Bear Mattress Review

Our Verdict: The makers of the Bear Mattress wanted to assist sleepers who live an athletic life in their recovery efforts.  Made with pain, pressure and comfort in mind, the Bear Mattress has become a mattress that can give certain sleepers a great night’s sleep. As an added bonus, it’s affordable, especially considering its high-tech additions.

What We’ll Cover in this Bear Mattress Review

We are consistently reminded of how important a good night’s sleep is to performance, and this was a driving force for the people behind Bear mattresses. They took on the challenge to design a great foam mattress for an active lifestyle. They consulted with experts all over the world to design a memory foam mattress they feel is universally comfortable, sleeps cool and increases your energy. 

Bear has included tried-and-true efforts by incorporating heat-absorbing gels to keep sleepers cool. They also added a fiber technology to the outside fabric that’s scientifically proven to help muscles recover from the stress and exertion of the day.

Bear is one of the best bed-in-a-box brands, and it continues to innovate by bringing consumers new and improved products right to their door. The Bear is one of the best affordable medium-firm mattresses on the market. 

The Bear mattress took the best part of a foam mattress—its ability to contour to your body—and amped everything up by using four different levels of foam. They built a mattress meant to align the spine and decrease back pain and pressure points no matter what position you sleep in.

Who is the Bear Mattress Best For?

Bear Mattress Highlights

• Fabric mattress cover made of Celliant® fibers, proven to increase circulation & muscle recovery.
• Celliant fibers are FDA-approved as an official medical device.
• Four foam layers to ease pressure on key areas of your body (hips, back, shoulders).
• Professional athletes from a variety of sports have endorsed the Bear mattress.
• Top foam comfort layer infused with graphite gel to absorb heat and keep you cool.
• Uses same gel used to treat burn victims 
• One of our top picks for Best Mattresses for Sex 
• Minimizes motion transfer making it great for couples 
• Decent edge support allows you to use the full surface of the bed 

What Type of Mattress is the Bear?

The Bear mattress is a firm memory foam mattress that promotes recovery and is one of the most affordable mattresses. 

Bear Mattress Firmness & Feel

On a scale from 1-10, with one being the softest and ten the firmest, the Bear Mattress is a 7.1 level of firmness. The memory foam layers offer pressure relief and balanced support and create a stable and even surface. Because the Bear is a firmer mattress, you won’t feel like you are sinking into the mattress, but stay on top without the traditional hugging feeling of memory foam. 

How Well Does the Bear Regulate Temperature?

Memory foam vs hybrid mattresses regulate temperature differently, because memory foam can sometimes trap heat within the mattress. The cooling graphite-gel memory foam is designed to remove unwanted body heat and increase cooling as you sleep.

Is the Bear Good for Couples?

Memory foam mattresses are usually good choices for couples looking for motion isolation. Motion is absorbed by the different foam layers, preventing you and your partner from disturbing one another throughout the night. The Bear will have average edge support, as traditional memory foam mattresses are also more susceptible to sinkage over time. 

Bear Mattress by Sleeping Positions

Back Sleepers: The Bear will be a great mattress for back sleepers who are looking for a firm surface to keep their spines aligned and prevent any sinkage. Even heavier back sleepers will find the support they need.

Side Sleepers: Because of the firmness of the Bear, side sleepers may find their shoulders and hips are tight, with unwanted pressure. This may not be the best bed for side sleepers because it will not contour around their pressure points; they may need to look for a softer option.

Stomach Sleepers: The firmer polyfoam layers should keep hips and shoulders on top of the mattress, while also keeping the spine aligned for stomach sleepers. 

Combination Sleepers: The firmer nature of the Bear will provide the support combination sleepers need to stay on top of the mattress and keep their spine aligned. 

Bear Mattress Construction

The Bear mattress is a four-layer all-foam mattress that is 10-inches thick. It has five key elements that are meant to work especially for athletes that need to recover after a workout or competition. It has four different foam layers that provide cooling, bounce, comfort, contouring pressure relief and core support.

• The Cover: Celliant fibers woven into the cover to help your body recover faster. The cover absorbs body heat and reflects infrared light that encourages blood flow and circulation. The Bear mattress is great if you’ve had a hard workout or long hike and need a little extra care for your bones and tissues.
• Layer 1: The first layer of foam is injected with graphite gel, which helps absorb heat. Memory foam has always taken a bad rap for sleeping too hot, but the gel will help keep you cool.
• Layer 2: The second layer of foam can be described as “response” foam because it has some bounce. That bounce will help relieve pressure on hips, shoulders, and back and keeps your spine in good alignment.
• Layer 3: The third layer of foam is a transition layer. It also enhances the way the mattress relieves pressure on key parts of your body. Working with the second layer, it helps relieve pressure while also easing the mattress into the supportive layer below. You won’t just sink from the softer layers into the dense support foam layer with this third layer in between.
• Layer 4: The fourth layer is the densest. It is the support layer, designed for strength and durability.

How Much Does the Bear Mattress Cost?

The Bear Original Mattress is one of our top picks for Best Mattresses Under $1,000!

The Bear Buying Experience

Shipping, Delivery & Returns

Bear ships its boxed mattresses to the lower 48 states within 4 to 7 business days. The new mattress will arrive compressed and rolled into a box. The company doesn’t offer removal of your old mattress.

After the Bear arrives, you’ll have to set it up yourself. Bear suggests you use the buddy system to do it. Take it out of the box, unroll it and place it on top of your foundation. Then wait for it to expand to its full size.

Bear Trial Period

Bear gives you 100 days to experience the mattress. If you want to send the mattress back before the 100 days expire, Bear will send someone out to pick it up and give you a full refund.

Because sleeping on memory foam is so different for people used to an innerspring or hybrid mattress, Bear asks all customers to use the bed for at least 30 days to adjust to the feel before deciding on a return.

Bear Mattress Warranty

Bear mattresses come with a 10-year warranty, which is fairly standard in the mattress industry. The celliant cover with the special fibers is under warranty for one year.

If the mattress itself is deemed defective during the first 10 years of use by the original owner, Bear will pay for the repair or replacement of the mattress, though they won’t pay for handling or shipping.

Bear will repair sags or indentations that are greater than 1 inch and that weren’t caused by using the wrong foundation. They will also deal with any flaw in design or production that caused the memory foam to crack or split, as long as the crack had nothing to do with normal wear and tear. 

Because Bear recommends you use the mattress on a flat foundation, they will only honor the warranty if you use one.

Customer Service

You can reach Bear— by phone or by a quick email generated on the Bear website — throughout the business week. Because they have factories in different parts of the country, you will normally be able to get your questions answered when you need them answered.

Other Bear Models

Read our full Bear Hybrid Mattress Review to learn more. 

See our full Bear Pro Mattress Review to learn more. 

Our Final Bear Review

Nerd Score: 4.6/5

Bear prices its products at the affordable end of the scale without compromising on quality. They put a lot of thought into what a professional athlete – and anyone living an active lifestyle – would need to get the best night’s sleep before the next game or workout.

Your body naturally works to repair overworked muscles and tissues while it sleeps, and Bear’s use of Celliant fibers is meant to enhance that process. The graphite gel infused into the first of our memory foam layers keeps you cool, which helps you more easily stay in the prime recovery zone.

You can also purchase accessories like a cooling pillow with the same Celliant fiber recovery technology, a waterproof mattress protector, an adjustable foundation and a frame at prices up to another $350 depending on the items and sizes. Keep an eye out for specials like the Bear Bundle, which gives you a discount when you buy at least two accessories.

FAQs

What sets Bear Mattress apart from other foam mattresses?

The Bear Mattress was engineered using multiple layers of cooling, and contouring layers of memory foam to increase the pressure relieving properties that help you sleep better and recover faster. Bear also goes beyond traditional foams by using graphite-gel infused foams and their own responsive transition foam to keep you cool and aligned.

What is Celliant® Sleep Technology?

Celliant®, sourced from natural minerals, activates the body’s natural heat and reflects it back as infrared energy, a common tool used to promote a more restful sleep. It helps reduce inflammation and improves recovery times. Celliant® efficacy is not hindered by sheets, clothing or other waterproof or laminated fabrics. The material has also been through nine clinical tests to prove its effectiveness.

Does the Bear Mattress smell?

The Bear Mattress uses foams that have little to no smell. If anything, it may give off a very slight odor when you first unpack the mattress – similar to a new pair of sneakers – that will dissipate within a couple of days.