Casper Cooling Select   Review

The Casper Cooling Select mattress has a Medium firmness level. It offers enough body conformity for average- and heavier-weight side sleepers, but lighter people won't sink in enough for comfortable side sleeping. If you're in the heavier or lighter weight category, it's supportive enough to keep your spine aligned when back/stomach sleeping. However, it's not quite as supportive for average-weight people, so your spine won't stay as aligned, and it's not quite as comfortable for dedicated back and stomach sleepers.

The memory foam comfort layers are each 1.5" (3.8 cm) thick. Most people fully compress the upper comfort layer, and may also sink into the lower comfort layer and transition layer, depending on their weight. The transition layer is zoned, with separate sections of polyfoam at the head/foot and lumbar regions. These sections have different firmness levels but the same 1.4" (3.5 cm) thickness. The polyfoam support layer is 7.5" (19 cm) thick.

In a reversal of the typical foam mattress construction, the comfort and transition layers are firmest at the top of the mattress and get softer as you go down. The zoned transition layer is the plushest layer, although it's a bit firmer in the lumbar region, providing extra support for your hips. This design seems to prioritize responsiveness over envelopment, so it's easy to move around on the surface, and you don't sink very far down or experience much contouring from the comfort layers, especially if you're in the lighter-weight category. The support layer is still the firmest layer by far, with a Medium-Firm feel. Together, the layers result in a Medium-Firm mattress which leaves you feeling like you're sleeping more 'on' than 'in' it.

This mattress uses a combination of low-quality, good-quality, and high-quality foam. The upper comfort layer is made of dense, high-quality polyfoam, and the lower comfort layer is made of low-density, poor-quality memory foam. While we've included an average density for the transition layer, the zoned sections at the head/foot and lumbar actually have slightly different densities: 

Head/Foot: 27 kg/m³ 1.69 lb/cu ft)
Lumbar: 29 kg/m³ (1.81 lb/cu ft)

The polyfoam support layer is dense enough to be considered good quality, though it doesn't meet the cut-off for high quality. Overall, this mattress provides alright durability, but it will begin to sag and form indents faster than models with more layers of high-quality foam. It's worth noting, however, that it's significantly more durable than the much pricier Casper Snow.

This mattress is most conforming for heavier-weight sleepers, who compress the mattress most. Sleepers in this category will sink far enough into the mattress to relieve pressure on the lower back, or the shoulders and hips when side sleeping. It also performs well in this regard for average-weight sleepers, but lighter-weight sleepers won't compress the mattress enough for comfort, leading to painful pressure points.

The comfort layers aren't particularly enveloping. The polyfoam upper comfort layer is firmer than the memory foam layer below, so you don't sink very far, and it doesn't contour you very closely. This leaves you feeling like you're sleeping more 'on' than 'in' the mattress. If you like the feeling of low sinking but want more contouring, consider the Novosbed, which molds more closely to your body.

This mattress offers a similar level of support regardless of your body weight. It's most supportive for sleepers in the lighter and heavier weight categories. If you fall into these categories, your hips won't sink much farther into the mattress than the rest of your body, keeping your spine in a straight line. It's only a bit less supportive for average-weight sleepers, so the heaviest parts of your body stay decently supported, though back and stomach sleepers in this category may want something a bit more supportive.

Although it's not quite effective enough for hot sleepers, it has very good cooling. It transfers heat a little more slowly at the start of the night, but its performance improves after that, keeping you comfortably cool for the rest of the night. If you do sleep very hot, consider the Casper Snow Max, which keeps you cooler throughout the entire night.

It has excellent motion isolation. You feel movement nearby, so if your pet hops onto the foot of the bed, you'll feel it around your feet, but very little movement travels across the mattress, so you won't notice it anywhere else. Movement dissipates exceptionally fast, too, so it's less likely to disturb you or wake you up.

It's a very responsive mattress. The sleeping surface adapts quickly when you move, so you won't feel tightly hugged or stuck in place.

It's not very bouncy, which makes it feel a little harder to move around on. That said, this is typically the case with all-foam, and especially memory foam mattresses.

If you're looking for a bouncier option, consider the hybrid variant of this mattress, the Casper Cooling Select Hybrid.

The upper comfort layer is less resilient than typical polyfoam. The manufacturer mentions that this layer is breathable, open-cell foam, but they don't provide more detailed information. Still, this departure from standard polyfoam likely explains this discrepancy. The memory foam lower comfort layer is much less resilient, but this is expected for the material. The zoned transition layer is quite resilient at the head/feet, but less so at the lumbar: 

Foam Layer Resilience Transition Foam @ Lumbar: 35%

The reduced resilience, or bounciness, in the lumbar region allows your hips to sink in gradually, offering a bit more pressure relief in this area. The polyfoam support layer below offers the most resilience, making the mattress feel easier to move around on overall. Combined, the layers produce a mattress that isn't particularly bouncy, though that's common for an all-foam mattress, especially one with memory foam.

It has good edge support. While you compress the mattress a fair bit when you sit down, the mattress doesn't compress much more near the edges than in the center. This creates a very small ramp, but not enough to make you feel like you might slip off.

There's nothing extra reinforcing the sides, but this mattress still provides good edge support.