Nectar Mattress review: A great memory foam mattress with a year-long trial
The Nectar mattress is one of the best bed-in-a-boxes we've tested, but you pay more for the benefit of a year-long trial
Pros
- 365-night trial
- Supportive and comfortable
- Minimal smell
- Price has come down since reviewing it
Cons
- Gets softer as it warms up
- No handles
Update: Nectar used to be the only bed-in-a-box brand to offer a home trial period as long as 365 nights, a key selling point that helped earn the brand’s memory foam mattress a four-star recommended review from us. However, since then, rival brand Eve has increased the length of its own trial: it too now offers customers a year to test its mattresses, alongside a money-back guarantee.
That said, while Nectar is no longer unique in its offer of a lengthy year-long trial period, it is still undoubtedly a great benefit to have if you are considering buying a Nectar mattress.
Our original review of the Nectar Memory Foam Mattress continues below.
Nectar is a relative newcomer to the UK bed-in-a-box scene, following in the footsteps of companies such as Simba, Otty, Emma and Eve, to name just a few of its rivals.
Standing out amongst some of the best mattresses in such a competitive industry is no small task but the US company has achieved it by offering an absurdly long trial period. Indeed, Nectar lets you return your mattress at any time in the first year of ownership for a full refund should you decide it’s not for you, where many other boxed mattress companies give a 100-night trial.
Nectar Mattress review: What you need to know
You could argue that 100 nights is plenty of time to decide whether a mattress is right for you but there’s definitely a benefit to having a longer trial period. After all, it’s only after a couple of months, if not longer, that a mattress becomes properly broken in and it’s only then that you get an idea of how it will feel like in the long term. Having the extra time to decide, then, is no bad thing.
Apart from the 365-night trial, there’s not a huge amount that separates the Nectar mattress from its many rivals. Like Eve and Emma, it comprises three layers of foam. On the top, there’s 40mm of breathable “visco” memory foam designed to regulate temperature. Next, there’s 50mm of soft visco foam that helps with pressure relief and, finally, it has a 160mm, seven-zone, firm foundation layer.
Unlike some boxed mattresses, the Nectar is made from Certipur foam, meaning it contains no ozone depleters, TDCPP, mercury or lead. It also comes with a “Forever” guarantee. In short, this means the company will replace your mattress if it’s defective in the first ten years, after which it’ll repair and re-cover your Nectar if there’s a fault.
The mattress works with all bed types, but there are no handles to help you move it. Moreover, although its cover can be unzipped, the company doesn’t recommend putting it in the washing machine as you can with the top covers for Emma Original, Otty, Simba Hybrid and Eve Original mattresses.
Nectar Mattress review: Price and competition
The Nectar mattress was more expensive than many of its rivals when it launched, but that’s changed over recent months. Indeed, where it originally cost £700 for a double and £800 for a king, it’s now £550 and £650 in double and king sizes, respectively, before taking into account any discounts. That’s £50 cheaper than the Otty Hybrid, which once stood out for being cheaper than many of its bed-in-a-box competitors.
The Emma Original, having also had its price slashed, is a fraction cheaper than the Nectar, costing £530 and £609 in double and king sizes, respectively. The all-foam Eve Original, on the other hand, is a little more expensive, costing £700 and £800 in those sizes.
Nectar Mattress review: Comfort and performance
After removing the Nectar from its box and letting it fully expand the first thing that struck me about the Nectar mattress was its thickness. There’s no science that more depth indicates better performance per se but, in my experience, thinner mattresses such as the Eve Hybrid and Ikea Morgedal (medium firm) lack sufficient support when used on flexible, sprung slatted beds.
Thankfully, I had no such problems when I first laid on the 260mm-thick Nectar mattress. My first impression was that it delivered excellent levels of support and comfort. Unlike the Eve Original and Otty, which are at the firm end the scale, the Nectar lets your hips sink into a considerable amount of soft foam – 90mm to be precise – before you come up against much resistance from the firm foundation below.
Overall, it’s a very similar sensation to the Simba Hybrid and quite different to the Casper and Emma Original, which feel softer throughout. To elaborate, although its top layers feel soft, the Nectar’s foundation, like Simba’s, is firm enough to feel stable even when used on a sprung slatted bed.
And now I’ll come to my only real gripe with the Nectar mattress. As can often be the case with all-foam mattresses, it feels quite different as it warms up, its top comfort layers becoming increasingly soft throughout the night. These changes weren’t so pronounced as to stop the mattress feeling supportive but if you get hot in bed or are heavier than 75kg, there’s a chance it could become an annoyance.
As for heat, it’s difficult to heap praise on a mattress for its temperature-regulation properties in winter when it’s minus 2°C outside but all I can say is that I didn’t find the Nectar mattress any warmer than any of its all-foam rivals. Not only that but it seemed to do a solid job of wicking away any sweat thanks to its breathable top layer.
The other thing that really impressed me was how little the Nectar mattress smells. Where many bed-in-a-box mattresses emit a pungent “off-gassing” odour for the first few days after being unpacked the Nectar’s smell was subtle enough that it was good to sleep on right away.
Nectar Mattress review: Verdict
The Nectar missed out on a five-star Best Buy award when we first tested it because it was a smidge pricier than its rivals and has some subtle flaws, namely that it becomes noticeably softer as it warms up and lacks a washable top cover.
However, now that it’s come down in price and is actually cheaper than some rivals, that 365-night trial looks more tempting than ever. After all, there’s a good chance you’ll love it and, even if you don’t, you can try it out for up to a year without the risk of losing out financially.
