Nectar Mattress Review – Is It Really That Good?

The Nectar rates among the best foam mattresses for motion isolation/transfer and partner disturbance.

Memory foam is very good at deadening and minimizing bounce, which explains why The Nectar consistently received ‘excellent,’ ‘A,’ and 9/10 ratings.

It passed tests involving standing a bowling pin on one side of the mattress while first a 16lb bowling ball, and then a 200lb man, were dropped onto the other side, with flying colors. The pin barely registered any movement.

This shows that those who sleep with partners, and those who are light sleepers and easily disturbed by movement will be very well served.

Memory foam mattresses don’t have the best reputation when it comes to sleeping cool. A lot of people who sleep on them find they don’t breathe very well and cause overheating when sleeping.

Unfortunately, this is one aspect that reviews aren’t very helpful for because how warm or cool a mattress sleeps can vary wildly between individuals — and the comments in customer reviews bares this out.

Climate plays a part here, too. Even with a breathable mattress, those in hot and humid climates may still find it too hot.

Nectar realizes this, which is part of the reason why they offer the full 365-night trial period — to allow you to experience it during all 4 seasons, including the coldest and hottest times of the year.

The Nectar does have features that show they’ve definitely constructed it with coolness in mind — the moisture-wicking cover, the gel foam designed to absorb and channel away heat, and the foam that is less-dense, with channels designed for airflow.

Overall, most reviewers found The Nectar sleeps cooler than other memory foam mattresses, while a minority thought the opposite. Which reinforces the fact that coolness relies a lot on the individual, and as such, this is one aspect that is probably best settled by trialing it in your own home.

The consensus from reviewers who tested The Nectar is that it is definitely in the medium-firm range, averaging a 6.5/10 on the firmness scale, with a number finding it to be on the firmer side of medium-firm. One reviewer even stated it was the firmest memory foam mattress they had tested.

Some reviews suggested that The Nectar may be too firm for lighter sleepers, i.e., those under about 130lb. It seems to be the case that it feels firmer when you first start sleeping on it.

And due to the soft cushioning layer on top, it manages to have a slight ‘sink,’ meaning you may feel slightly ‘enveloped’ by the top 2 layers while still enjoying a relatively firm feeling.

The Nectar rates very well for support overall, with ratings from the reviewers as high as 9/10, with all providing very positive reports and ratings, the consensus being a “very good” rating.

Of course, support is going to differ for people of different sizes and weights and depend on your sleeping position.

The consistent finding of reviewers is that support offered by The Nectar in terms of spinal alignment is probably best for back and side sleepers, and sleepers whose body weight is light to above average. In contrast, heavy people and stomach sleepers may not get the best support.

The high-quality memory foam is one contributor to this very good support. While providing good cushioning, it is a firm gel foam that sinks ‘slowly,’ not giving straight away under pressure (which is one reason why it may feel firmer for lighter people).

The combination with the sturdy and dense foam below it is what gives it the relatively firm yet highly-supportive feel.

Traditionally, all-foam mattresses do not have the same level of edge support of spring mattresses, sometimes resulting in a lot of sinking. That means those who sleep near the edge can feel unsupported and sometimes even like they will roll or be tipped out of bed.

The Nectar rated well with the majority of testers for edge support. The lowest rating was a 4/10, with the average being a 7.5/10, and the highest rating an 8/10.

The consensus from the majority of testers is that The Nectar is above average in terms of edge support for a foam mattress.

So, if you’ve tried a foam mattress before and found the edge support lacking, you may not find The Nectar any different. Like all-foam mattresses, you will feel some sinking if you sit on the edge or sleep very close to it, but this should not be an issue unless you are a very heavy person.

Pressure relief is essential for anyone who has niggles and pains in their joints, especially areas like the lower back, hips, and shoulders, or anyone who sleeps on their side.

The measure of how well a mattress relieves pressure lies in how well it contours, supports, and distributes weight around points that transfer the most bodyweight to the bed, including the shoulder, hips, and knees.

This is of biggest concern to side sleepers because the body’s weight is distributed over the smallest surface area (meaning more pressure).

Because pressure relief relies a lot on the mattress’s ability to mold to the contours of the body, those with extra ‘curvy’ bodies may not experience pressure relief that is as good as people with ‘flatter’ bodies.

The finding of some of the reviewers is that it is likely to be only heavier people (>250lb) who may notice a slight drop in the level of pressure relief, regardless of how curvy their body is.

This is due to the firmness of the layers underneath the thinner cushioned top layers. Otherwise, the Nectar’s high-quality gel foam performs very well, scoring an average of 8.5/10 for pressure relief, with its lowest a 7 and highest score a 9.5.

The Nectar performed relatively well in terms of odor from off-gassing. The majority found the ‘new mattress smell’ to be no worse than other foam mattresses, and the time taken for the smell to dissipate ranged from a few hours to 3-4 days at the most.

Like coolness, how bad the off-gassing smell is and how long it takes to dissipate to an acceptable level will vary between individuals simply because people’s sense of smell differs so much. Some people are a lot more sensitive to the type of ‘chemical’ smell given off by foam mattresses than others.

The consensus, from reviewers who physically tested The Nectar, is that off-gassing is not a significant issue.

Memory foam mattresses don’t have the best reputation as being good for sex, and The Nectar does appear to follow suit here. Why? The main reason is the lack of responsiveness — memory foam is not very ‘springy’ and does not shift back into place quickly.

Due to the motion-absorbing properties of memory foam, there is some bounce, but not as much as a hybrid or spring mattress would have.

Though the level of comfort is high and the edge support is good, it is the lack of responsiveness and bounce, which means it may not be the best option when it comes to sex.

Another finding was that although in general, The Nectar stays in place fine, it was found that it can move around a bit on the base due to movement from sex.

It’s most likely a result of the combination of not being especially heavy compared to other foam mattresses, and the lack of bounce, which would normally help dissipate the energy of any ‘activity.’

So our conclusion would be that The Nectar is ‘average’ for sex, though due to this being quite a subjective area, trialing it yourself would be the best way to found out.

Like most direct-to-consumer mattresses-in-a-box, Nectar has only been around since 2016, meaning there is minimal data on their mattresses’ durability and longevity.

However, based on comparing it to similar all-foam mattresses on the market (which traditionally do not have a lifespan as good as spring mattresses), most reviewers expect it to have an average lifespan, which for foam mattresses is 6-7 years.

The quality of materials is taken into account and used by reviewers and testers as a predictor of durability and longevity.

The majority of testers agree that the foam used in The Nectar is both high-quality and high density. The foam used in the base layer is especially high-density and sturdy, which is a good indicator that it will last.

The most common problem with all-foam mattresses reported by actual customers is sagging in the upper layers, leaving permanent indentations after some time.

We have not found reports of this happening with The Nectar, though it is traditionally the softer upper layers that deteriorate first.

Though durability is hard to predict without significant data collected over a long period of time, The Nectar does get bonus points for its warranty — many other mattresses only come with a 10-year warranty.

In contrast, it comes with a ‘Forever Warranty™’, meaning it’s covered as long as you own it, which should give you some significant peace of mind.

One drawback of some memory foam mattresses is because they allow you to sink into the mattress as well as contouring and conforming to the body and eliminating bounce and responsiveness, which can all add up to requiring a bit of effort just to change position.

While the Nectar has these traditional memory foam properties to some degree, the level of firmness means most people will not sink too deeply.

Most reviewers found their movement was not restricted to enough of a degree to be a problem — it didn’t restrict movement, but some found it not as easy to move around on as other mattresses.

Your weight will have a bearing on how easy it is to move around; if you are much heavier than average, you may feel a bit ‘stuck’ in the mattress.

Overall, the Nectar does appear to perform pretty well for a memory foam mattress — meaning most people will have no issues, but if mobility is an issue, a memory foam mattress, in general, is probably not the right choice for you.

Luckily, the Nectar is not the heaviest mattress out there, given its all-foam construction and lack of heavy reinforcing and steel springs. The weight ranges from 45lb for the Twin size up to 89lb for the California King.

It is always recommended to have some help when lifting and carrying a bulky and heavy item like a boxed mattress, though many people would have no issue moving the boxed mattress on their own.

Nectar offers a white glove delivery service for an extra cost, meaning the mattress will be delivered, set up in the room, and the packaging, along with your old mattress, will be removed and taken away if you wish.

Unboxing is straightforward, though some assistance may make it easier. It’s just a matter of cutting open and removing the outer plastic, laying it in place, and cutting open the remaining plastic layer and allowing it to expand.

The Nectar is a high-quality foam mattress that sells at a lower price than comparable mattresses, meaning it represents very good value for the money.

Some reviewers call the quality to price ratio “unmatched,” and it has been awarded Best Value pick among professional mattress testing and review sites.

The opinion is pretty much unanimous that the Nectar is excellent value for the money and is top of its class in terms of price to quality.