, I sleep at night with two Australian Shepherds who tend to reposition themselves a lot and one of them moves from the bed to the crate and back several times throughout the night.
Before sleeping on a Leesa, my traditional spring-based mattress would move considerably every time they repositioned or jumped up or off the bed. This took its toll on my sleep, and despite being a relatively deep sleeper, I still would get woken several times throughout the night.
Moving to the Leesa, the way it handles motions transfer has been phenomenal. Foam naturally absorbs the motions rather than transferring it across the remainder of the mattress. This allows you, your partner or your pets to not be bounced around from your movements and vice-versa.
Leesa Review – Final Verdict
The “bed in the box” mattress craze is in full swing, and Leesa's mattress offerings are some of the best value on the dollar in the current market. Leesa's approach with a combination of three differing foam types mixed with an ultra-soft polyester mattress cover makes for a great sleeping experience.
If you are looking for a middle of the road foam mattress from a reputable manufacturer (which gives back to the community) and want a medium softness, high breathability and a low motion transfer than the Leesa mattress is a model that you should seriously consider purchasing.
