Should I buy the Purple Plus mattress?

Does the Purple Plus mattress offer strong pressure relief?

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

The Purple Plus mattress launched in August 2021, as a more advanced version of the brand’s original model (which you can read about in ourPurple Original mattress review).

We’re big fans of the Purple Plus, including it in ourbest mattressesselection, and it’s also a great choice if you’re looking for thebest mattress for side sleepers. The unique Purple Grid also helps to make Purple’s mattresses some of thebest cooling mattressesavailable. But is it the right mattress for you?

In this guide we’ll look at the mattress in detail, covering factors such as price, comfort, support and quality so that you can decide if it’s the right choice for you. The feel of the Purple Plus is very different to that of thebest memory foam mattresses, but it is styled in a similar fashion. Let’s take a look in more detail.

Purple Plus Mattress at a glance

Made from a combination of foams, combined with Purple’s proprietary Purple GelFlex Grid, the Purple Plus mattress offers a unique feel that’ll suit a wide variety of sleepers. Purple mattresses have a unique feel, managing to be both firm and soft at the same time. All this means that sleepers are well supported and that the mattress offers excellent pressure relief.

Type:Foam and gel gridTrial period:100 daysWarranty:10 yearPrice:$1499 – $2498 (RRP)Height:11 inchesFirmness (1-10):6.5 (Medium Firm)User review rating:4.4/5

The Purple Plus is one of those rare mattresses that will suit allsleeping styles, from back, side, front and through to combo. We do think that sleepers over 230lb are likely to find it too soft though. It’s a great choice for those who share their bed with a restless sleeper as motion transfer is almost non-existent. And it’s also an excellent mattress for those who sleep hot, with the proprietary grid material containing thousands of cooling air holes to promote airflow. It’s certainly not the cheapest mattress on the block, and edge support is a little disappointing, but there’s an awful lot to recommend the Purple Plus.

Purple Plus Mattress: Prices and deals

We’d place the Purple Plus mattress in the lower end of the luxury market and the mattress is around $400 - $500 more than the Purple Original. It’s competitively priced compared to many of its closest rivals though, and extremely cheap for a mattress that offers such good cooling. Let’s look at the prices in more detail:

Purple mattress dealsaren’t quite as ubiquitous as with somemattress sales, but they do happen, andPurple promo codescan help you save, too. There’s currently $200 off the Purple Plus in all sizes, for example; it’s not as enormous a discount as you might find with other brands, but still worth having. Keep an eye out for thePresidents' Day mattress salesin February, as that’s likely to be your next opportunity for a big saving.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

Purple Plus Mattress: Design and materials

The Purple Plus mattress has a total of six layers. At the top is a breathable softflex knit breathable cover, followed by two inches of Purple GelFlex Grid. This is Purple’s proprietary elastic polymer, which feels like gel and is both flexible and quick to spring back into shape. The open structure allows air to flow through the mattress and prevents heat from building up.

(The bouncy grid appears in almost all of Purple’s products, even its pillows – read ourPurple Harmony Pillow reviewto see how it’s used there.)

Underneath the grid is two inches of Premium Comfort Foam, which gives the mattress stability but also adds support for sleepers. It also responds quickly to movement. The mattress is finished off by a three-layer Premium Foam Base that gives the bed structure, as well as adding comfort and support. The Purple Plus also has foam rails around the edges to make it easier to get in and out of bed, as well as adding support right up to the edge of the mattress. Edge support still isn’t great unfortunately.

All the foams used in the Purple Plus mattress are CertiPUR certified, meaning they’re free from harmful chemicals and heavy metals, as well as being environmentally friendly. Like most mattresses containing foam and arriving compressed, the Purple Plus will emit a slight smell when first unboxed, known asoff-gassing. This is not harmful and should dissipate quickly, particularly if you open a window.

Purple Plus Mattress: Comfort and support

The unique feel of the Purple GelFlex Grid means that this mattress feels both soft and firm at the same time. We’ve rated it a 6.5 (out of 10) but we’d say it feels more like a 6 under the arms and legs and a 7 for the spine and lumbar region. This is due to the flex of the gel layer, which provides great pressure relief at all the usual points (shoulders, hips, spine and knees). Customers who’ve purchased the Purple Plus rave about the support from the mattress – in particular how much it’s relieved their pain (you’ll find it in outbest mattress for back painranking) and how cradled they feel by the grid. There’s certainly nothing quite like it on the market.

This is a great choice for all styles of sleepers, although we think side and back sleepers will be particularly happy on it. We wouldn’t recommend it for sleepers over 230lbs though, as it’s unlikely to offer enough support.

Temperature regulation on the Purple Plus is excellent, with even hot sleepers staying cool and fresh through the night. This is largely due to the thousands of cooling air holes in the grid, but Purple is also using a higher density foam in the Plus than you’ll find in the Purple Original, which it says is 2-3 times more breathable and has better airflow. The Purple Plus is also great at absorbing motion, so is a good choice if you share your bed with a restless sleeper. Edge support, as we mentioned already is little disappointing.

Should you buy the Purple Plus Mattress?

The Purple Plus mattress is a ‘one size fits (almost) all’ sort of mattress. The proprietary gel grid layer flexes around the body, providing firm support where it’s needed for excellent pressure relief, with softer support around the edges of the body for added comfort.

Whatever your sleeping style, be it front, back, side or combo, you should feel well supported and sleep well on this mattress. However, it’s not going to be supportive enough for sleepers over 230lbs and some customers have reported that the mattress starts to sag and not spring back over time.

Cost-wise, the Purple Plus is considerably more expensive than the Purple Original but much cheaper than other cooling mattresses such as the Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Breeze or Casper Wave Hybrid Snow. And this mattress does a great job of keeping sleepers cool at night – outperforming some more expensive options. The air holes in the gel grid are extremely effective and even the hottest sleepers are likely to find this bed comfortable overnight. And those who share their bed with a restless sleeper will love the extremely effective motion isolation offered by the Purple Plus.

Purple Plus Mattress: Competitors

Nectar Premier Copper

Probably Purple’s closest competitor, theNectar Premier Copperis another fantastic cooling mattress that frequently comes with not only money off but up to $499-worth of freebies such as pillows and mattress protectors. The Nectar is particularly suited to side sleepers, but some back sleepers may well find it too soft.

Sealy Cocoon Chill

If you’re looking for a cheaper option that still offers great temperature regulation, you might want to consider theCocoon Chill. It provides excellent pressure relief and motion isolation as well, but it’s a little lacking on memory foam and some sleepers may well find it too firm.

Casper Wave Hybrid Snow

TheCasper Wave Hybrid Snow mattressis one of the very best mattresses on the market for temperature regulation, along with a firm feel and excellent motion isolation. For such a pricey mattress though it’s lacking in customization options and edge support is disappointing for a mattress in this price bracket.

Jo Plumridge is a freelance writer and photographer with over 20 years of experience writing for a variety of magazines, books and websites. She writes, perhaps unsurprisingly, about photography but also extensively on all things sleep and interior design related, alongside home and tech product reviews. She’s lived in the middle of a nature reserve in Botswana and written a guidebook to New Zealand, but now spends a lot of time trying to photograph the cats she and her husband foster for a local charity - without a doubt the most challenging subjects on earth!

Exclusive deal: Get $70 off when you spend $700 at Emma with our coupon code

This new temperature-regulating, snore-detecting mattress cover definitely wasn’t on my 2024 bingo card

Apple iMac 24-inch M4 (2024) review: the best, and most colorful, all-in-one computer levels up