Best Beds NZ – The Surprising Trend And The Win For Your Sleep

As a kiwi mattress reviewer (I’m in Christchurch) I’ve spent my fair share of time perching on beds in shops and testing out mattresses you can buy online. I’m here to tell you that to get the best beds in NZ you don’t need to drop thousands at the big furniture shops, you can get an excellent quality mattress online, delivered for free, that you can TRY AT HOME for up to 120 days. For a fraction of the price.

Sound too good to be true? I promise you, it’s not. I have one of these online mattresses as my own bed, and my kids sleep on the others. These are all beds I’m happy to have in my own house, they’re performing well, and they’re great value for money.

Let me tell you all about the best beds NZ has to offer online. I will:

• Tell you exactly what to expect when you buy a mattress online
• Introduce you to my favourite brands (and who I recommend them for)
• Keep you up to date with discounts (this relatively new market is competitive, you’ll get an awesome deal when you follow any of my links)
• Explain the components of these online beds so you know exactly what you’re getting (what is memory foam? what is latex? how do they feel?)

Let’s start with a quick overview of my 3 Best Beds NZ Winners:

What To Expect When You Buy A Mattress Online In NZ

Every brand I talk about in this article will ensure you get the following:

• Amazing customer service (this is a MUST for any online retailer, and these guys all do a top job)
• Free delivery (forget those $100+ delivery fees from big stores
• In home sleep trial of at least 100 nights. This means you can sleep on and use the mattress in your own home for 100 nights from the day it arrives at your door. This is truly excellent, as it will actually take you about 30 days to adjust to ANY new mattress. You can really get a good idea with this system.
• Don’t like it? No worries. Each brand has good systems in place to arrange quick refunds and collection of your mattress. It’s then given to a local charity like the Salvation Army.
• At least a 10 year warranty (warranties on in store mattresses are often only 5 years)
• Expect to pay $800 – $1600 for a top of the line mattress. This is drastically less than you’d find an equal quality mattress in store (I’m talking thousands of dollars less for equal or BETTER quality)

More Details On Winkl, Peacelily, And Napp

Best Memory Foam Mattress: Winkl Mattress

Winkl is a kiwi owned company based in Auckland. They currently offer two memory foam mattress options, and a memory foam pillow.

Winkl have boldly called themselves the most comfortable mattress in NZ, and after having tried the Winkl Lux I think it’s a fair claim. It’s my favourite overall, and despite trying lots of other beds, I always come back to my Winkl! After 2 years of daily use, the foams have no sags and the mattress feels as good as the day I unboxed it.

Winkl mattresses offer a great balance of contouring and support: not too soft and not too firm. They’ve hit the sweet spot of mattress comfort that will feel amazing for most people.

Winkl is one of our most popular brands, and they often sell out of stock so you’ve got to get in quick (especially when they’re running a sale).

The Winkl Lux mattress is an absolutely amazing mattress, and I’d very happily have it in my house if I had room for it. It’s the most luxurious of all the online mattress in a box options in NZ, with extra foams, a premium cover, and a zoned support core.

The standard Winkl mattress is also a strong contender, with a comfortable 3 layer design and smart foams to offer contouring and support.

Winkl mattresses are great for:

• Pretty much everyone, except people who like a really firm mattress (you’ll probably want to scroll down to read about Peacelily)
• People who want a luxury upgrade to their mattress without a massive price tag
• The biggest sleep trial in the whole country (120 nights)
• The only memory foam mattress with a warranty longer than 10 years (the Lux has a 15 year warranty)
• Supporting a cause with your purchase: Winkl has partnered with the National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa, and regularly update customers on kiwi chicks who have been born with support from Winkl. Pretty cool!

Best Latex Mattress: Peace Lily Mattress

Peace Lily is totally unique in our mattress market. They’re the only online mattress that is made from latex, which they manage to offer at a much lower price than their main competitors.

Latex is becoming more and more popular as a mattress material as it’s natural, resilient, and supportive. If you’re looking for a mattress made ONLY of natural materials that will last a long time, latex is the right choice for you.

The Peacelily mattress has another unique feature: it has a softer side and a firmer side. This is great news if you’re feeling unsure about buying a mattress online, and getting the firmness wrong. With the two options you get with Peacelily and the 100 night sleep trial you’ve got absolutely nothing to worry about.

I have not tried this mattress myself, but watch this space because I will have one soon. I’ve tried other latex mattresses out, and they generally have a slightly bouncier feel than memory foam. Both are very comfortable.

The Peacelily mattress is great for:

• 100% natural materials
• People wanting two firmness options (the firmer side of Peacelily will be firmer than both Winkl and Napp so this could be you if you don’t want that “medium” feel that those brands target)
• People looking for the longest lasting mattress they can find (let’s be real, nobody replaces their mattress often enough, and Peacelily actually gives you a 25 year warranty so you’ll be sorted for many years to come)
• People who don’t like the idea of contouring into the mattress like you do with memory foam (latex is more bouncy)

Best Spring Based Mattress: Emma Diamond

The Emma Diamond mattress is the premium model offered by Emma. It features an amazingly plush and contouring memory foam comfort layer, and pocket spring support.

The Emma Diamond is unique for a mattress in a box because it has pocket springs. This is excellent news for those wanting the savings of buying their mattress online but still getting a coil base for breathability and edge support (which all foam mattresses can be somewhat lacking in).

The real standout feature of the Emma Diamond mattress is the memory foam, which to me, feels truly premium. It’s got that deep, kind of sinking, contouring feel you get when you test out a Tempur at Harvey Norman (which will set you back thousands more), and offers a great medium-firm feel.

I personally prefer mattresses on the softer side, and this mattress is just soft enough for me to enjoy, while also being firm enough to avoid arguments with someone who likes a firmer mattress!

The Emma Diamond mattress is great for:

• People wanting a medium-firm feel mattress to suit a range of people
• That perfect blend of contouring and support
• Pocket coils in the core instead of foam
• Great edge support
• A premium feel

Inside The Mattresses: Memory Foam Or Latex

The Mattress Core

You will have noticed something I haven’t mentioned anywhere: springs. None of these mattresses have springs inside them. This may sound weird because we’re so used to springs as the core of our mattress, but I think it’s actually an advantage.

• No springs = less motion transfer if you share the bed with a partner
• No springs = your mattress could last longer (as long as the base foam that’s used inside is of a high quality, which it is with these 3 brands)
• With Winkl and Napp, the core of the mattress is not memory foam (that’s for the comfort layers), it’s a high density polyfoam designed to be durable and provide a strong base for the memory foams to work their magic
• With Peacelily, the core of the mattress is a denser layer of natural latex

Tell Me More About Memory Foam

In a memory foam mattress, you’ll usually find 1 or 2 layers of memory foam as the comfort layer of the mattress, sitting on top of that polyfoam core. With both Winkl and Napp you get 2 layers of memory foam, and in generous amounts. Here’s some info about memory foam for you:

• Memory foam is “visco elastic”. This is a fancy term for saying that in response to pressure (i.e. your body weight) the foams mold and contour, giving a personalised support feel.
• New memory foams are fast to respond to pressure, so even though they mold to your shape somewhat, it’s not hard to move on the mattress and you won’t feel sunk into it (this is a common complaint about Tempur, where you do sink into them)
• Memory foams are extremely popular with people experiencing any sort of joint pain or discomfort, due to their supportive qualities
• Memory foam does have a bit of a bad reputation for trapping heat. This is why Winkl and Napp use technologies such as gel infusions in their foams to ensure their mattresses can dissipate that body heat. I can tell you that after sleeping on Napp all summer, heat should not be an issue.

Tell Me More About Latex

Latex is sourced from the sap of the rubber tree, then turned into a foam using either a Talalay or Dunlop process (I prefer Dunlop, it results in a more resilient mattress, and is what Peacelily use). You’ll find that most latex comes from either Thailand or Sri Lanka as the tree grows best in South East Asia.

• Latex mattresses are usually 100% latex: so the core and the comfort layers are all latex. The comfort layers will be a lower density than the core (otherwise it would be too hard)
• A big selling point of latex mattresses is that they are all natural. You should be aware that there are also synthetic latex options out there, which will be cheaper but nowhere near as durable as something like Peacelily
• Latex feels quite different than memory foam. It has a natural bounciness due to the fact it’s so resilient. You won’t contour into latex like you will with memory foam, but you’ll still feel supported and comfortable
• Latex is naturally breathable – you can see from the image that the foaming process aerates the foam leaving lots of little holes for air to escape
• Latex is extremely durable: you can expect a latex mattress to last about twice as long as any other mattress type!