Bear vs. Helix Mattress Comparison
The Bear Original is a memory foam mattress designed specifically for athletes. It has an all-foam design and a Celliant cover that’s designed to improve blood flow and recovery. The Helix Midnight is one of six mattresses in Helix’s standard line of hybrid beds. It’s the most popular of the six, thanks to its balanced, medium-firm feel.
In this mattress comparison, we’ll go through everything you need to know about the two popular mattress brands—from firmness and feel to how well they accommodate different sleeping positions.
If you want to know more about how we test and review our mattresses, feel free to read up on our testing methodology.
Bear vs. Helix Overview
Here’s a short overview of the Bear and Helix mattresses, covering all their distinctive features and who we recommend them to the most.
| Bear is best for… | Helix is best for… |
| Athletes and regular exercisers | Lightweight and average-weight sleepers |
| People who enjoy a balance of conforming and support | Side and back sleepers |
| Value shoppers | Hot sleepers |
Who Should Choose the Bear Mattress?
- Athletes and regular exercisers: If you want the health benefits of Celliant technology—like boosted oxygen levels, faster recovery, and relief from aches–go with the Bear.
- People who enjoy a balance of conforming and support: The Bear has an accommodating feel that isn’t too soft or too firm for the average sleeper.
- Value shoppers: The Bear mattress is made with high-quality materials and a thoughtful design, but boasts a lower price point than the average bed-in-a-box brand.
Who Should Choose the Helix Mattress?
- Lightweight and average-weight sleepers: If you weigh less than 230 lbs, you should feel comfortable and supported in almost any position on this mattress.
- Side and back sleepers: The Helix Midnight’s top layer of memory foam will conform around your hips, shoulders, and low back, while the individually-wrapped coils lift your spine into a healthy position, making it an especially good match for side and back sleepers.
- Hot sleepers: The Helix Midnight sleeps noticeably cool thanks to its breathable cover, cool top layers, and airflow through the coil support layer.
Bear vs. Helix Mattress Video Comparison
Let’s take a closer look at the top similarities between the foam Bear and hybrid Helix mattresses.
Bear vs. Helix: Top Similarities
- Balanced feel: Both mattresses offer a balance of comfort and support. Their comfort layers provide pressure relief while the transition and base layers add support and responsiveness.
- Pricing: The Bear and Helix Midnight mattresses are both lower-cost mid-range mattresses. The Queen size Bear and Midnight are priced within $100 of each other.
- Back sleeper support: Both of these beds are well-suited to back sleeping, thanks to soft top layers and supportive transition and base layers.
Bear vs. Helix: Top Differences
- Cover material: The Helix Midnight’s cover, while breathable and soft, takes a back seat in comparison to other features of the mattress. Alternatively, the Bear’s Celliant cover is one of the bed’s main highlights. Celliant yarn is said to improve blood flow, keep you cool, and encourage active tissue recovery.
- Cooling features: Both mattresses sleep cool relative to comparable models, but the way they achieve it is different. The Helix Midnight has a breathable cover and coil base layer. The Bear’s Celliant cover and gel-infused comfort foam help it sleep cooler than conventional memory foam beds.
- Side sleeper support: We recommend only the Helix Midnight to side sleepers since it has a softer feel and more sinkage around pressure points than the Bear. For more pressure-relieving options, consider one of the best mattresses for side sleepers.
Bear vs. Helix: Firmness & Feel Differences
After testing them out in our sleep lab, here’s how Bear and Helix stack against each other in terms of firmness and feel.
What’s the Firmness Of the Bear & Helix Mattresses?
When buying a mattress, the mattress firmness level should be one of the first things you should consider, as it has a big impact on your sleeping experience. On a firmness scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the softest and 10 being the firmest, here’s how each mattress scored:
The Bear mattress is around a 7/10 on the firmness scale, with 10 being very firm. This makes the Bear a little firmer than average. The Helix Midnight is a medium-firm mattress with a 6/10 firmness level.
What Do the Bear & Helix Mattresses Feel Like?
Sleeping on Bear feels very balanced and stable, thanks to its medium-firm foam layers. The top layer of memory foam is soft, but its viscous, contouring feel is balanced by the firmer, bouncier transition foam and support layers right underneath. There’s a slight sinking sensation that always comes with most foam mattresses, but you can still feel like you’re sleeping on top of the mattress rather than “in” it.
The Helix Midnight provides an even more balanced mix of comfort, support, and pressure relief than the Bear. It’s comfortable in all sleeping positions and provides the sensation of sleeping “in” the mattress.
What’s It Like to Sleep On the Bear & Helix Mattresses?
Bear is very versatile and can accommodate most sleeping positions. However, some lightweight and average-weight side sleepers may feel like it’s a bit too firm on their hips and shoulders. But for back and stomach sleepers, the Bear mattress provides great support, cushion, and pressure relief for the spine. It’s also very responsive despite being a foam mattress, so combination sleepers will also be happy with it.
Similar to Bear, the Helix provides a balanced feel that fares well for most sleeping positions. But unlike Bear, the Helix Midnight excels when it comes to accommodating side sleepers of all weights. It also sleeps lightweight and average-weight back sleepers well, while stomach sleepers may feel that it’s lacking in support. The Helix Midnight struggles a bit in terms of responsiveness, so combination sleepers are probably better off with the more responsive Bear.
The Bear vs. Helix Mattresses By Body Type
Bear Performance By Body Type & Sleeping Position:
| Body Type: | BACK SLEEPERS | STOMACH SLEEPERS | SIDE SLEEPERS |
| Lightweight (< 130 lbs): | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Average-weight (130–230 lbs): | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Heavyweight (> 230 lbs): | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Helix Performance By Body Type & Sleeping Position:
| Body Type: | BACK SLEEPERS | STOMACH SLEEPERS | SIDE SLEEPERS |
| Lightweight (< 130 lbs): | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Average-weight (130–230 lbs): | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Heavyweight (> 230 lbs): | 3 | 3 | 4 |
1 = Very poor, 2 = Not good, 3 = Fair, 4 = Good, 5 = Excellent
Average-Weight Sleepers (130–230 lbs)
Average-weight back sleepers will probably find a better night’s sleep on the Bear mattress thanks to its firm and spine-supportive foam layers. Helix is also a good choice, but we think the Bear feels comfier.
The Helix Midnight greatly outperforms the Bear when it comes to accommodating average-weight side sleepers. Thanks to its supportive and contouring middle layer, Helix is able to nestle the hips and shoulders comfortably.
For average-weight stomach sleepers, you should pick Bear. The Helix is also a comfy choice, but we found the Bear’s thicker foam profile a better pick for hip support and cushion.
Average weight combination sleepers will sleep better on the responsive Bear mattress since Helix struggles in terms of responsiveness.
Heavyweight Sleepers (> 230 lbs)
In terms of support, both the Bear and Helix share the same score for heavyweight back sleepers. However, we think that the Bear slightly outperforms Helix because of its firmer nature.
The Helix Midnight will be the better choice for heavyweight side sleepers since it brings a higher level of support, comfort, and cushion for the hips and shoulders.
Heavyweight stomach sleepers will probably find the Helix Midnight more comfortable than the Bear. The former performs better when it comes to keeping the hips elevated and aligned in a neutral spine position.
Heavyweight combination sleepers should pick Bear over the Helix because of its overall better responsiveness. However, some folks may feel like they sink in too much.
Lightweight Sleepers (< 130 lbs)
Lightweight back sleepers will sleep comfortably on either mattress, but we think the Bear mattress excels a bit more in this regard because of its supportive memory foam layers.
We think the Helix Midnight is the perfect fit for lightweight side sleepers because of its excellent pressure relief and body-contouring capabilities.
Lightweight stomach sleepers will find comfort on either mattress, but the Bear does a better job at preventing back arching and hip sinkage.
Of the two, the Bear does a much better job of providing ease of movement for lightweight combination sleepers who toss and turn a lot.
Differences In Mattress Construction
Introductory sentence addressing whether the mattresses have similar or different constructions, including mattress height.
| Bear Mattress Materials | Helix Mattress Materials |
| Breathable Celliant Cover | “Soft Touch” Cover |
| 2” Graphite-Gel Memory Foam | 2” Memory Plus Foam |
| 2” Responsive Transition Foam | 1” Polyfoam Transition Layer |
| 6” High-Density Support Foam | Pocketed Coils + 1” DuraDense Foam |
Cover
Bear uses a patented Celliant cover, which they claim aids in muscle recovery and improves blood flow for better performance by redirecting infrared light into your body while you sleep. Helix’s “Soft Touch” cover sleeps cool and has a soft, slightly stretchy feel.
Comfort Layers
Bear’s comfort layer is made from graphite gel-infused memory foam that helps absorb body heat to keep you cool at night. Helix has its proprietary Memory Plus Foam that excels in pressure relief.
Support Layers
Bear has a 6″ base foam layer, while Helix uses a coil-and-foam support system.
Bear vs. Helix Pricing
| Size | Bear Prices | Helix Prices |
| Twin | $ | $ |
| Twin XL | $ | $ |
| Full | $ | $ |
| Queen | $ | $ |
| King | $ | $ |
| California King | $ | $ |
For exclusive discounts on both beds see our Bear mattress coupons and Helix mattress coupons.
Bear vs. Helix Mattress Performance Ratings & Differences
Temperature
The Bear and Helix Midnight boast several design features to help you get a cool night’s sleep. The Bear has a Celliant cover that helps cool down the surface of the mattress, and the comfort foam has a graphite-gel infusion to help dissipate heat. The Helix Midnight has a layer of coils for improved airflow and a breathable cover.
You can also upgrade to the Helix Midnight LUXE version, which has more cooling features and is one of our top picks for best cooling mattress.
Motion Transfer
If you sleep with a partner and are concerned about feeling their movement throughout the night, the Helix Midnight does a better job of minimizing motion transfer. The top memory foam layer absorbs a good amount of movement, and we even consider the Helix Midnight LUXE (the upgraded version of the Midnight) to be one of the best mattresses for couples.
Surprisingly, we felt a lot of movement on the surface of the Bear. Normally, we’d expect better motion isolation from a memory foam mattress.
Edge Support
Edge support is important if you like sitting on the edge of your bed or if you share a smaller mattress with a partner. You should feel secure sitting or lying around the edges of the Helix Midnight, but we noticed more sinkage when sitting along the sides of the Bear Original.
Pressure Relief
The amount of pressure relief you experience on either mattress will depend on your weight and sleeping position. The Bear Original offers excellent pressure relief for lightweight and average-weight sleepers, but it doesn’t have a deep-sinking feel. If you want a touch of pressure relief while feeling supported along the spine, we recommend the Bear.
The Helix Midnight is a slightly different story. It can offer pressure relief for the same body types (average-weight and lightweight), and it has the cushioning needed for side sleeping without bunching up around the shoulders and hips.
Pain Relief
Ever woken up with a sore back or hip? Chances are, your mattress is a huge contributing factor. A mattress’s ability to relieve pain is dependent on how well it relieves pressure. When there’s a build-up of pressure in one area, pain and aches are likely to occur in that area.
Generally, both mattresses are fantastic at providing pain relief for most lightweight to average-weight sleepers. But they each have their forte.
For those with back pain, the firmer Bear mattress is an excellent choice since it aids in keeping a neutral spine alignment. But for those with side pains, the Helix Midnight is the better and more supportive choice.
Durability
Both mattresses feature quality materials and durable constructions, so we expect both to last at least seven years. Between the two, we think the Helix Midnight will last longer. Both brands offer 10-year mattress warranties for these models.
Shipping, Returns, & Warranties
Bear
Bear offers free shipping in the contiguous U.S. Each mattress comes with a 120-day sleep trial and a Lifetime warranty that covers material and design defects but only under certain conditions.
Helix
Helix provides free shipping in the contiguous U.S., with extra fees for orders to Canada (around $250 + customs tax). Each mattress comes with a 100-day sleep trial and a 10-year warranty.
More Helix Mattresses
This mattress is no longer available for purchase. To help you find your next mattress, check out our list of the best mattresses available on the market now.
This mattress is no longer available for purchase. To help you find your next mattress, check out our list of the best mattresses available on the market now.
More Bear Mattresses
This mattress is no longer available for purchase. To help you find your next mattress, check out our list of the best mattresses available on the market now.
This mattress is no longer available for purchase. To help you find your next mattress, check out our list of the best mattresses available on the market now.
Our Final Take
Both the Helix Midnight and the Bear Original are excellent options. Each has its bells and whistles, is well made, and can suit a relatively wide variety of body types and sleeping positions.
Go with the original Bear if you want the more affordable mattress option with a traditional memory foam feel and Celliant cover for active recovery. Go with the Helix Midnight if you want a slightly more neutral, responsive feel, the added airflow of a pocketed coil support layer, and have a larger budget.
Bear & Helix FAQs
Is the Helix Midnight good for side sleepers?
Yes, the Helix Midnight does a fantastic job of providing ample support, cushion, and pressure relief for side sleepers of all body types. It has a polyfoam middle layer that helps contour and conform to your body’s natural curves for better comfort and less pressure build-up.
Do Bear mattresses sleep hot?
Not at all. Despite being an all-foam mattress, the Bear mattress sleeps cool thanks to its cooling graphite gel-infused memory foam and patented Celliant cover that helps wick away excess body heat.
How firm is a Helix Midnight mattress?
According to our firmness scale (that goes from 1 to 10, with 1 being the softest to 10 being the firmest), the Helix Midnight got a score of 6/10, which is equivalent to a medium-firm feel.
How long do Bear mattresses last?
Similar to other foam mattresses, you can expect your Bear mattress to last you around 8 to 10 years, depending on the daily wear and tear it goes through. You can maximize the lifespan of your mattress through regular cleaning and maintenance.
