Nolah Original Mattress review − breathable, comfortable, convenient

The Nolah Original Mattress gives you all the best bits of memory foam, without the indents, impressions, or heat retention. It's suitable for all sleep positions and a far better alternative for hot sleepers and summer nights.

I suffer from a bad back, so I need a mattress to ease my aches and pains. I don't have thousands of dollars to drop on a brand new bed, but I'm still looking for something durable, so that I don't have to pay to replace it in five years' time. The Nolah Original Mattress ticks all my major boxes and here's the best bit − it's not even that expensive.

As an H&G sleep expert, I'm part of the search to find the world's best mattress. I assess each bed against the same criteria: comfort; support; breathability; motion isolation; edge support; and weight bearing capacity. The Nolah Original Mattress scores highly across the board and particularly excels in terms of motion isolation, though it might not feel firm enough for some sleepers.

Nolah Original Mattress review

I tested the Nolah Original Mattress through the summer. I share a bed with my partner, and we're often joined by our young son, so I'm able to offer a range of perspectives on the same bed. I'm a side sleeper, my partner is a back sleeper, and our son is something of a wriggler, so I can tell you everything you need to know about the Nolah Original Mattress.

Nolah Original Mattress Specifications

Who would the Nolah Original Mattress suit?

• Front, back, or side sleepers: the Nolah Original Mattress claims to support all sleep positions. I move between my side and my stomach, while my husband lies on his back, and we both slept comfortably on the Nolah Original Mattress.
• Hot sleepers: your average memory foam mattress tends to sleep hot, since all that thick foam doesn't leave enough room for air to flow through the bed. That's why Nolah developed AirFoam, which is strategically perforated to boost breathability, so that you can sleep comfortably through the summer.
• Light sleepers: foam is made to absorb movement, which is why the Nolah Original Mattress boasts excellent motion isolation. That's good news for light sleepers and anyone who shares a bed with a pet or partner: you shouldn't feel disturbed by their tossing and turning.
• Anyone who suffers from chronic pain: memory foam is made to mold to the shape of your body and bear your weight. I found that the Nolah Original Mattress really took the pressure off my back. I felt so much looser when I got out of bed in the morning.

What is it like to sleep on the Nolah Original Mattress?

• Comfort and support: before I started testing the Nolah Original Mattress, I was sleeping on the Helix Midnight Hybrid Mattress. I love that bed for its soft support and the Nolah Original Mattress has a very similar feel: plush up top, with more solid foam down below. I felt I could sink through the first few inches of foam, really relaxing into the mattress, and still feel supported. Good news for side sleepers: the Nolah Original Mattress feels extra flexible around the shoulders, so you shouldn't wake up with a stiff neck.
• Breathability: as a hot sleeper, I'm scared of memory foam mattresses, which tend to trap heat. That's why I'm so glad that Nolah fills their beds with AirFoam, which is strategically perforated to boost breathability, and wrapped in a cooling cover. I tested the Nolah Original Mattress through the summer and still managed to sleep cool. I particularly appreciated the Tencel cover, which felt cool to the touch, even through my fitted sheet. As far as memory foam goes, this is the best cooling mattress on the market.

• Motion isolation: this is one of our stranger mattress tests, but there's method in our madness. We fill a glass with water, set it in the center of the bed, and place a weight beside it. The more the glass moves, and the more water spills, the worse the motion isolation, and the less suitable a bed might be for light sleepers. Luckily, the Nolah Original Mattress has excellent motion isolation: the glass barely moved, even when the weight was right next to it. In practice, I was noticeably less disturbed by my husband getting into and out of bed and my young son wriggling away in the night.
• Edge support: I moved the glass of water and the weight towards the side of the mattress to test the edge support. The glass noticeably tipped to the side, but stayed upright. The weight didn't sink as far into the surface of the mattress, indicating that the edges are firmer than the middle: just the way it should be. Put it this way: you could comfortably sit on the side of the Nolah Original Mattress to tie your sneakers. Still, if you tend to lie on the side of the bed, and you're looking for a mattress with excellent edge support, I recommend the Tempur-Pedic ProAdapt Mattress.
• Sleep trial: the Nolah Original Mattress comes with a 120-night mattress sleep trial. That's just enough time to test your bed through multiple seasons and get a good read on the thermoregulation before you commit to your purchase.
• Warranty: the Nolah Original Mattress comes with a lifetime mattress warranty. It's tiered, so you get more protection in your first 10 years than you do for the years after, but that shouldn't pose too much of a problem. By the time you've spent a decade with a mattress, you'll probably want to replace it, anyway.

How does the Nolah Original Mattress rate online?

The Nolah Original Mattress boasts an average star rating of 4.7 out of 5 from more than 1,300 reviews on the Nolah site. Happy customers praise the comfort and convenience of the mattress, not to mention the value for money. There are a smattering of more mixed reviews, though there's no option to filter by star rating, so you'll have to dig for them. Plenty of people agree with me that the edge support is a little lacking, and some wonder whether the mattress is too soft to offer solid support.

Should I buy the Nolah Original Mattress?

A Queen-sized Nolah Original Mattress retails for $1,449, but it's almost never selling at full price. You can usually get it for $942 when you shop the mattress sales. That feels about right to me: for your money, you get great comfort, sterling support, impressive breathability, and unparalleled motion isolation. Sure, the edge support is a little lacking in comparison to a high-tech hybrid, but that's what you get from foam, and the pressure relief more than makes up for it.

How we test mattresses

We put a lot of thought into how we test mattresses. Our sleep experts sample beds for months at a time, ideally through several seasons, to monitor their performance throughout the year, with a special focus on thermoregulation. We assess each bed for the same six things: comfort; support; cooling properties; motion isolation; edge support; and weight bearing capacity.

Some of our tests are more subjective. To assess the comfort and support of a mattress, all we can do is lay on it and see how we feel. Things get a little more technical when it comes to cooling: we scour the specifications and work out which materials a mattress contains and how those fabrics react to heat. That's where things start to get more scientific: we use a combination of weights and water glasses to measure motion isolation and edge support.

Where possible, we compare our findings against verified customer reviews to give you a better picture of what it might be like to sleep on this mattress. Finally, we bring it all back to the price of the product so that you can determine value for money.