Saatva Classic Mattress Review
This innerspring mattress offers great support, but be ready to be jostled if your partner tosses and turns
By Joanne Chen
The Saatva Classic is a traditional innerspring mattress sold by an online company. When you order from Saatva, you get a sturdy steel-coil-base mattress delivered by movers—no box, no need to wait for it to expand—while also enjoying the conveniences of a web-based mattress seller (like free shipping and a generous trial period).
In our lab tests a few years ago, the Saatva Classic in Luxury Firm (essentially, the line’s “medium”; there are also Plush Soft and Firm options) offered particularly nice support for side and back sleepers of average sizes, without too much firmness. There’s some motion transfer, though, so if you’re easily woken up by a partner’s movements, you’re better off looking elsewhere.
Saatva Classic Luxury Firm Eurotop
Notable Features
This direct-to-consumer innerspring comes ready-to-use via movers, so you don’t need to struggle with unboxing and unfurling it (something rarely as fun in real life as it looks on TikTok). And you can use it right away, without waiting hours or days for your bed to puff up to its full size and for the “new mattress smell” to dissipate.
Unlike other popular mattress-in-a-box brands, Saatva returns are not completely free. While the company will pick up your mattress and send you a refund if you don’t like it within the 365-night trial window, you’ll be charged a $99 “processing” fee. (This is still cheaper than penalties you’ll find in typical walk-in store policies, however.)
Despite the Saatva Classic being described as a “hybrid innerspring” on the company’s website, I’ve found, by sleeping on it at home, that our mattress actually feels like a traditional innerspring. It has very little of the hugginess you’d expect from a hybrid mattress, which usually incorporates thicker layers of foam.
Our 2017 lab tests found that an older version of the Saatva Classic in Luxury Firm provided terrific support for almost all sleepers. The exceptions were petite side sleepers and large back sleepers, who experienced only average support. We haven’t lab-tested the current Saatva Classic, but as a 5’7”, 128-pound side sleeper, I’ve found it to be nicely supportive yet cushy during my evaluation at home.
Is the Saatva Classic a Good Mattress?
Whether a mattress is a good choice for a particular person is largely subjective—one person’s dream can be another’s nightmare. From an objective standpoint, though, the Saatva Classic is a moderately priced mattress that offers a little extra, including a padded quilted organic-cotton cover, a Eurotop (a pillowy layer sewn just under the surface of the mattress), a natural (thistle pulp) flame barrier, and, arguably, a more “luxe” look than a lot of the mattresses you’ll find online for the same price (those typically being all-foam or hybrid mattresses zipped into socklike covers).
When our lab tested the Luxury Firm version of this mattress in 2017, it earned a top score for durability. We haven’t yet repeated the tests on the latest iteration of the Saatva Classic, but because the design is similar, with the same steel-coil base, we think it should hold up similarly. Nevertheless, it’s always smart to rotate your mattress every six months to avoid body impressions, especially if you have a heavier build. Handles on this mattress, a somewhat rare feature in online offerings, make moving it easy.
I purchased the 2021 version for my home, and I found that the edge support is fantastic; I’m able to sleep all the way on the perimeter (or sit on it to put on socks) without sliding down.
The queen-size mattress consists of two layers of coils—884 smaller coils that, along with the Euro top and memory foam layer, provide curve-conforming pressure relief; 416 larger coils beneath provide the support. These coils (14.5 gauge and 13 gauge, respectively) are thick and sturdy. Unfortunately, the bottom support coils aren’t individually wrapped. This was also the case in 2017, which may explain why the mattress received only a middling stability score in our lab tests. At home, I felt quite a bit of motion transfer across the mattress when my kid pounced on it.
Certainly you’ll find innersprings with more-premium materials—latex instead of memory foam, tufting, and support coils in higher counts and individually pocketed, for instance. Most will cost considerably more, though a couple of online boxed mattresses in our ratings are exceptions, including the Avocado Green Mattress and The Winkbed Luxury Firm Hybrid Mattress. I’ve tested those in the past and found that they felt firmer (the Avocado) or puffier (the Winkbed) than the Saatva. Owners of Saatva mattresses have told me they like the level of support and pressure relief that the Saatva’s particular blend of coils and comfort layers offers. Sleeping on it at home, I felt pleasantly “nestled” by the cushy top layers, yet supported and buoyed up by the springs. (Folks who are heavier or lighter than me may feel differently.) In our member surveys on brands of innersprings, Saatva received an above-average rating for owner satisfaction.
Who Is the Saatva Classic Mattress For?
From a support standpoint, average-sized back and side sleepers should do well with the Luxury Firm version of this mattress, according to our earlier lab tests. So should petite back sleepers and large side sleepers. People who want a medium- to medium-soft mattress are also likely to be happy with the Saatva Classic. (It landed a 3 out of 10 in our lab’s firmness test, with 10 being the firmest. At home, I found that the 2021 version feels firmer than you’d expect at first, then “breaks in” and softens a bit over the course of several weeks.) We haven’t evaluated the Plush Soft or Firm version of this mattress, but if you live near one of the company showrooms, it’s worth comparing all three before purchasing. Because of the motion transfer, this mattress would best suit those who have the bed all to themselves or those who don’t wake easily when a sleep partner changes positions.
How Consumer Reports Tests Mattresses
We test our mattresses in a lab, using scientific equipment and methods. To test for support (how well a mattress keeps your spine aligned as you sleep), we take measurements as small and large sleepers lie on their back and on their sides, the two most common sleep positions. We then make calculations based on this data to produce values for average-sized sleepers.
Manufacturers devise their own firmness scales, making it impossible to comparison-shop. That’s why we test firmness levels using an objective industry test standard that entails applying a steadily increasing load up to 1,000 newtons (4.4 newtons equal a pound) to each mattress. We then convert our results into a 1-to-10 scale, with 1 being the softest and 10 being the firmest, so readers can accurately compare the firmness level of each mattress in our ratings with another’s firmness.
We test durability with a machine that pushes and pulls a 300-plus-pound wood roller across the surface of the mattress 30,000 times—a simulation of a user sleeping on it for eight to 10 years. We also test for heat retention, stability, bounce resistance, ease of movement, and areas of high pressure (which make you toss and turn). We look at how well the surface conforms to different body parts, too.
For the Overall Score, we incorporate ratings for comfort and owner satisfaction, based on data from our member surveys. In these surveys, we ask members to rate their experience with mattresses purchased within the past decade—that’s close to 67,000 mattresses!
All scores are recorded on our product ratings pages—one for each of the models in our comprehensive mattress ratings. To read more about how to shop for a mattress, see our mattress buying guide. For help narrowing down your options, explore our interactive mattress selector tool.
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