Koala Mattress NZ – Sorry, Koala no longer sells their mattresses in New Zealand! Koala sold their mattresses here between 2016 and 2018, but they’re focusing on their home market in Australia these days. Don’t worry, if you’re an existing Koala owner, your warranty is still valid and details on how to make claims are on the Koala website.
However, if you’ve come here to find a review of a Koala Mattress in the hopes of buying one in New Zealand, you’ll be happy to hear there are actually better (and New Zealand owned) options anyway (and if you’re still feeling sad, I’ve seen them pop up on trademe every now and then). If you’re still here and haven’t clicked away in disappointment about Koala being gone from our shores, let me tell you what your best Koala alternatives are here in NZ.
I’ll take you through:
- What The Koala Mattress Is Like
- What Are Similar Mattresses Available Here In New Zealand (so you can get the closest thing to it)
- Which Is My Top Recommendation (If you’ve seen the banner across the top of this very page, you can probably guess that it’s going to be Winkl – which I sleep on myself and have been using for nearly a year now)
A Look At The Koala Mattress
The Koala mattress that’s currently available in Australia has undergone some changes from the model that used to be available in New Zealand. Let’s take a brief look at it so you can get an idea of what materials are in it now, so you can see what’s going to be comparable from your New Zealand options. Since you can’t actually BUY this mattress, I’ll keep it quick:
- Price (Australian dollars): $750 – $1250 (pretty standard mattress in a box pricing)
- Height: 25cm (again, pretty standard)
- Tencel Cover: This is a nice, plant based (usually sustainably grown bamboo) material that feels silky and is good at wicking away moisture)
- Comfort Layer: A layer of Koala’s proprietary foam called KloudCell: this is a piece of foam with a medium feel on one side and firm on the other, so you can flip it around to change the feel of the bed
- Support Layer: Zoned support core of high density foam
Similar Mattresses You Can Buy In NZ
So, as you can see, Koala is a memory foam mattress with a nice cover, a flippable comfort layer and a zoned support core. To me, the you’ll get to Koala is Ecosa, but I don’t think they’re the best alternative. I think you’re better off looking at Napp (the only NZ made mattress in a box) or Winkl (which is NZ owned, and in my personal opinion the most comfortable of all the memory foam mattress options.
I’ve actually spent a fair bit of time sleeping on all three so I’ll give you my personal opinion on each after I’ve shown you their details.
Here’s an overview of your 3 Koala mattress NZ memory foam alternatives:
- The Lux Is One Of Two Mattresses Made By Winkl
- Price: $1200 – $2250 (Regularly On Sale Though)
- Build: Luxury Feel Knit Cover, Two Comfort Foam Layers Including Winkl Flex Foam And Graphite Infused Foam, Base Has Zoned Support
- Feel: Supportive Medium
- NZ Owned Brand, Your Purchase Supports The NZ Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa
- The Only NZ Made Mattress In A Box
- Price: $800 – $1450
- Build: Cool To Touch Cover, Two Foam Comfort Layers Including HygroFlex Foam And Gel Infused Memory Foam, High Density Foam Support
- Feel: Supportive Medium
- NZ Owned And NZ Made
- Australian Owned, Probably The Most Recognisable Brand Name
- Price: $900 -$1500
- Build: Two Layer Cover (Tencel Outer, Waterproof Inner), Two Interchangeable Comfort Layers (Medium Gel Memory Foam And Medium Firm ECO Tex Foam), Zoned Support Core
- Feel: It’s Meant To Be Medium Or Medium Firm, I Think The Whole Thing Is Quite Firm
- Very Similar Construction To Koala
I think the Ecosa is most similar to Koala because it has the same material in the cover, the ability to change the firmess of the comfort layers, and the zoned support core.
My Opinion Of Your Koala Mattress NZ Options
Like I said earlier, I’ve actually slept on all of them. We bought an Ecosa mattress just before I started this site
- Read: Ecosa First Impressions
We then decided Ecosa was too firm for us after about six months so we sold it and bought a Napp instead
- Read: Napp Mattress Unboxing
Finally, early in 2021 I was very kindly gifted a Winkl Lux mattress to try and it’s been on our bed ever since as I think it’s the most comfortable of the lot:
- Read: Winkl Mattress Unboxing
The Ecosa mattress has a “medium” comfort layer and a “medium firm” comfort layer. I tried the mattress both ways, and just found it quite firm no matter what. It wasn’t uncomfortably firm, I did sleep well and I think it’s a great quality mattress, but I wanted more contouring for my shoulder.
On first try, Napp and Winkl Lux feel pretty similar. They have deeper contouring for your pressure points than Ecosa, but you don’t sink in. They both feel like the perfect blend of comfort and support (even my fussy husband was pleasantly surprised). Where the Winkl Lux has the slight edge over Napp and the reason it stayed on our bed is the zoning in the core. The Winkl Lux just feels like it has a smidge more targeted support than Napp, and it’s also a taller mattress which I like (it’s 2 cm taller)
