Leesa Mattress Review: An Honest Assessment

I’m a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. For the past two and a half years, I’ve been interviewing experts, visiting mattress factories, and organizing mattress tests in-office. I’ve also been sleeping on a parade of mattresses in my home for Wirecutter’s guides to the best foam, hybrid, and innerspring mattresses, including all four of Leesa’s offerings.

Do we recommend it? Yes.

Who it’s for: The Leesa Hybrid is a bed that we think side-, back-, and stomach-sleepers all might like. It should also work well for people of any weight.

How it feels: This medium-firm mattress offers a loose hug and a touch of bounciness. I found it to be on the medium side of medium-firm, but soft-mattress lovers found it to be quite firm, which made side-sleeping difficult.

What we like: The 11-inch-thick Leesa Hybrid (previously called the Leesa Sapira) strikes a balance between an innerspring mattress and a foam mattress. More than 1,000 6-inch coils provide a little bounce, and above them, three foam layers offer cradling pressure relief. We think this bed should last through its 10-year warranty, given that the top layer (which is typically the most prone to wear and tear) is a 3-pounds-per-cubic-foot polyurethane foam (aka polyfoam). Although its “cooling” (that is, hole-punched) design might subtly affect durability, the Leesa Hybrid’s polyfoam is denser than the 2-pounds-per-cubic-foot minimum that experts we spoke with for our mattress-buying guide said would be adequate for most sleepers (including those who weigh more than 200 pounds). The bottom, memory-foam layer is also a sturdy 4 pounds per cubic foot.

In our 2019 blind test, 35 people sampled four hybrid mattresses, and 21 of them chose the Leesa Hybrid as a favorite or runner-up; this was just shy of the 22 who picked the Tempur-Adapt (Medium Hybrid), and considerably more than the 16 votes for the Casper Hybrid and the 11 votes for the Casper Wave Hybrid. In early 2020, during an additional test for our foam and hybrid mattress guide, we compared the Leesa Hybrid to the Tempur-Adapt, the Helix Plus, and the BedInABox Dual Hybrid. The Leesa landed at the top of the list again, with 21 out of 29 testers choosing it as their favorite or second favorite in the category.

I slept on this mattress for a week in 2018 when it was called the Sapira. Although the current Hybrid has ever-so-slightly more give, the components are the same, and we think the in-home experience would be similar between the two. Neither my husband nor I slept hot, and heat retention wasn’t a common complaint in the owner reviews we analyzed, either. The edge support was strong enough to keep me from sliding off when my son found his way into the bed in the middle of the night.

A staffer who has had the Leesa Hybrid mattress in his guest bedroom for the past year—and who sleeps on it about three days a week—had similar opinions: “The spring underneath gives it resilience and supports the edges,” he said. He found it to be comfortable no matter his sleep position, and he described the surface as more conforming than soft.

If you’re deciding between the Leesa Hybrid and the less-expensive all-foam Leesa Original, we think the Hybrid is the better choice for a more-resilient surface that makes shifting positions easier. It’s also a surer bet if you need a sturdier mattress. The foams in the Hybrid are denser and therefore less prone to body impressions and sagging; the springs give the bed an extra feeling of support. I spoke with two Leesa Original owners who later sampled the Hybrid in my apartment, and they said the Hybrid felt more “solid” than their own mattresses. I’m taller and heavier (5 feet 7 inches and 128 pounds) than the two Leesa Original owners, but I felt the same way.

A higher foam density also makes the Leesa Hybrid one of our recommended mattresses for people who weigh more than 200 pounds. Only seven participants in our 2019 test and five in our 2020 test fell into that weight category, so it’s hard to draw any definitive conclusions. Yet in both tests, all of the testers but one who fell into that weight category picked the Leesa Hybrid as either their favorite or runner-up in the hybrid category.

If you prefer a sturdy mattress with more of a memory-foam hug and less motion transfer, you might be happier with the Tempur-Adapt (Medium Hybrid)—which is also one of our picks in the over-$1,000 range and has similar foam density to the Leesa Hybrid. If you want a springier, plusher feel (and have a flexible budget), try the Leesa Legend.

What we don’t like: The Leesa Hybrid allowed more motion transfer than our other favorite hybrid, the Tempur-Adapt. So if you’re sensitive to a partner’s tossing and turning, the Leesa Hybrid might not be the mattress for you.

Although we do think the Leesa Hybrid should hold up for people who weigh more than 200 pounds, comfort and support depend on personal preference and a person’s specific weight distribution. Heavier folks may prefer something firmer. For instance, one of our staffers who weighs about 120 pounds had the Hybrid for two years and loved it, but her 240-pound partner developed back problems while sleeping on it. (They’ve since switched to the Tempur-LuxeAdapt, an upgraded version of the Tempur-Adapt, and both are happy with that choice.)

The top foam layer of the Leesa Hybrid may be too squishy for people who prefer innerspring mattresses, too: A Wirecutter staffer who usually sleeps on an innerspring recently did a trial of the Leesa Hybrid and returned it because she felt “stuck” and unable to shift positions easily. If you’re more of an innerspring person, we recommend the Saatva Classic mattress, an innerspring bed that you can easily order online.

Online reviews on the Leesa site from August 2020 to January 2021 run the gamut in terms of perceived firmness levels, but three times as many people described the Leesa Hybrid as firm (12) versus soft (four). Although firmness is subjective, this suggests that those who insist on a very soft mattress may not find this mattress appealing. Justin Redman, Wirecutter’s associate sleep writer, prefers softer mattresses. He slept on the Hybrid at home for a week and overall found it to be uncomfortable, wishing he had more pressure relief for his shoulders.

Firmness issues aside, off-gassing was the second-most-recurring complaint in owner reviews. We recommend airing this bed out in a separate room with the window open for a few days before sleeping on it.

Do we recommend it? Yes—but only if you love the specific feel of the mattress. You can buy other good memory-foam mattresses of similar quality for less.

Who it’s for: The Leesa Original works best for side-sleepers who don’t want a super-plush mattress. We don’t recommend it for people who weigh more than 200 pounds.

How it feels: This medium to medium-soft mattress doesn’t mold to the body like memory foam typically does; instead, the feeling is more like a loose cradle. “I liked that it has the soft feel of foam but it didn’t let me sink too far in,” said a staffer in our July 2019 group test.

What we like: The 10-inch-thick Leesa Original was one of our favorite mattresses in our first foam-mattress review, in 2016, and although we’ve since identified similar mattresses at a better price, we still think it’s a good-quality, under-$1,000 (for a queen) mattress.

The top layer is a 2-inch polyurethane foam, followed by the same thickness of memory foam. A polyurethane-foam base lies at the bottom. The foam densities are typical of under-$1,000 mattresses (3, 3, and 1.8 pounds per cubic foot, respectively). We think these should last for the long term for people who weigh less than 200 pounds, or if the bed is used infrequently. A staffer who has kept this mattress in a guest bedroom for the past three years told us it has held up well. It typically gets slept in for about a week each month, he said, and so far it has shown no signs of sagging or indentations.

In our July 2019 test, fans of the Original noted that it was a supportive mattress with just the right “sink”—not too soft, not too firm. At home, the motion isolation was among the best I had experienced. I’m a light sleeper and typically wake up often, but during a week of testing this mattress, I slept right up until morning (at least on the nights that my son didn’t slip into the bed).

The Original also has the sturdiest mattress cover we’ve seen in the around-$1,000 foam category. Although it’s made with a simple polyester, it’s nevertheless thicker and softer than the covers of the competition. So we think that will make it less likely to thin out or loosen over time, and it fits snuggly on the mattress.

What we don’t like: The foam layers could be prone to sagging for sleepers who weigh more than 200 pounds. Indeed, we spotted a couple of comments from heavier readers who noticed body impressions. In addition, one couple (the husband weighs 230 pounds, and the wife weighs 115) discovered body impressions on the husband’s side after six months, but his wife’s side remained “like new.” When they switched sides, yet another body impression formed on the husband’s side.

Without springs, the edge support on the Original is less solid than that on the Hybrid or the Legend. One owner told us it’s difficult to sit on this mattress when you’re putting on your socks.

Recent user reviews from 2020 and 2021 on Amazon bear this out: Out of 33 negative comments, a whopping 26 complained about sagging, which some said occurred after as few as six months. (This was not a common complaint among user reviews on the company’s own site; perhaps most people posted soon after purchasing the Original.) We didn’t come across this issue with the Leesa Hybrid.

The experts we interviewed for our mattress-buying guide said that to avoid having problems with mattress durability, people who weigh more than 200 pounds should look for memory-foam densities of at least 4 pounds per cubic foot. Some examples include the Leesa Hybrid, the Tempur-Adapt (Medium Hybrid), or the Loom & Leaf. To cut the risk of body impressions, no matter your weight, you should diligently rotate your mattress at least every six months, and try to sleep all over the mattress when possible.

We also think there are less expensive mattresses out there that are just as comfortable as the Leesa Original. For instance, the Novaform ComfortGrande—our top foam pick for under $1,000—has a similar foam density and is frequently on sale for $500. It feels a bit more pillowy on top, though. As with the Leesa Hybrid, off-gassing was another recurring complaint with the Leesa Original, so you’ll want to let it air out for a few days before sleeping on it.

Do we recommend it? It depends on how flexible your budget is.

Who it’s for: The Leesa Legend should work for people who are primarily back- and stomach-sleepers, as well as for those who roll onto their side from time to time. It should also hold up for people of all weights, including those who weigh more than 200 pounds.

How it feels: Out of the box, the Legend feels medium-firm to almost-firm. But over the course of the week, the foam breaks in and feels increasingly more pliable. The Legend loosely cradles you, more than outright conforming to your body. And though there’s memory foam in this bed, there’s none of that sticky, sinking sensation; there’s only enough cushion to subdue the impact of the springs.

What we like: The Legend has a sturdy feel. It balances the cradling sensation of foam with the buoyancy of coils. And though the bed may feel a bit stiff out of the box, it will gradually become more cuddly and more like a true medium-firm mattress. (Interestingly, when we tried the bed briefly in a showroom more than a year ago, it felt considerably softer than the model we slept on at home, presumably because many others had sampled it.)

We think the Legend should hold up in the long run, too, perhaps even more so than the Leesa Hybrid. Like the Hybrid, the Legend has a foam second layer that’s 4 pounds per cubic foot, as well as 1,041 coils in the support layer (albeit in a slightly thinner gauge—15 instead of 14½). But the top layer is also made with a dense, 3½-pounds-per-cubic-foot perforated polyfoam, and the memory foam is bolstered by an additional layer of 756 pocketed microcoils—all of which add durability. The cover is soft and thick, like those of the other Leesa mattresses. But this one is made with organic cotton and wool fill, and it’s stitched with thread that comes from recycled water bottles.

I slept comfortably on it in all positions, particularly as the days progressed and the foam took on a pillowy feel. The microcoils seem to have muted any sinkiness or stickiness from the memory foam, while giving enough resilience to make shifting positions easy. The edge was strong, for both sitting and sleeping near the edge, and the motion isolation was surprisingly good, despite the many coils.

What we don’t like: It’s expensive. The microcoils and denser foam are certainly a plus, but the pretty organic-cotton cover is more of a nice-to-have feature than an essential one. That’s why we think the less expensive Leesa Hybrid is a more practical choice if you don’t mind a slightly-sticky-yet-still-springy feel. For the Legend’s high price tag, you could instead afford the Zenhaven, which is made of sturdier latex, or (on one of its frequent sales) the Charles P. Rogers Estate SE Mattress, which is also made with latex and features thicker coils.

As of this writing, online reviews on the Legend remain sparse. A side-sleeper on Reddit thought it didn’t offer enough pressure relief for their shoulders. But among the nine negative reviews concerning firmness level found on the Leesa site, the impression on feel was mixed. Three said it was too firm, three complained it was too soft, and another three mentioned that it started out firm but (as we found) soon softened up a bit (too much for two of the reviewers).

Do we recommend it? No.

Who it’s for: This mattress works best for back- and stomach-sleepers who want a nice-looking mattress that’s under $1,000. It’s probably too firm for most side-sleepers. The Studio is not recommended for people who weigh more than 200 pounds (or even the majority of adults who are lighter than that).

How it feels: Leesa’s site rates the Studio mattress somewhere between a 5 and 7 in terms of firmness (10 being the firmest), but we think it’s more like an 8 or a 9. You’ll feel as if you’re sleeping on top of the mattress as opposed to in it, though the slow sink of its memory foam makes that firmness easier on pressure points than other firm mattresses we’ve tried.

What we like: Out of the box, the Studio by Leesa is impressive. It looks and feels as sturdy as the Leesa Original, complete with an attractive quilted sock cover and a substantial-feeling build. It’s a more elegant, nuanced mattress than the similarly priced, one-note polyfoam Element from Casper. The Studio is firm for sure (even my husband, who’s just under 200 pounds, thought so—and he rarely ever feels this way). But it does offer a slow, controlled sink at the heaviest portions of your body; it’s subtle but unmistakably there. I fell asleep on my back and stomach most easily on this mattress. But shifting onto my side wasn’t difficult (despite the memory-foam top layer), nor was it uncomfortable. Unlike on other under-$1,000 firm mattresses, on the Studio I didn’t feel as if my shoulders or hips had hit a “wall” as my weight sunk in; rather, I felt somewhat suspended.

The edge support was sturdy enough, too. I never felt like I was falling off the bed, even when I was pushed to its farthest borders. But the Studio does start to slope a bit when you sit near the edge. The motion isolation is also quite good: I felt only a slight shift when my son plopped onto my side of the bed from a running start.

What we don’t like: Leesa’s entry-level offering doesn’t feel quite entry-level, but it’s also not very entry-level-priced. Its street price—around $800 ($600 on sale) for a queen—is higher than the price of both the Novaform ComfortGrande (our mid-priced foam pick) and the entry-level and one-note Casper Element.

Despite its substantial feel, the Studio has a memory-foam density of only 2½ pounds per cubic foot—less than the 3-pounds-per-cubic-foot minimum experts recommend for adults weighing up to 200 pounds (as we report in our mattress-buying guide). Given the denser Leesa Original’s tendency to experience body impressions, we expect the Studio to be even more prone to them. What’s more, the Studio’s top layer is made with memory foam (versus being the second layer in the Original), which means it’ll be more exposed to wear and tear.

After a week of sleeping on the Studio, I could still smell a bit of the off-gassing. At times, I felt hot near the surface of the mattress. But this wasn’t too different from how I felt while sleeping on other cheaper mattresses with no springs, such as the Casper Element.

Surprisingly, we found few online reviews about this mattress. We spotted two (one on Amazon and one on Leesa’s site) describing the mattress as firm. That’s hardly a good sample size, but we do happen to agree with these assessments. This isn’t a mattress for sleepers who insist on a plush mattress.

All four mattresses—the Leesa Hybrid, the Leesa Original, the Leesa Legend, and the Studio by Leesa—ship in a box for free via FedEx Ground. You have up to 100 nights to return your mattress for a full refund if you don’t like it (unless you live in Alaska or Hawaii, in which case you must pay a $100 return fee). However, you have to sleep on your mattress for at least 30 nights before you can ask the company to pick it up (to allow “your body ample time to adjust to the feel of a new mattress”). Leesa covers the mattresses with a 10-year full-replacement limited warranty.

As is true with most online mattresses, you can buy directly from the company’s site. You can also try the mattress at select Pottery Barn and West Elm stores, as well as at Leesa’s own retail shop, the Dream Gallery, in New York City and in Virginia Beach, Virginia.