Will the Nectar or the Bear Mattress Help You Get a Good Night’s Sleep? Our Review
When you’re on the lookout for a new mattress, the array of choices can seem daunting. Should you go to the store and swim with the mattress salesman sharks? How can you buy a bed online if you don’t know how the mattress feels beforehand? Here at Sleep Reviews, we believe that buying a mattress shouldn’t be a stressful or confusing excursion. When you go to a brick and mortar mattress store, you get the benefit of trying out the bed, but you have to deal with high-pressure sales tactics. When you purchase online, it’s convenient and quick. But, you can’t try the mattress on for size. So, we’re going to take some of the guesswork out of mattress buying for you. Today, we’ll review the Nectar bed vs. the Bear mattress. We’ll cover the construction, feel, and firmness of each bed. After reading, you’ll be able to decide if either bed-in-a-box mattress can meet your particular sleep needs.
Overview
Nectar Sleep is a new online mattress shop that’s quickly gained a reputation for being one of the most affordable bed-in-a-box memory foam mattresses in the industry. Founded in 2017, Nectar Sleep believes that one-size can fit all in the mattress world. With Nectar beds, sleepers get a medium-firm mattress in a size of their choice. The beds are incredibly affordable, durable, and give you that luxurious memory foam feel.
What sets Bear beds apart from the Nectar Sleep brand? The Bear brand offers sleepers two types of mattress. The first is a mixed-foam mattress and a hybrid mattress. Bear markets their products to people who live active lifestyles. The beds are wrapped in an FDA-approved Celliant cover. Celliant is used in medical devices to diffuse heat and facilitate a deeper level of sleep, and also helps relieve pain and aid in faster muscle recovery. The hybrid Bear mattress has a similar feel to a traditional innerspring mattress because it uses pocketed micro coils in its core. Both Bear beds offer a medium-firm support level.
What are the fundamental similarities between the Bear bed and the Nectar?
- Both beds use memory foam
- Both beds have a similar base layer construction
What are some of the significant differences between these two beds?
- The Bear is thinner than the Nectar mattress
- The Bear offers a balanced foam feel
- Nectar beds provide sleepers with a classic memory-foam feel
- The comfort layer is thicker in the Nectar bed
- Nectar beds are more affordable than Bear beds
- The Bear uses Celliant in the cover
- The Hybrid Bear uses micro coils inside the core
- Nectar uses tencel and cotton for their mattress covers
- Bear beds are made in the U.S.
- Nectar beds are made in China.
How are Nectar and Bear beds constructed?
The Nectar bed is made out of five layers of gel memory foam, and it is 11 inches thick. For the cover, Nectar uses a soft tencel and long-staple cotton weave. Tencel is made out of 100% wood and is bed bug resistant. Also, tencel helps to dispel heat and allow for further airflow, keeping sleepers cool, even though it is a memory foam bed.
The top layer is made out of woven gel memory foam that is cooling. Beneath this layer sits 3 inches of soft, slow-responding gel memory foam. Next, there is a thin 1-inch layer of transitional foam, and a final base layer of high-density poly foam coming in at 5.5 inches thick. This gives the bed a stable and sturdy foundation.
Bear mattresses are 10 inches tall with a soft, woven Celliant cover. Beneath the cover sits 1.5 inches of graphite-gel memory foam. Next, you’ll find 1 inch of latex-like comfort foam, then another inch of transitional performance foam. Finally, the base layer is 6.5 inches of high-density support foam. With the Bear Hybrid, there are 2.5 inches of individually wrapped coils within the support layer. This allows for deep compression support, bounciness, and additional airflow.
Bear beds give sleepers a bouncier feel, and you feel more like you are sleeping ‘on’ the mattress. With a Nectar bed, you get a more traditional memory foam feel, where you sink into the bed a little more. But Nectar beds are medium-firm, so there isn’t too much contouring.
What are the firmness and support like for either mattress?
Nectar beds, on a scale of 1 to 10, are set at a 6.5 for a medium-firm feel. A bed at this level should meet the needs of a range of sleepers. The comfort and base layers in the bed make it sturdy and durable and give sleepers adequate pressure relief. Side and back sleepers report feeling comfortable on a Nectar bed. Nectar beds score exceptionally high with side sleepers. Stomach sleepers might find these beds a little too soft though, but overall they do an excellent job of relieving back pressure.
Bear beds are also medium-firm but are slightly firmer than a Nectar bed. On a scale of 1 – 10, Bear mattresses are set at a comfortable 7. Stomach sleepers might find the Bear gives a little bit more support than the Nectar.
The Bear bed is faster responding than the Nectar. If you prefer a classic memory foam feel where you are ‘hugged’ by the bed, Nectar is a better choice. Sleepers who toss and turn at night will like the feel of a Bear bed.
Does either mattress off-gas or produce unpleasant odors after you unbox it?
Bed-in-a-box mattresses have a reputation for smelling while they expand. These beds are compressed, vacuum-sealed, then shipped to a warehouse to await delivery. When you click ‘buy,’ the bed is shipped to your door. Once you get the bed, you’ll need to unwrap it and let it expand for 24 to 48 hours.
When mattresses are compressed and sealed, chemical odors, used during the manufacturing process, get trapped. This isn’t anything dangerous or hazardous to your health. But with both the Bear and the Nectar, you’ll need to allow time for off-gassing. Wait until they are entirely expanded before putting on the bedding and using the mattresses.
Which mattress is better for hot sleepers?
The Nectar does a decent job of keeping most sleepers cool at night. But keep in mind that it is a memory foam mattress. Memory foam is a naturally hot material. The tencel cover, and the woven gel memory foam in the Nectar will keep medium-hot sleepers pretty cool at night, though.
The Bear mattress has the same issue as the Nectar when it comes to temperature control; it’s still a memory foam bed. If you have a tough time staying cool at night, look at the ZenHaven bed or an innerspring mattress for temperature control.
How well does the Nectar or the Bear do when it comes to motion isolation?
Nectar beds do a pretty good job at isolating motion. If you share a bed, you don’t want to wake your partner when you turn over. The thick, dense layers of gel memory foam in the Nectar bed keep motion transference to a minimum. Bear mattresses are also very good at minimizing motion transference, so there isn’t much difference between the two models here.
Does either bed offer good edge support?
Bear mattresses score low when it comes to edge support. If you sleep near the edge of the bed or have to sit on the side of the bed frequently, you may want to pass over the Bear mattress.
But, Nectar beds offer decent edge support. The gel memory foam is evenly distributed throughout the bed and does an excellent job of supporting edge-of-the-bed sleepers and sitters.
How much can you expect to pay for each bed?
Nectar beds are some of the most affordable all memory foam mattresses you can find. Expect to pay the following for a Nectar mattress:
- $399 Twin
- $469 Twin XL
- $599 Full
- $699 Queen
- $799 King
- $799 California King
Bear beds come in two models and are priced as follows:
- $540 Twin Bear/$1,050 Hybrid
- $640 Twin XL Bear/$1,050 Hybrid
- $740 Full Bear/$1250 Hybrid
- $840 Queen Bear/$1350 Hybrid
- $940 King Bear/$1650 Hybrid
- $940 California King Bear/$1650 Hybrid
What are the warranties and trial periods for these beds?
The Nectar bed offers customers a generous 365-day trial. You can see how these beds work for you during all seasons of the year before you commit. The company also offers a lifetime warranty.
Bear beds come with a 100-day trial and a ten-year warranty for the Bear and a 20-year warranty for the Hybrid model.
How are the beds shipped?
Nectar beds are manufactured in China. They are compressed, vacuum-sealed, and then shipped to a warehouse in the U.S. When you buy one, it’s sent for free to your door if you live in the lower 48 states. Those who reside in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Alaska will have to pay a shipping charge. There is a white glove delivery option available if you need it. You can only purchase Nectar beds from their online store.
Bear beds are made in the U.S., compressed, and shipped in boxes to any part of the U.S. and Canada for free. You can buy a Bear bed from either their online store or through Amazon. The hybrid mattress is only available in their online store, and they do operate one brick-and-mortar showroom in Hoboken, New Jersey.
What is either brand’s customer service reputation like?
Nectar had a few blips in the radar when they first started ou last year. There were a few issues with deliverability. But since then, the company has made strides in this area. You’ll find many good ratings for the brand across multiple third-party review sites. Bear also gets consistently good reviews on third-party websites.
What sleepers can benefit from a Nectar bed?
Side sleepers report excellent pressure relief when sleeping on a Nectar mattress. Back sleepers also are well supported in the neck and shoulders on a Nectar. But, stomach sleepers might fare better with a firmer mattress. Sleepers of all weights do well on Nectar beds. And for couples, the Nectar bed’s superior motion isolation and edge support are ideal. People who sometimes get hot at night will find the Nectar mattress adequately cooling, too. Budget-conscious shoppers will also benefit from the Nectar’s competitive pricing.
What sleepers can benefit from a Bear mattress?
Lightweight, and average-weight side and back sleepers will get a good night’s rest on either the Bear or the Hybrid Bear mattress. The beds are marketed as being cooling, but customer reviews are mixed on this front. If you like the traditional innerspring feel, but want the motion isolation of a memory foam bed, the Bear Hybrid is a good option.
What’s our Nectar and Bear beds review bottom line?
The Bear bed offers sleepers innovative, copper and graphite infusion mattresses. The free shipping option is nice too. But overall, we think the Nectar will give you a better value for your money. These beds have a reputation for appealing to a wide range of sleepers. They are incredibly affordable but are made from high-quality materials. If you’re a side sleeper and share a bed, you might want to give the Nectar a try. For 365 days, it can’t hurt to at least take advantage of the trial period.
Are you still curious about what other mattress brands are out there? Check out our other reviews. We’re always updating our roster, and you’ll be sure to find a bed that’s going to meet your sleep needs.
