Mattress Comparison: Tuft & Needle’s Mint Mattress Vs. Purple’s The All-New Purple Mattress

We’re going to introduce you to two influential, disruptive forces in the mattress industry. These two mattress companies, Tuft & Needle and Purple, are at opposite ends of the price conversation, so let’s get down to the details about Tuft & Needle's Mint Mattress and Purple's The All-New Purple Mattress.

Every consumer wants to get the best deal price-wise but also wants to buy a quality product built to last. Mattresses are, traditionally, a significant investment expected to last because their life expectancy averages eight years or even longer. We know of people sleeping on 15-year-old mattresses they wouldn’t trade for a new car. Other people can’t wait to change mattresses every two years as long as the price is good.

Anyone shopping for a new mattress has the price-vs.-quality issue at the top of their lists as they navigate manufacturer websites, storefront excursions and friends’ recommendations. Let’s walk you through these two disruptors and cut through some of the fog of mattress buying.

Reviews

Tuft & Needle's Mint Mattress (4.2 stars) and Purple's The All-New Purple Mattress (3.4 stars) have strong customer reviews, with both earning plenty of five-star reviews. The All New Purple Mattress, however, also suffers from a lot of 1-star reviews, with some complaining about sagging, back pain or the company's return policy. Have a look below at how all types of sleepers are rating these mattresses.

Materials and Durability

Modern foam mattresses are mostly designed from a similar polyurethane material inspired by memory foam. This holds true in our Tuft & Needle vs. Purple comparison on certain levels, but there is a great disparity in the inner workings of these two mattresses.

Mattress should always be checked to ensure they've earned CertiPUR-US-certified foam designation. This indicates that there are no harmful chemicals used in the manufacturing process. Tuft & Needle and Purple qualify here. It’s unsettling that traditional foam manufacturing still produces heavy metals like mercury or lead or even levels of formaldehyde. Always avoid these mattresses.

Foam is, by design, a durable material. It bounces back to its original shape after undergoing pressure and lasts for years. It can be used in combinations to yield different levels of comfort and firmness.

Tuft & Needle's Mint Mattress contains two layers of T&N adaptive foam, a specialized, proprietary polyurethane. The All-New Purple Mattress is made from the Purple with its Smart Comfort Grid™ foam material invented by Purple founders. Purple holds an edge over most competitors because its inspired-by-science materials have been in development in stages over two decades.

Tuft & Needle's Mint Mattress

Tuft & Needle's Mint Mattress is a second-generation mattress that combines three layers of its T&N adaptive foam. This combination forms a 12-inch mattress wrapped in a micro-polyamide and polyester cover. It's a plush, breathable cover that is a tear-resistant alternative to cotton.

Tuft & Needle launched in the mattress space in 2012 with its original design and shook up the marketplace with what is described as a “universally comfortable mattress” at an affordable price. Its Mint Mattress is the company's latest mattress model, boasting enhanced features.

Tuft & Needle's Mint Mattress foam contains a blend of high-density polyfoam layered to create the comfy, chilled and flexible feel, which helps this model sell so well. This high-density mixture creates more support while allowing the mattress to adjust to your body.

The Mint Mattress cascades from top to bottom in three layers. The top layer is a 2-inch layer of T&N adaptive foam with ceramic gel. The middle layer is a 3-inch layer of T&N adaptive foam and graphite. The 7-inch base layer is constructed from adaptive foam. The bottom layer is bolstered on all sides by added edge support from the same type of foam. This helps sleepers feel like the mattress is keeping them from sliding off the edge.

Tuft & Needle's Mint Mattress foam design features 30 percent more cooling gel beads in the central layer compared with competitors' mattresses, according to Tuft & Needle. This enhancement is added to stimulate a cooling effect while also adding more support for sleepers. The mattress weighs in at 80 pounds for the queen size.

Purple's The All-New Purple Mattress

Purple took its two decades of comfort material science and design and disrupted the mattress marketplace with its Original Purple Mattress in 2015. The All-New Purple Mattress has taken the everyday mattress to a new level by combining traditional-style layers with secretive comfort materials.

The All-New Purple Mattress is a hefty mattress, with queen varieties weighing 122 pounds for firm models, 145 pounds for medium models and 168 pounds for soft models. This mass is attributed to combination of foam and spring mattress construction. Purple ranges in thickness from 10.5 to 12.5 inches based on selected comfort level.

The All-New Purple Mattress' 7.5-inch base layer showcases a unique design of responsive support coils built to support different sleep patterns. The coils are enclosed in fabric and linked together to move in unison with sleepers’ body movements.

The All-New Purple Mattress features an inspired mix of high-tech cooling technology straight out of the science-influenced minds of its creators, the founders of the company. The Smart Comfort Grid™ top layer disperses body heat by spurring air flow between the sleeper and the bedding. This Hyper-Elastic Polymer™ comes in the top layer. This top layer is responsible for the three available models of The All-New Purple Mattress. Firm models comes with a 2-inch top layer, with the medium and soft models offering 3- or 4-inch top layers, respectively.

The mattress layers are wrapped in a cover knitted with a special weave that is fire-retardant without using chemical treatments. Upkeep of the cover is maintained by spot cleaning with mild detergents.

Sleeping Position

Are you a back sleeper, stomach sleeper or side sleeper? Which sleeping position do you conform to when you put your head down or after twisting and turning through the night? It’s a debate whether all those nightly contortions really fall under defined categories, but the mattress industry defaults to these to describe how well mattresses support sleepers.

Our two mattresses in this comparison boldly claim they support all sleepers with their unique designs. Let’s follow their claims.

Tuft & Needle's Mint Mattress

With its Mint Mattress, Tuft & Needle wants to deliver on the claim: “We made the best. Then made it better.” The goal is to universally support all sleep styles with a layered, gradual firmness in which the more the sleeper’s body pushes against the mattress, the more it pushes back to meet the body.

The softness of the original top layer has been heightened for added pressure relief using the T&N adaptive foam, unique to the company. A middle, transition layer was inserted to keep sleepers from “bottoming out”—sleepers won’t feel as if they are “sinking” or getting trapped in the foam. Edge support in the foundation layer helps keep sleepers connected to the comfort areas of the top layers while supporting proper alignment of the neck and spine.

Tuft & Needle rates the Mint Mattress as universally capable of supporting all body types and sizes.

Purple's The All-New Purple Mattress

The All-New Purple Mattress is straight out of the company’s playbook of “engineered for every body.” Science is woven into all layers in this combination of traditional innerspring design and modern foam technology.

Much of the weight comes from the matrix of fabric-enclosed, individual metal coils in the base layer. Purple promotes this as a more durable foundation that supports sleepers of all sizes but suggests combined weight on the bed to max out at 600 pounds. Sleepers carrying less body weight can let the mattress cuddle up around them.

Purple has an added feature selection to help sleepers seeking different levels of mattress firmness. The top layer can be ordered as firm, medium or soft, depending on personal preference and budget, with the soft model commanding almost double the firm model's price. All layers in the mattress work to lessen pressure points as the materials adjust to body movement.

Body Contouring

A criticism of memory foam mattresses of the past has been they sleep hot and then break down into uncomfortable masses because of the body indentations. Newer mattresses such as Tuft & Needle's Mint Mattress and Purple's The All-New Purple Mattress are manufactured with enhanced foams designed to stimulate air flow and rebound into shape from the pressure of the body.

This body contouring allows the mattress to cradle the sleeper without the foam breaking down into a deformed blob. Consumers by the thousands rave about the more restful sleep these mattresses provide.

Tuft & Needle's Mint Mattress

Innovations with Tuft & Needle's Mint Mattress added 30 percent more graphite in the adaptive foam top layer, boosting cooling by whisking away 50 percent more body heat, according to Tuft & Needle. This is combined with the added ceramic gel layer, which the company says absorbs five times more heat than conventional blue-gel products.

Add in Tuft & Needle's open-cell foam technology, and the mattress becomes a layered design allowing air to flow through the mattress for more “breathability.”

The bottom layer’s firmness was increased with the Mint Mattress compared with The T&N Original Mattress, adding support. Combined with the T&N adaptive foam and more air flow, the Mint Mattress provides a “wrapped” effect for body contouring. This eliminates most motion on the bed. The new design places the Mint Mattress at a medium-firm rating for comfort.

Purple's The All-New Purple Mattress

Two decades of foam technology stemming from medical bed innovation propel Purple's The All-New Purple Mattress to the front of mattress options today. From the top comfort level selection—firm, medium and soft—to the supporting base layer, Purple’s latest mattress lays out its patented foam material beneath sleepers for a comfort-inducing rest.

Purple’s Smart Comfort Grid™ is designed to adapt to pressure points unique to each sleeper for a body contouring, or “spooning” effect. The science-enhanced material has an open grid to promote airflow and create a temperature-neutral environment. You can expect less heat and less sweating while you sleep.

The innovative combination of innerspring coils and upper layers of modern foam rebounds its shape after use. It also creates a now famous motion-isolating mattress that supports your back and relieves pressure points.

Comfort Commitment

Since the first industry disruption of an extended sleep trial and a money-back guarantee, mattress companies offer even more to attract the next customer.

Trial periods for Tuft & Needle's Mint Mattress and Purple's The All-New Purple Mattress are 100 nights, and the mattresses themselves are backed by 10-year warranties. Shipping is free, along with returns if either mattress isn’t a good fit. Tuft & Needle will deliver in about five business days while Purple takes as long as four weeks for home delivery.

Both mattresses are made in the United States and shipped from U.S. locations.