The Purple Mattress reviewed

The Purple Mattress is the model the brand started with, and it is still the cheapest Purple with a comfort foam layer under the GelFlex Grid. The build is short: 2 inches of grid on top, 3.5 inches of comfort foam, a 4-inch base foam and a band of edge support foam, for 9.25 inches (23 cm) in all.

The grid is what you feel first. Its square columns fold under a shoulder or hip and stay upright under your waist, so you get pressure relief without the slow, sinking hug of memory foam. Purple calls the result medium firm, and we place it at 6 on our 1 to 10 scale. Back sleepers get the most out of it, and so do combination sleepers, because the grid springs back the moment you turn and never holds you in a dip. Lighter side sleepers usually find enough give at the shoulder.

Because the grid is open, air moves through it, and this bed runs cooler than most all-foam mattresses at its price. Motion barely travels across it, which helps couples with different schedules.

The weak point is depth. With only 9.25 inches and no springs, heavier sleepers can push through to the base foam and are better served by the Purple Restore Hybrid, which puts the same grid over 8-inch coils. A Queen costs $1,599 at list price on purple.com, with a 100-night trial and a 10-year warranty.