It won’t withstand nightly use over a long period of time (and many companies specify that if you use the mattress as your primary bed, you’ll void the warranty). This 19-inch-tall mattress comes in twin, twin XL, full, queen, and king sizes. And the SoundAsleep’s built-in pump was quieter than any other mattress motor we tried—this is a perk if you don’t want to wake sleeping children (or if you’re sensitive to noise).
Regular and consistent use offers more opportunities for punctures or holes to develop in your mattress. Alternatively, if you only use it once a year, you can expect to hang on to it for a long time. You should expect to get at least two to five years out of a regularly used air mattress and up to 10 if you don’t use it often. All air mattress dimensions below are listed as height by width by length. It only stayed up for 2 nights then would deflate overnight for the following several nights until we stopped using it. Our guest ended up having to sleep on the sofa for the rest of her stay.
Also, temperature fluctuations can change the air density and lead to the illusion of a mattress deflating. If your room gets a lot colder at night your mattress will feel softer, so try to keep the temperature changes minimal. Just because there is a hole in your air mattress, doesn’t mean that you have to buy a new one. However, if you’re looking to go down the DIY avenue, there are plenty of options. Start by deflating your air mattress and degreasing the area around the hole. And for even more peace of mind, it also covers scuffs, spills and stains for the first 5 years.
Instead, look into portable cribs or “pack ’n plays” that are safe for infants to sleep in. There’s no such thing as a perfect air mattress, but we’ve been testing the SoundAsleep Dream Series Air Mattress since 2016, and it still holds air after many, many uses. Our top pick since 2016, it has the best combination of comfort, customer service, availability, and owner satisfaction of any mattress we tested—and it has the bestway air mattress quietest motor. When shopping for the best mattress, always look at product and customer reviews. It’s beneficial to get the perspective of real customers and product reviewers who have physically slept on the air mattress because they can give more honest insight on whether or not it’s a good product. Nothing is worse than dragging out your air mattress for a guest and then the next morning they wake on the ground.
But a higher price doesn’t always mean a tall air bed, a better air mattress, better air pressure, a self-inflating mattress, a better sleeping surface, more comfort or a decent night’s sleep. The right air mattress is more important than you think, even if you’re only sleeping on it for a few days. Wake up renewed and refreshed on the Bestway® Tritech Air Mattress! The built in electric pump inflates the bed in just 240 seconds, while the sturdy pre-tested vinyl means it is built to last.
The good news is that you can find and patch holes in air mattresses. We’ve slept on some of the best air mattresses from Intex, Somnio SoundAsleep, Lightspeed Outdoors and other brands. This King-sized bed promises strength, durability and comfort all night long. Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions.
With
bedcover you
can continue to enjoy a better night’s sleep in a better bed for many years to come. Grace Wu (she/her) is a product reviews analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Textiles, Paper and Apparel Lab, where she evaluates fabric-based products using specialized equipment and consumer tester data. Prior to starting at Good Housekeeping in 2022, she earned a master of engineering in materials science and engineering and a bachelor of science in fiber science from Cornell University. While earning her degrees, Grace worked in research laboratories for smart textiles and nanotechnology and held internships at Open Style Lab and Rent the Runway. She also evaluates luggage, rain gear, disposable paper goods and baby products. Lexie has more than 15 years of experience in the textiles industry and a degree in fiber science from Cornell University.
Air mattresses are a good short-term solution when you need a comfortable place to sleep that’s not the ground or a couch, but they aren’t meant to be slept on every night. Air mattresses can lack proper support to keep your spinal alignment over the long term and promote back pain. The epitome of a cheap air mattress, the is compact, lightweight and relatively quick to inflate with its integrated pump.