Bear Mattress Review

Bear strives to provide athletes and active people with rejuvenating mattresses and accessories. Though the company launched in 2014, the family behind it has been in the mattress industry for more than 25 years.

Bear has every mattress made in the USA, with three mattress models for a sleeper to consider. There’s the original Bear Mattress, the Bear Pro, and the Bear Hybrid.

Bear offers the opportunity to bundle any of their queen or king size mattresses with two Bear Pillows and a Bear Mattress Protector for greater discounts. Customers can also choose to add on the Bear Foundation and Bear Frame or the Bear Adjustable Base. If you’re interested in an entirely new bed and not just a new mattress, a Bear Bundle is a great way to accomplish that and save money.

We cover all three models to help sleepers decide which, if any, is the best mattress for them.

Overview

The Good

• Celliant® cover encourages a deeper, swifter recovery as you rest.
• Gel memory foam conforms to the body and maintains a cool surface temperature.
• CertiPUR-US® and GREENGUARD Gold certifications establish strict production standards. Bear’s mattresses contain only trace amounts of VOCs for minimal off-gassing.
• Mattress bundles let you upgrade your bedroom at a discounted price.

The Not So Good

• Bear’s warranties require a significant amount of sagging before the company covers repair or replacement costs.

Bear Mattress Similarities

Bear’s three mattress models share some similarities when it comes to their construction. We dive into the details of the foam layers and other materials that make up each of the Bear mattresses.

Celliant® Cover — Every Bear mattress is encased in a fabric cover with Celliant® yarn. Research suggests that Celliant® fabric can promote greater sleep quality. For example, people may fall asleep faster when they rest on Celliant®. The Celliant® fabric also feels soft the second you lie down, encouraging a comfortable sleep.

Celliant® goes beyond wicking away body heat. After the Celliant® cover absorbs heat, the material converts it into infrared energy. The infrared energy penetrates the body, improving local blood flow. This increased circulation raises tissue oxygen levels for greater recovery.

The Bear Hybrid’s Celliant® cover is quilted with soft gel foam to create a plush medium feel.

Gel-Infused Memory Foam — Every Bear mattress has a layer of gel memory foam. The graphite gel infusion disperses body heat across the mattress for quicker dissipation. Traditional memory foam could retain too much body heat, so the gels ensure a Bear mattress doesn’t become a heat trap.

The memory foam molds to the body for pressure relief, ensuring a sleeper wakes up refreshed rather than sore. Memory foam also absorbs motion at the point of impact, keeping your every movement from traveling across the mattress and disturbing a partner’s rest.

Copper-Infused Foam — The Bear Pro mattress has a top layer of copper-infused foam. The copper infusion promotes “a cool and clean sleep” by establishing an environment hostile to microbes and viruses. Copper is also a good thermal conductor, wicking away body heat as you sleep.

Premium Comfort Foam — This memory foam-like material forms the comfort layer of the Bear Hybrid mattress. It contours to the body for pressure relief and supports sensitive areas such as the shoulders and hips.

Transition Foam — Bear consistently describes their transition foam as responsive, ensuring the bed reacts quickly to your every movement. Thanks to this adaptable poly-foam, you won’t sink in too far when you lie on top of the mattress. The lack of sinkage also makes it easy to move across the mattress’s surface.

However, the responsiveness this layer adds can work against your overall comfort. Reviewers have noted that two people lying on a Bear mattress would occasionally feel the other’s movements.

Support Foam — The poly-foam base layer of Bear’s all-foam mattresses encourages even support across the surface. The support foam doesn’t have firm edges, yielding to a person’s bodyweight if they try to sit on the side. However, the lack of edge support increases the size of the mattress’s sleeping area.

Coil System — Instead of Bear’s support foam, the Bear Hybrid contains bouncy pocketed coils. By encasing the coils in fabric, Bear limits the effects of motion transfer.

The coils support the mattress from one side of the mattress to the other, with stronger coils around the perimeter to establish edge support. Edge support makes it easier to move in and out of bed and prevents you from rolling over the side in your sleep.

The coils system rests upon a firm foam foundation, giving the coils a good surface to bounce off of.

The Basics — Every Bear mattress comes with a 100-night sleep trial and a mattress warranty. You must try the mattress for at least 30 nights before Bear will allow you to process a return.

• Bear has a 10-year warranty for its memory foam mattresses and a 20-year warranty for its Hybrid. The 10-year warranty covers any sagging exceeding an inch and any cracks or splits in the memory foam.
• The 20-year warranty covers sagging over 1.5 inches. The hybrid’s warranty is also prorated, meaning the customer is partially responsible for repair and replacement costs. The owner will pay at least 50 percent of the mattress’s original price, starting with their eleventh year of ownership.
• The Celliant® cover also has a one-year warranty, starting from the original purchase date. The cover’s warranty protects against manufacturing and quality defects.
• Bear relies on FedEx to deliver its mattresses. Shipping is free within the continental United States, with extra charges for deliveries to Alaska and Hawaii.

Every Bear mattress has its foams certified safe by CertiPUR-US®. CertiPUR-US® ensures foam is produced without:

• Ozone depleters
• Heavy metals such as mercury and lead
• Formaldehyde
• PBDEs, TDCPP, or TCEP flame retardants

The Bear Hybrid also has a GREENGUARD Gold certification, ensuring a minimal amount of chemical emissions. In other words, the Bear Hybrid is unlikely to emit an unpleasant new mattress smell.

Bear Mattress Comparison

We charted the main qualities and attached policies of Bear’s three mattresses. This way, you can understand their similarities and differences with just a glance.

Original Bear Mattress

On Bear’s website, it says their conforming and supportive foams mold to the body, minimizing pressure on “your back, hips and shoulders in any sleep position.” However, we recommend the mattress for back and combination sleepers. Side sleepers may find the mattress isn’t plush enough, while stomach sleepers may find the bed a touch too soft.

Back

Back sleepers should feel lifted when they lie on the Original Bear mattress. The memory foam comfort layer molds well to all of the spine’s curves, supporting the body and eliminating the pressure points that can cause back pain. However, petite sleepers under 130 pounds may find the mattress feels a tad too firm.

Side

The Bear Mattress’s memory foam top features a conforming cushion. However, the memory foam tends to keep you on top of the mattress rather than let you sink into it. The buoyancy is good for back and combo sleepers, but a side sleeper may wake up with stiff shoulders and sore hips.

Stomach

When you lie down on your stomach, you will feel yourself sinking into the top layer of memory foam. The firm transition layer keeps you from feeling stuck in your mattress.

While a stomach sleeper may not feel discomfort lying on the Bear Original mattress, they may still wake up with a bad back, particularly if they’re a heavyset person. However, lighter stomach sleepers may find the mattress does a good job of maintaining spine alignment.

Bear Pro

The Bear Pro has an added foam layer for a more luxurious feel. The copper infusion repels germs and viruses, making it a good choice for health-conscious sleepers.

Back

Back sleepers may find they sink a bit far into the Bear Pro’s thick comfort layers. The sinkage may not be enough to cause spinal misalignment, but it can leave back sleepers feeling stuck in their mattress.

Side

The Bear Pro’s added copper foam layer gives it a plush feel, creating an excellent memory foam mattress for side sleepers. The copper foam and gel memory foam layers cushion the hips and shoulders, relieving pressure and maintaining a neutral spine alignment.

Stomach

The Bear Pro’s two layers of comfort foams can cause discomfort for stomach sleepers. Gravity can push the belly and hips down into the mattress, causing the spine to overextend its natural alignment. Bear Pro owners are likely to wake up with a sore back after a night spent lying on their stomachs.

Bear Hybrid

Sleepers who love a bouncy mattress will likely gravitate toward the Bear Hybrid. Its buoyant nature makes movement simple, ideal for people who change positions as they sleep.

Back

The Bear Hybrid is another good mattress for back sleepers. The supportive coils make it easy to move about and change position, while the quilted foam top ensures there are no gaps between a person’s back and the mattress’s surface.

Side

The Bear Hybrid balances bounciness with a conforming cushion, establishing it as a good hybrid mattress for side sleepers. Side sleepers interested in a springy mattress that still cushions their hips and shoulders might benefit from sleeping on this hybrid.

Stomach

Stomach sleepers may find their hips and abdomen sink too far into the Bear Hybrid’s plush top layers. When the lower part of a stomach sleeper’s torso sinks too far into a mattress, the spine may be dragged out of its neutral alignment. Good mattresses for stomach sleeping often have a firmer feel than what the Bear Mattress can provide.

Bear vs The Competition

Zoma

• Zoma is another mattress brand that targets athletes and people with demanding, active lifestyles. Like Bear, Zoma’s founders draw upon decades of mattress-making experience.
• Zoma offers two mattresses, a three-layer memory foam model similar to Bear’s original mattress and a hybrid mattress. Zoma does not have a mattress comparable to the Bear Pro.
• Unlike Bear, Zoma sells a split king size mattress. While you can buy two twin XL mattresses from Bear if you wish to create a split king bed, it often costs less to purchase a proper split king mattress.
• Zoma’s fabric cover is AirCloth and lacks the special features of Bear’s Celliant® Cover.
• Zoma uses gel memory foam in its mattresses, just like Bear. Unlike Bear, Zoma’s gel memory foam contains unique Triangulex™ technology for increased cooling and contouring.
• Zoma also includes a responsive transition layer in their mattresses. Known as Reactiv™, the poly-foam mimics latex’s buoyancy to minimize sinkage.
• If you compare their prices by mattress size, a Zoma Hybrid is less expensive than a Bear Hybrid mattress. A Zoma Hybrid is a couple of inches thinner than a Bear Hybrid but offers a similar medium feel well-suited for back, side, and combo sleepers.
• Zoma’s and Bear’s mattress foundations and toppers have comparable prices, while Zoma’s adjustable beds and foam pillows cost less than Bear’s.
• Bear offers a few things Zoma does not, like a mattress protector, a mattress encasement, a bed frame, and a weighted blanket. Likewise, Zoma carries a body pillow, while Bear sells only standard head pillows.
• Zoma’s mattress warranty offers greater sagging protection. While Bear won’t repair or replace a mattress until indentations exceed an inch, Zoma will cover sagging beyond 0.75 inches. That 0.25-inch difference may not seem like much, but your mattress doesn’t have to sag a lot for you to wake up with a bad back.

Is Bear Right for You?

Bear has different mattresses suitable for back, side, and combination sleepers. Stomach sleepers may do well on the Bear Mattress but should reconsider purchasing a Bear Pro or a Bear Hybrid.

If you live on the East Coast, you may not have to buy a Bear mattress to try it out. Bear has an official showroom in New Jersey and partner stores in New York and Washington, D.C. You can lie down on the mattresses and see if they feel right for you.

Pros

• Bear produces excellent cooling mattresses, thanks to the heat-wicking infusions, airy foam design, and Celliant® cover the company uses.
• Bear’s mattresses feature excellent pressure relief and motion isolation. Sleepers prone to aches and soreness may find a Bear mattress allows them to wake up pain-free. Couples sharing a mattress should find their sleep unaffected by a partner’s movements.
• Competitive prices ensure a Bear mattress can fit into most sleeper’s budgets.
• The medium to medium-firm feels establish excellent mattresses for back pain.

Cons

• Limited range of firmness options. Sleepers interested in soft or firm mattresses will have to look elsewhere.
• Bear ships its mattresses through FedEx, which means they don’t deliver to places where FedEx doesn’t deliver.
• Bear’s mattress warranties aren’t as extensive as they could be. While a 10-year warranty and a 20-year prorated warranty are fairly standard, other brands offer superior sagging coverage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Bear Mattress need a box spring?

No, none of Bear’s hybrid or memory foam mattresses require a box spring. In fact, Bear strongly recommends against keeping any of their beds on a traditional box spring because the accessory does not create a surface with consistent support. Instead, choose a flat or slatted surface to keep the bed on.

Where are Bear mattresses made?

Every Bear mattress, from the cover to the foams or the coils, is made in the United States. Bear makes a mattress after you place an order, which means your mattress isn’t just sitting around in a box until you purchase it. Where the mattress will be delivered determines where Bear puts the mattress together, saving on shipping time.

Bear is headquartered in Hoboken, NJ.

How firm should a mattress be for a side sleeper?

A side sleeper usually shouldn’t sleep on anything firmer than a medium. However, some plus-size side sleepers may find a medium-firm mattress is comfortable.

When it comes to a mattress for side sleeping, most people find their perfect bed in the soft to medium range. If you’re a side sleeper interested in a Bear mattress, we would recommend the Bear Hybrid.

How big is an Alaskan king bed?

An Alaskan king mattress measures 108 inches by 108 inches. It’s one of many “oversized” mattress sizes.

Bear does not make Alaskan king size mattresses. The largest size that Bear sells is a standard king size mattress measuring 76 inches by 80 inches. If you are interested in an Alaskan king mattress, you may have to custom order one from a mattress manufacturer.

Do 2 twins equal a king?

No, two twin size mattresses do not equal a king size bed or any other mattress size. However, two twin XL size mattresses can be pushed together to form a king size mattress. This is known as a split king, and it’s a handy way for partners who disagree on a bed’s firmness to get a good night’s sleep.