Saturday, July 22, 2017

Eve Mattress Review

UPDATE, JULY 2019: It appears that Eve no long sells mattresses that are shipped to USA directly from their website. If you have any questions on this, feel free to reach out to me via the contact info at the bottom of my blog, or leave a comment here. Thanks.


We're on the Eve of a new mattress review, here . . .

I was pleased to be able to review the EVE Mattress recently! Eve gives the tagline of a mattress that is "beautifully simple, simply beautiful." So how will it stack up? Let's find out.

Click above to watch my video review, or read on for the
full, written review!

As you can see on the Eve website, the mattress is comprised of 3 foam layers surrounded by a fabric cover.

First, the cover -- the cover is a thin, flexible, polyester cover with good elasticity. It is a flat top mattress, there is no tufting or deep ridges in the top to contend with (I'm a fan of mattresses that keep the top nice and flat). In that regard, I say it's a good thing -- just let the top layer do what it's supposed to do. There is also a rope-like "ribbing" that goes around the top edge, which is a nice touch. The cover is removable, but they don't recommend machine washing (spot washing only). Of course, always use a mattress protector!

Next, the top layer of foam is a 2 inch layer of contouring memory foam. This is to provide pressure point relief and minimize motion transfer.

Next, the "middle layer" is a 1 inch reactive layer called the "active response layer." This has a little more bounce to it.

Last, the bottom layer is 6.5 inches of base foam. Total mattress thickness is 9.5 inches, maybe add fraction more to account for the cover, and they advertise it as 10 inches thick.

In terms of firmness, Eve only offers one build. They don't explicitly state their intended firmness level (x out of 10, for example) on their web site, but just state that it's not too soft and not too firm. They also say that it has the comfortable and supportive qualities of memory foam, but with an added feeling of "bounce." After testing it out, I would say this is an apt description. Although firmness is highly subjective, and can be perceived differently based on an individuals weight and build, I would say it comes in at a 5 out of 10 on the firmness scale -- right in the middle.



I slept on a twin-size Eve mattress for 10 nights so that I could bring you this review. With that in mind . . .

HOW MANY STARS?

I will rate each category on a 5-Star Scale, where 5 is the best.

Construction: 3.5 stars

The construction was just fine, and unboxing was easy (see unboxing video HERE). I would rate it 4 stars based on build alone, but I found a couple loose threads over an inch long after I unboxed it, which isn't a big deal but does dock a 1/4 point.

Although I understand the marketing with the bright, cheerful yellow color, I'm not a fan of the yellow side-panels. If you use a thin, white protector and a thin, white sheet, it still shows through just a bit. Plain white, subdued gray, or another neutral color would have been better, but that's just one guy's opinion. I docked another 1/4 point for that.

I do like the cover, thin and breathable.

It's worth noting that my Eve took about 3-4 hours to fully expand after unboxing; but this was right in the description from the company, so no surprise there.

Noise: 5 stars

There is no noise. None.

Smell: 4.75 stars

Although the sample size isn't huge, of all the mattresses I've tried so far, Eve had the least amount of "new mattress smell" after it was unboxed. There was no "off-gassing." After leaving it to expand for a few hours, by the time I slept on it the first night the smell was completely gone. That's pretty impressive, considering that I'm both allergic to a lot of stuff and asthmatic. Needless to say, I have a moderately sensitive sniffer.

Feel: 4.25 stars

The feel is pretty nice. The cover is comforting and feels good through the sheet.

I felt a bit like I was sinking "down" but not sinking "in." (For reference, I weigh in the neighborhood of 200+ pounds). There is a bit of "hug" but not a lot. It's not a full-on tempurpedic memory-foam feel, but it does feel squishier than a hybrid mattress or fully innerspring mattress. It's something of a middle ground.


Motion Transfer: 4 stars

Since I tested out a twin, I was not able to gauge motion transfer with a real-live person in the bed with me, but had to rely on other methods like the bowling ball drop, sledgehammer of discernment, push-n-feel, etc. (see the video review). It feels like the motion transfer would be minimal, but not completely eliminated.

Support: 3.0 stars

"Support" does not mean the same thing as firmness. This gets into tricky-to-describe territory, but means things like keeping your spine in alignment; does the firmness feel even, as opposed to lumpy or firm in spots without being firm in other spots? Do you sink in too much and "overcome" the top couple inches? This is always subjective. I am a back sleeper primarily but also sleep on my side some.

In the FAQ section of the Eve website, they say that the mattress is suitable for sleepers weighing up to 252 pounds (not sure how they came up with 252, as opposed to "just" 250!), or a combined weight of 504 pounds. Recall that I weigh a bit over 200 pounds, so I felt like I was right on the edge of what was acceptable, so this statement is probably valid. When I slept on my back, I felt like my butt compressed down the top 2 layers enough that I was starting to feel the base support layer. Now, I have most of my weight in my middle, and I don't have the world's most athletic build (ahem . . .), so that's undoubtedly a contributing factor. There is no zoned support or anything like that, so just bear in mind that this mattress isn't designed for the heaviest sleepers.

I'm not saying that those over 252 pounds couldn't sleep on Eve, I just don't think it would be ideal. My personal thought is that if you are primarily a back sleeper, and you weigh over 225 to 230 pounds or so, this isn't the mattress for you. If you're a side or front sleeper who never or rarely sleeps on your back, you might be OK up to 250 pounds. (I very rarely sleep on my front, but I did a couple times on Eve, and it was fairly comfortable).

Also, note that this mattress is "fair" in the area of edge support, but when I sat on the extreme edge, I did collapse it down quite a bit. Don't expect to be able to sit on the edge and have it bounce you right back up unless you are pretty lightweight. Since it's not exactly ideal for heavy sleepers (both on edge support and in back sleeping), I don't feel comfortable giving more than a 3.0 in support.


Pressure Point Relief: 4.5 stars

Eve gets a hearty and healthy showing here! I felt like there were no pinch-points or anything like that. All-foam mattresses tend to do best here, so this isn't a surprise. If you are very lightweight (ie, under 110 pounds) you may not experience as much pressure point relief.

Conformity: 3.5 stars

What am I looking for in conformity? I want something that feels firm where it's supposed to feel firm, and soft where it's supposed to feel soft. That's a tall order (or a $5,000+ mattress), but let's at least get as close as we can. I want something that conforms to my body locally, but not globally. In other words, I want to sink into my mattress just a bit -- maybe an inch or two, but I don't want a giant valley to be formed while the mattress tries to accommodate my whole body.

As I mentioned in the "support" section above, my mid-section did sink in quite a bit, just a tiny bit more than I would have preferred, but it wasn't too bad. Therefore, the top of the mattress formed a bit of a valley extending out from my body enough that I would have a concern if I was sleeping in the bed with my wife. If you have a large weight disparity (for example, if one person weighs 70 pounds more than the other) I would have a little bit of a concern as it relates to this. Sleeping alone, no problem, sleeping with another person who weighs roughly the same as you, no problem. Again, see my video for an illustration.

Customer Service: 5.0 stars

My interactions with the folks at Eve where completely positive. Their website is easy to navigate, too, and has all the info you need, without feeling crowded.

It might be interesting to note that Eve is a U.K. based company, but they do business in the US, too. They must have warehouses in the states, because mine arrived only about 3 days after being shipped!

Shipping:

I don't give a star-rating to shipping, but shipping is free. It is delivered by UPS, FedEx, etc, and they say it should arrive within 5-7 business days (mine only took about 3 days!) As of the date of this post, they don't offer expedited shipping. It comes in a box, compressed. There is no cost to you if you decide to return it during the trial period.

Other info worth mentioning:

Eve has a 10 year warranty. The warranty kicks in with 1 inch or more of sinkage or indentations. This is pretty good (most warranties only kick in with 1.5 inches or more).

There is no proprietary foundation, you can place it on any solid surface, a sturdy foundation, or a bed that comes with slats like a platform bed. It's not recommended to be used with old-fashioned box springs (the kind with actual springs in a box - which are becoming quite rare). They have some recommendations of types on their web site, but don't recommend a specific brand. Might I recommend this platform bed?


OVERALL SCORE:

4.2 stars
(out of 5)
Eve has a distinctive yellow side panel.

Summary:

PROS:
- Good pressure point relief
- Light; easy to move around/transport
- Ideal for solo sleepers
- Ideal for sleepers under 200 lbs.
- Good cover feel
- 100 night no-risk trial period with free shipping
- A very reasonable price point

CONS:
- May lack support for sleepers over 225 lbs.
- Not ideal for couples with a large weight disparity (more than 70 lb. weight difference)

Final Thoughts:

Eve would be a great mattress choice for a college student, young couple, or really anyone who wants a mattress that is slightly fluffy and slightly bouncy, but who doesn't want to go with a hybrid mattress. With the 100 night in-home trial, you're not out anything but time if you decide you don't like it. 100 days is more than enough to make that determination. While it is an all-foam mattress, it's not something you're going to get "stuck" in and it doesn't sleep hot.


Prices & Info:
If you decide to try out Eve, I would really appreciate it if you use one of the links on this page, as it helps out my blog and YouTube channel just a bit!

As of 04/17/2018, Eve offers a $300 discount on all mattresses with coupon code SLEEP300. The gross price is listed first, with the "net" (after discount) price in brackets:

Twin: $549 [net $249]
Twin XL: $599 [net $299]
Full: $799 [net $499]
Queen: $899 [net $599]
King or Cal King: $1099 [net $799]

(Note: Prices were updated as of 04/17/2018. Always check prices on the manufacturer's web site as prices can change.)

What do you think? Feel free to share any comments! If you have questions, feel free to ask and I will try my best to answer.




I was provided with an Eve mattress in exchange for my review. If you use one of my links to get to the Eve website, and subsequently buy (and keep!) the mattress, I earn a small referral fee which helps to support this blog and my YouTube channel. In addition, other links on this blog are considered to be "affiliate links" (such as the links to products through Amazon) and I am paid a small referral fee if you click one of these links and subsequently make a purchase. This costs you nothing. All opinions are my personal reviews and preferences, and do not represent the opinion of any particular company. Thanks for your consideration.