Air Mattresses Reviews

We found the most recent and thorough comparative review of air mattresses at the online magazine Slate, whose writer, Torie Bosch, slept on six inflatable beds for one or two nights each. Oddly enough, The Wall Street Journal conducted two separate roundups of inflatable mattresses, by two different writers, within ten months of each other. In January of 2005, the newspaper’s "Catalog Critic," Kara Swisher, tested five air beds, and in November 2005, Charles Passy did the same, with a slightly different lineup of inflatable beds.

As helpful as these roundups are, though, they suffer from one major defect: Bosch, Passy and Swisher admit that they slept on these air mattresses for only one or two nights apiece, straight out of the box. The trouble is, most manufacturers say that you need to sleep on an air bed for a few days to work out all the kinks and figure out the ideal level of inflation. Furthermore, a one-night test sheds no light on a bed’s long-term durability. Bosch’s review for Slate also has a more forgivable flaw: She throws in a mattress (by Coleman) that’s intended for camping, which she unfairly compares to deluxe air beds like the Aerobed Premier Comfort Zone Raised (*est. $200 to $300, depending on size). If you are looking for smaller camping mattresses, ConsumerSearch addresses inflatable sleeping pads in a separate report. In addition, if you are interested in full-size mattresses that include air chambers (like Select Comfort and ComfortAire), see our report on mattresses .

The New York Times also gets into the act, though less methodically, with writer Michele Slatalla asking a group of teens to decide between an Aerobed and an inflatable air mattress by REI. Beyond that, though, the pickings become rather slim. Consumer Reports last tested inflatable mattresses in November 2004 (covering only four air beds), while Real Simple magazine and the UK Sunday Mirror both offer recommendations, without, unfortunately, disclosing any methodology behind their choices.

One high-profile air mattress that doesn’t quite make the cut among experts and owners is the Simmons Beautyrest Extraordinaire (*est. $70 to $100, depending on size) . Kara Swisher, The Wall Street Journal’s "Catalog Critic," says the Simmons is "pretty ordinary" compared to air beds by Frontgate and Aerobed, since it lays only 12 inches off the ground, takes a few minutes longer to inflate and is difficult to re-inflate if it loses air. We also found some comments from owners on Amazon.com who claim this air mattress ruptured or began losing air after months of use (though most users are satisfied). In one major comparative review, the Simmons is described as less comfortable, and more difficult to set up, than Aerobed mattresses. For these reasons, we decided not to include the Simmons air bed in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers.

A variety of other inflatable air mattresses receive mixed notices in reviews for Slate and The Wall Street Journal. Slate’s Torie Bosch likes the budget price of the Wenzel Insta-Bed (*est. $35 for the full size) , but dislikes its manual pump (she used a hair dryer instead) and says it didn’t give her a good night’s sleep. She’s also disappointed by the Air Cloud Pillowtop (*est. $70 for the full size), which she says deflated twice in a single night. Writing for The Wall Street Journal, reviewer Charles Passy is especially critical of Cabela’s Folding Airbed Frame with Queen Airbed (*est. $100), which he calls difficult to assemble (it has to be inflated with a manual pump) and not very comfortable.  ... Continued

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart. The Consensus Report also appears in the Full Story.

Inflatable mattresses by Aerobed are picked more often by experts and owners than any other brand. The Frontgate EZ Bed appears in only two reviews, but both are from a reliable source, The Wall Street Journal. Owners give the Home Trends Raised Air Mattress good reviews as a budget choice, but be aware that this model has only a 90-day warranty. Frontgate gives owners a one-year warranty and Aerobed models come with a three-year warranty.