Sealy's Posturepedic Hybrid isn't an entirely new concept (we rated an older version as one of the best hybrid mattresses), but now there's a new version in town and it's better than ever. The upgrades in the mattress make it better at targeting support, relieving pressure, maintaining a cool body temperature and promoting spinal alignment.
"We’ve focused on support for 75 years and this is by far the most supportive mattress we’ve ever made," says Josh Fenner, director of Sealy.
To write this review, we surveyed hundreds of Sealy mattress owners, considered our sleep testers' feedback and had our pros in the Good Housekeeping Institute Textiles Lab evaluate it. I even personally slept on this mattress in my home to see how supportive and comfortable it felt. And because I injured my back from physical activity almost one year ago, I was also able to see whether this mattress helped or worsened back pain.
Sealy mattress overview
The Posturepedic Hybrid is one of three recently released mattresses from Sealy's new Posturepedic line. Including new coils and a new cover, this version is an upgrade of the previous Posturepedic Hybrid Mattress.
Who it’s best for
The new Posturepedic Hybrid from Sealy is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a hybrid mattress with medium firmness. Textiles, Paper & Apparel Lab Product Analyst Grace Wu says this mattress is "very much the quintessential hybrid!" We specifically recommend it to anyone whose number-one priority for a mattress is that it has great support, which makes it especially good for those dealing with back pain. Thanks to the mattress' balance of pressure-relieving comfort and solid support, it can be incredibly helpful at promoting spinal alignment and easing back pain.
We also recommend this hybrid to couples looking for excellent motion isolation. There's enough give in this mattress that makes it good for side and back sleepers, especially those like me who mostly sleep on their side, but move a ton throughout the night. Overall, this supportive, comfortable and unique mattress is a versatile pick that can truly be a great choice for anyone.
Materials and construction
This mattress is an upgrade for the brand with some standout features. "The coils in this mattress are some of the most unique that we've ever seen," Wu shares. These new pocket coils have a tightly-wound coiled top with a looser bottom. This unique construction creates excellent ergonomic support (more on that below!), but it's not the only major change: Sealy has revamped each component of the mattress.
Hybrid mattresses use a combination of foam and coils, but here's a deeper breakdown of the construction, layers and materials of this mattress:
- Moisture-wicking Cover: This entire mattress is wrapped in a cover that's specially designed to feel cool to the touch and wick away moisture. Foam materials in mattresses can make some people feel hot and sweaty, so Sealy uses specific fibers and cooling technology to help minimize overheating and sweating throughout the night.
- Pressure-relieving Memory Foam: Sealy upgraded their foam for this new hybrid mattress. Dubbed "ComfortSense," the foam is designed to disperse your weight evenly across the mattress, which helps relieve pressure points and promote spinal alignment, especially when laying on your side.
PrecisionFit Coils: There are more than 700 coils individually wrapped in this queen mattress designed to allow extra breathability. These durable encased coils move independently to target support in the proper areas of your body and to promote motion isolation.
- Reinforced Edge: This mattress also features coils all the way to the very edge of the mattress. This feature helps prevent sagging over time and it provides better edge support (something many foam mattresses lack!). That way, you can be stable and sit on the edge of the bed without sinking in and falling off.
Check out this video below to get a better understanding of how the encased coils and mattress are constructed:
Firmness and feel
Medium Firmness
This mattress only comes in a medium firmness, unlike the old version which offered soft or firm. While we miss having the choice between firm and soft, the medium firmness of this mattress is great for a hybrid because it combines the softness and firmness of a foam and innerspring mattress to give you the ultimate middle ground. "It has just the right amount of plushness on top while still providing enough firmness to keep the spine aligned," an online reviewer wrote.
Ergonomic support
Thanks to the combination of coils and Sealy's ComfortSense Memory Foam, this mattress has excellent ergonomic support. When someone (like myself) suffers from back pain or hip pain due to an injury, sitting at a desk or other issues, sleeping on a mattress like this one with ergonomic support for side or back sleepers can help. While this mattress cannot cure your pain, it can certainly help: I noted after breaking the mattress in that I woke up with less back pain in the morning than previously (I sleep on my side), and I could lay on my back to read a book without pain after a few hours.
What makes this mattress so great at supporting the body? The new pocketed coils create tailored support by allowing the mattress to help maintain natural body alignment for people of all shapes and sizes. "The design allows for the coils to lightly conform to users with smaller and lighter frames or provide deeper, more firm support for those with larger or heavier frames," Wu explains.
Conforming comfort
The layer of comforting memory foam provides a bit of softness to the mattress and the coils are specially designed so that you can feel like the mattress is conforming to your body. "We like how the coils allow for a more conforming top layer (better pressure relief) than your standard hybrid," Wu says. When I laid on the mattress, I felt the mattress conform to my hips and curves in the body, which felt like some pressure off my spine was alleviated. However, since it's still on the firmer side, we don’t recommend it to sleepers who prefer a very soft, plush, sink-in feel to a mattress (nor do we recommend it to someone who likes a super firm bed!).
How Sealy performed in our tests
Based on our surveys for the past versions of the Posturepedic Hybrid mattress, tons of our panel members praised it for its comfort, motion isolation and support. Plus, almost everyone agrees that this mattress offers great value for its cost.
Many panel members reported that this mattress alleviated their back pain, and I can agree: While correlation does not equal causation, my back has significantly improved in the time since upgrading to the Sealy Posturepedic Hybrid mattress. I believe that has to do with time, healing and physical therapy, but I noticed my back feels much better in the morning or after reading on the bed for a few hours compared to how I felt with my last mattress. Just keep in mind that I thought this mattress had a bit of a break-in period (at first it felt very firm, which I wasn't a fan of, but now it's a great mix of soft and firm).
"It has some give, so I sink in a little, but with excellent support for my back," said GH Textiles Lab Associate Director Emma Seymour. She has slept on this mattress and nicknamed it "the Goldilocks of mattresses," since it is "supportive without feeling stiff and soft and comfy without feeling too squishy."
While most panel members and testers were impressed by the mattress, long-time owners of the previous versions of this mattress were divided on longevity and its temperature control. Some people say the mattress has held up well: One person who owned this mattress for eight years said, "It has kept its shape, [there are] no places where you can tell a body has been sleeping," but they shared they turn the mattress around and upside down as Sealy recommends. However, others shared they noticed sagging after five to six years.
Ordering and delivery
This model comes with free full-service delivery and mattress removal, but it has a slightly longer lead time than a boxed mattress as a result. If you are in a hurry, MattressFirm may be able to deliver faster, depending on the model.
When I received my new Sealy mattress, the delivery crew arrived one hour earlier than the time slot they gave me (they rang the door bell at 7 a.m. when I was told 8 to 11 a.m.), but that was not a big deal for me. Otherwise, the delivery process was incredibly smooth and easy — they came up to my room and plopped it on the bed frame. Plus, they even asked if I needed help getting rid of my old mattress.
Bottom line: Is the Sealy Posturepedic Hybrid Mattress worth buying?
Our experts in the Textiles Lab already loved the former Sealy Posturepedic line, but we're even more impressed by this new hybrid model. After all our testing, surveys and evaluations, we believe the new Sealy Posturepedic mattresses are definitely worth the money. It's already an excellent price for the value, but you can also wait until it goes on sale during a holiday weekend.
"The new coils are impressive, and I like how they’re individually wrapped for added motion isolation," Wu says. Overall, the newest version tries to address the pitfalls of the older model, has a new-and-improved coil system making it more supportive and there is now a new moisture-wicking cover.
While we think this mattress is worth the money if you're looking for a hybrid, we don't think it's worth it if you're looking for something extremely firm or super soft. Instead, you should check out the other newly released mattresses from the Posturepedic line:
Other mattresses from Sealy's Posturepedic line
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
In recent years, the pros in the Good Housekeeping Institute Textiles Lab have tested over 200 mattresses and surveyed a panel of more than 10,000 mattress owners. Plus, we enlist consumer testers to sleep on these mattresses at home and provide detailed feedback after weeks, months and even years when the mattress is a great fit.
Assistant Commerce Editor Isabella Cavallo writes shopping content for the GH Institute. She has written various stories covering and reviewing mattresses including a guide to every type of mattress, a review of Tuft & Needle mattresses and more.
To write this article, Cavallo tested the Sealy Posturepedic Hybrid mattress and utilized our testing data, survey responses and more. She also consulted Product Reviews Analyst Grace Wu, who oversees all mattress testing at the GH Institute. Wu is our residential mattress expert, spending her time testing and researching hundreds of mattresses, interviewing medical experts and conducting literature reviews. Before she joined the GH Institute, Wu graduated from Cornell University with a Master of Engineering in materials science and engineering and a Bachelor of Science in fiber science.
Isabella (she/her) covers commerce and product-related content in the home, lifestyle, fitness, technology and beauty. She graduated from Binghamton University in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in English: Literature & Rhetoric. Before joining GH, she was an editorial assistant at Prevention, where she covered health topics and celebrity news.
Grace Wu (she/her) is a product reviews analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute's Textiles, Paper and Apparel Lab, where she evaluates fabric-based products using specialized equipment and consumer tester data. Prior to starting at Good Housekeeping in 2022, she earned a master of engineering in materials science and engineering and a bachelor of science in fiber science from Cornell University. While earning her degrees, Grace worked in research laboratories for smart textiles and nanotechnology and held internships at Open Style Lab and Rent the Runway.