Zinus Ultima Memory Foam Mattress: Review + Compare To Green Tea

Zinus Ultima Memory Foam Mattress Review: Zinus is by far the most popular mattress seller on Amazon, due to their innovative memory foam mattresses with highly attractive low price points. The Zinus Ultima Memory Foam mattress is popular for sure, but is it worth your money? And how does it compare to the best seller of all Zinus mattresses, the Zinus Green Tea mattress?

Here’s what I’ll cover in this article:

• Zinus Overview
• Ultima Mattress Features
• Compare The Ultima With The Green Tea Mattress
• What Does A Zinus Ultima Memory Foam Mattress Feel Like To Lie On?
• Is It The Right Mattress For You?
• Are There Any Problems With The Zinus Ultima?
• Final Opinion

Zinus Overview

Zinus  is a hugely popular manufacturer of a range of very low priced bedroom and living furniture. Their foam mattresses are particularly popular and are the item they are best known for.

Zinus was founded in Seoul, South Korea, by  a businessman who started off selling tents. Zinus launched their first bedding products in 2004 and been innovating in the mattress space ever since. They have been well ahead of many of their competitors in selling mattresses in boxes, so their brand recognizability, innovations and price point contribute to their popularity. Zinus products are made in China.

Zinus Ultima Memory Foam Mattress Features

The Ultima is a budget priced mattress made from memory foam and poly foam. It is available in four heights: 6 inch, 8 inch, 10 inch and 12 inch. Your Zinus mattress will come with

• 10 Year Warranty
• 30 Night Right Of Return (i.e., Amazon’s standard return policy. If you buy a mattress direct from the Zinus website, you can get a 100 night trial but this model is not available)
• CertiPur-US Certified Foams

Here’s what you’ll find inside the Zinus Ultima Memory Foam mattress:

Cover

The cover is a soft polyester Jacquard. It is quite thin and should be reasonably breathable.

Please note that this cover is not removable. You should never remove this mattress cover. 

Memory Foam Comfort Layer

This layer is the main comfort layer of the mattress. It is infused with green tea and charcoal. Why? Those two compounds help absorb moisture and odors, so they have been added to help keep the mattress feeling (and smelling) fresh.

This green tea memory foam layer is all about providing pressure relief and contouring. It has that classic memory foam hugging feel.

According to reputable mattress information site Sleep Like The Dead, the density of the foam Zinus have used here is 3 lb/ft, which makes it a low density foam. This means the foam will be more breathable and softer than a higher density foam, but it will have a shorter life. I think a low density foam is to be 100% expected at this price point as it’s cheaper to manufacture.

The amount of memory foam inside your mattress depends on which mattress height you buy, see the table below for a detailed breakdown of the specifications of each one.

Comfort Foam Transition Layer

This is a layer of polyfoam that has been ventilated to allow for airflow around the mattress.

It is not as soft as the memory foam above it, but it is softer than the high density base below. This foam layer acts as a transition layer between the softer foam above and the firmer foam below. It offers some further contouring, and some support.

In the table above you’ll see how deep this layer is in each mattress. Note that the six inch Ultima does not contain any of this transition foam, it only has the memory foam and the core foam.

Polyfoam Base Foam

The main support of the Ultima mattress is a standard polyfoam base rated at 1.8 lb/ft. This type of support base foam is pretty common across many brands.

As you can see from the table above, there are varying amounts of this foam in each mattress height. The maximum is 6 inches, which I think is a little low and I’d prefer 7 inches for really good support.

Compare The Zinus Ultima Mattress With The Zinus Green Tea Mattress

At first glance, there is little difference between the Ultima memory foam mattress and the Green Tea mattress. Both are wildly popular, low priced mattresses that have the green tea memory foam and charcoal infusions. But there are a couple of differences to point out.

• The Ultima memory foam mattress could be described as “temperature neutral”, while the Green Tea could be described as “cooling”. The difference here is that the memory foam of the Green Tea model has gel infused into the foam to help draw body heat away. The Green Tea also has convolutions in the two bottom layers of the mattress, which will allow for better airflow.
  • However, I don’t think either of these foam mattresses will do an exceptional job at cooling, due to the conforming nature of the memory foam. The Green Tea does a better job here, but I wouldn’t buy it solely for its cooling properties.
• The Green Tea mattress also has a thicker support foam, for example in the 12 inch model the support foam is that 7 inches I like to see in foam mattresses.

In my opinion, the Green Tea is the better of the two, and it’s the one I would get if I was choosing between them. If you’d like to learn more detail about the Green Tea mattress click here to read my review.

What Does A Zinus Ultima Memory Foam Mattress Feel Like To Lie On? 

As this is a mattress that comes in a range of thicknesses, the feel of the mattress changes depending on which one you buy. The deeper the mattress, the softer it will get, as it has more foam in the comfort layers.

In my opinion, you could rate the 10-12 inch Ultima memory foam mattresses at around a 5-6 out of 10 on the mattress firmness scale, which is about a medium soft. The thicker layers of comfort foams cushion the feel of the mattress.

In the 6 inch and 8 inch models where the memory foam layer is as thin as 1.5 inches, you can expect the mattress to feel firmer to lie on. I’d say these models are about a 7-8 on the mattress firmness scale, which is medium firm to firm.

The memory foam that Zinus uses has a slow pressure response, so you’ll feel that classic memory foam sink when you put weight on it. Some people love this, because it feels like the mattress is really cradling you and supporting your pressure points. IT’s also really great at motion isolation. Others dislike it because it makes them feel trapped when they move around in the night, or makes the mattress feel hot.

There are mixed reports from customers on if they felt the mattress slept hot or not.

Is It The Right Mattress For You?

The Ultima memory foam mattress definitely a mattress where there are groups of people who it will suit really well, and others where I would absolutely not recommend it. Here they are:

Yes if you are looking for: 

• A cheap but comfy mattress that will do for a while
• A mattress that will be good for kids (many parents like this one because it doesn’t bust the bank, and because there are no springs, their kids don’t jump on it)
• A mattress that will do for occasional guests
• An everyday mattress for a lighter body weight adult (under 150 lb) – the 10-12 inch model would be great here, depending on how firm or soft you want it.
• A mattress for lighter weight side sleepers looking for deep pressure relief through the shoulder (the 12 inch model should be great for you)

No, buy something else if:

• Body weight over 200 lb. The memory foam is just not dense enough to give you the conforming comfort you deserve, and the support layer is not thick enough. Zinus recommends a maximum weight of 250 lb per person. I’ve got some better suited mattresses for you here.
• You’re concerned about sleeping hot. If you sleep really hot, and you’re looking at this for your everyday mattress, the bargain price of this mattress is just not going to outweigh the price you pay feeling uncomfortable. I suggest you look at these mattresses for hot sleepers instead.
• You want durability. This Zinus mattress might last for a couple of years, but if you want something with better durability I suggest you look for something else. Latex is the most durable mattress material, and you can buy a good one without breaking the bank.

Are There Any Problems With The Ultima Memory Foam Mattress?

There were two main reasons why people left one star reviews for their Zinus Ultima mattress:

1. The off-gassing smell the mattress emits when expanded. Unfortunately, this is something that happens with all memory foam, it’s just part of the process of the foam expanding. Some people are more sensitive to the smell than others, and I recommend opening your mattress in a ventilated space if you can, and leave it for a day or two before you use it (Zinus actually recommend leaving a full 72 hours for the mattress to expand). Take comfort from the fact that the foams are CertiPur certified, so they are safe and the smell is not harmful.
2. The fire shield (all mattresses must contain some kind of fire retardant under US law). There is a lot of talk about Zinus using fiberglass in their fire shield, and it leaking out of the mattress. I see people asking a lot of questions as to whether this is true or not on Amazon, and people seem confused in giving their answers. I put the question directly to Zinus, and here is the answer: “The fire barrier is a material made from quartz which is heated and formed into thread like and woven into the foam of the mattress”. So it’s a material like fiberglass, woven into the top of the foam. Zinus warn against removing the cover. Whatever you do, do not remove the cover from your mattress! People who heed this warning have no problems at all.

I also think durability is going to be an issue with this mattress, but is priced very cheaply so I wouldn’t expect to see denser foams in use, as they are more expensive.

Final Opinion

Would I buy the Ultima memory foam myself? The answer is that it depends on what I was wanting it for. If I were looking for a cheap option for my kids or a new mattress for our guest room, I’d strongly consider it.

If I were looking for a cheap mattress for my every day bed, I’d be more inclined to choose the Green Tea model or this mattress from Classic Brands.

The Zinus Ultima is a cheap mattress that is loved by many, and I can certainly see why it has gained its place at the top of the Amazon best seller list.

Last update on 2024-10-16 at 13:48 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API