Saatva Contour5 Mattress review − the gold standard for memory foam

At the start of the summer, I got an email from Saatva's product marketing team, announcing the launch of a brand-new bed. The Saatva Contour5 Mattress is intended as an improvement upon their Loom & Leaf, another gel-infused memory foam mattress with plenty of contouring comfort. Since the Loom & Leaf gets such a good write-up, with a 4.9 average star rating, I was keen to put the Saatva Contour5 Mattress to the test.

The selling point of the Saatva Contour5 Mattress is the support you get from the high-density memory foam. I've spent the summer testing, so I can confirm that support reaches right around the edges of the mattress. A breathable cotton cover helps to keep you cool and dry, while airflow channels do the hard work to carry hot air away from your body and out of the mattress.

As an H&G mattress expert, I'm part of the search to find the world's best mattress. I've tested six mattresses for H&G, from high-tech hybrids to memory foam models, for comfort, support, cooling, and motion isolation. So far, the Saatva Contour5 is my favorite. I'd recommend this mattress for couples, hot sleepers, and anyone in need of pressure relief. Yes, it's expensive, but you might be able to get it for less when you shop the Saatva mattress deals.

Saatva Contour5 Mattress review

I opted for white glove delivery, which comes free with every Saatva mattress order, and meant that there was very little work for me to do on the delivery day. Unlike a lot of major mattress, Saatva offers to remove your old mattress and your old base, which is a welcome relief for anyone worried about lugging theirs away for donation, disposal, or recycling. If you've purchased a base with your mattress, then Saatva will set it up for you. It's a very hands-off process and the delivery team were in and out of the house within a few hours.

Saatva Contour5 Mattress | $2,695 at Saatva

Saatva Contour5 Mattress Specifications

Who would the Saatva Contour5 Mattress suit?

• All sleep positions: that's the great thing about a mattress with multiple comfort levels: Medium and Firm. As a stomach sleeper in search of a mattress with a little bit of give but sufficient support to keep my spine in line, I knew that Firm would be the best mattress firmness for me. If you sleep on your side, and you prefer a mattress with plenty of give to cushion your joints, then I suggest you plump for the Medium firmness.
• Restless sleepers: the Saatva Contour5 Mattress boasts excellent motion isolation. I'd recommend it for light sleepers and anyone who shares a bed with a pet or partner.
• Hot sleepers: for a memory foam mattress, the Saatva Contour5 Mattress sleeps pretty cool. I started testing during a hot Cincinnati summer, and I was a little worried I'd wake up each night in a hot sweat, but the cooling gel and the airflow channels managed to keep me cool and dry.
• Sensitive sleepers and people with kids: the Saatva Contour5 Mattress is wrapped in an organic cotton cover and coated with a botanical antimicrobial treatment to prevent the growth of mold, mildew, and bacteria. As a parent to lots of little kids who often make their way into bed, I felt reassured that they were sleeping on a safe mattress.

What's it like to sleep on the Saatva Contour5 Mattress?

• Comfort: sleeping on the Saatva Contour5 Mattress is a three-part experience – an initial settling in, where your body sinks into a plush and ultra-comfortable top layer to the mattress. Then, just as you're wondering whether the mattress is too soft, you meet the supportive and structured layer beneath that. The third stage, upon waking, is a general feeling of relief in your body, and a well rested mind, thanks to the mattress design and quality.
• Support: when I woke up after my first night of sleeping on the Saatva Contour5 Mattress, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my typically achy back and joints were a little less agitated. I put that down to the firm support of the mattress − there's just enough give to cushion your joints without throwing your spine out of alignment.
• Cooling: as a stomach sleeper who gets the night sweats, especially over the summer, I need a cooling mattress more than most. I'd read about the airflow channels through the middle of the mattress, and snapped a picture for posterity, but I wanted to be convinced that it was more than marketing jargon. After a whole summer testing, I'd put the Saatva Contour5 up there with the best cooling mattresses, which is quite the feat for a memory foam model. Still, memory foam will never feel as breathable as a hybrid mattress, lined with springs to enhance the airflow. For the best cooling mattress on the market, I suggest the Tempur-Pedic ProAdapt.

• Motion isolation: like all the best memory foam mattresses, the Saatva Contour5 boasts excellent motion isolation. If your partner tends to toss and turn in the night, then a memory foam mattress is a great option to prevent a sleep divorce – all that slow-moving foam is made to absorb motion. To assess the motion isolation of the mattress, I filled a cup with water and set it in the center of the bed. Then, I applied pressure around the cup, with the idea that the more the cup moved, and the more water spilled, the worse the motion isolation. No water spilled onto the Saatva Contour5 Mattress, even with significant agitation around the cup. I realized a few weeks into testing that I no longer woke up when my partner rolled around or got out of bed at an unsociably early hour.
• Edge support: Some nights, one or two of my kids end up in my bed with a bad dream, and I have to make the most of every inch, so I appreciate edge support more than most. This is where the Saatva Contour5 Mattress really surprised me. Memory foam mattresses are infamous for their lack of edge support − all too often, the soft squishiness of the center extends to the sides of the mattress, making it much harder to get into and out of bed, especially if you struggle with mobility. Sometimes, I can't even sit on the side of the mattress to tie my sneakers. I found that the Saatva Contour5 Mattress has exceptional edge support, so I could sit comfortably without the sides of the mattress caving in.
• Sleep trial: like any Saatva mattress, the Saatva Contour5 comes with a 365-night mattress sleep trial. You get an entire year to test your mattress through all four seasons before it's time to commit to your purchase. That's why Saatva is one of the best places to buy a mattress. Just bear in mind that, if you do decide to trade in your Saatva mattress, you'll need to pay a $99 return fee.
• Warranty: the Saatva Contour5 comes with a lifetime mattress warranty that covers all the usual defects in workmanship and materials under normal residential use. Good news: your warranty will remain valid if you use your Saatva Contour5 Mattress on an adjustable bed base.

How does the Saatva Contour5 Mattress rate online?

The Saatva Contour5 Mattress is still very new to the market, and we're yet to see many verified customer reviews on the Saatva site. So far, there's just the one review, which gives the full five stars. 'I just received my mattress two days ago,' the customer gushes, 'and I can already tell the difference in my back after years of sleeping on terrible cheap mattresses. My chronic pain has gone from a daily 9 or 10 to about a 4 or 5, and I'm so excited to see how it gets even better.'

Of course, this is only one customer's experience, just a few days into their sleep trial, but it's clear that the Saatva Contour5 has made quite an impression.

Should I buy the Saatva Contour5 Mattress?

I couldn't review the Saatva Contour5 Mattress without mentioning the price. Retailing at $2,995 for a Queen, this is the most expensive memory foam mattress I've ever seen, though you could always save a few hundred dollars in the mattress sales.

Then again, you get what you pay for: the Saatva Contour5 Mattress far outpaces other memory foam models we've tested, especially when it comes to cooling and edge support. As a hot sleeper who shares a bed with my husband and often one, two, or all five of my young children, I'd say that the Saatva Contour5 Mattress is worth saving for.

Saatva Contour5 Mattress | $2,695 at Saatva

How we test mattresses

When I call in a mattress for testing, I consider our panel of expert reviewers and hand-pick the tester who best matches the mattress. Since Alex is a hot sleeper who shares a bed with her husband (and often their young children), I knew she'd appreciate the cooling properties and the motion isolation of the Saatva Contour5 Mattress.

In the interests of a fair comparison, we assess each mattress against the same criteria: comfort; support; breathability; motion isolation; and edge support. Some of our tests are more subjective than others. The best way to assess the comfort of a mattress is to sleep on it and see how you feel, though we'll always consider the make-up of materials. Other tests are more scientific: you can learn more in our guide to how we test mattresses.

We also consider all the practical aspects of buying a mattress, from the length of the mattress sleep trial to the extent of the mattress warranty. Where possible, we compare our findings against verified customer reviews to give you the fullest possible perspective of what it might be like to sleep on this mattress. Finally, we bring it back to the price of the mattress to help you determine value for money.