WinkBed Plus review — this mattress is a game-changer for plus-size sleepers

The WinkBed Plus is a great solution for plus-sized sleepers who are in need of a little extra support. If, like me, you weigh over 250 lbs, your weight may be one of the most significant factors to consider when purchasing the right mattress for you.

The WinkBed Plus is advertised at around an 8 out of 10 for firmness, but how firm a mattress feels is heavily dependent on your sleep style and body weight. While for a lighter person the mattress may feel firmer, it was the perfect level of comfort for me and my partner. 

This extra-thick mattress has a hybrid design and like some of the best mattresses, is mostly constructed by individually wrapped coils. This gives a lot of bounce, which reminded me of a plush hotel mattress, but did create a fair amount of motion transfer throughout testing. 

WinkBed Plus mattress review

What I thought of the WinkBed Plus mattress

I would highly recommend the WinkBed Plus mattress. The firmest and thickest in the WinkBed line, it offers incredible support without being too stiff, and its hybrid design will prove a lot more durable than many rival brands.

When you're plus size, it can be tricky to find a mattress that suits your specific needs. For a start, you'll need a more durable mattress that can handle a heavier weight over time, and materials such a memory foam will be likely to wear a lot faster. 

This is why a lot of modern mattress companies include a weight limit in their warranties, and while that doesn't mean it won't be suitable for plus size people, it does mean the mattress wasn't created with us in mind.

Although, the bounciness of the WinkBed Plus did lead to a slight lack in edge support and more motion transfer than myself and my partner were used to, we love how supportive and comfortable this mattress has proven. It has made our bedroom feel like a luxury hotel.

WinkBed Plus mattress specifications

Unboxing and setting up the WinkBed Plus mattress

The WinkBed Plus cardboard box arrived a little bashed up, but the mattress itself was fully intact inside. It is wrapped and vacuum sealed in airtight plastic, which made it a lot easier to carry upstairs into the bedroom despite how heavy it was. It took two of us to drag it upstairs, but once we had unrolled it and put it on top of the base it was very easy to cut it out of the plastic and start to off-gas. 

The advice is to let this mattress fully off-gas and re-inflate for 24-48 hours, but it was at full height and at the full 13.5 inch thickness after just an hour or so. I was really happy that there was no noticeable smell, because many of even best mattresses in a box give off a strong chemical odor from the manufacturing process when inflating. 

I was first struck by how large this mattress was in comparison to my last mattress. At 13.5 inches deep, my regular favorite bed sheets were too shallow to fit, so I have since had to buy extra-deep sheets (we recommend Amazon's Choice highly rated Empyrean deep bedding) to prevent the edges slipping away from the mattress in the night. 

The vast majority of the mattress' construction is thick, individually wrapped pocketed coils. These are designed to offer more support at the edges using WinkBeds' extra-edge support system. This is topped with a pillowy layer that features a cooling, gel-infused foam. 

As larger people can struggle with overheating in the night, it was particularly important to me that I found a mattress that wouldn't absorb my body heat and instead feature ventilation to keep me cool as I slept. This mattress is wrapped in a Tencel cover — a sustainable fabric that's designed to stay cool against the skin — which is another win for hot sleepers. 

Is the WinkBed Plus mattress comfortable?

Having slept on this mattress for nearly a month now, I can attest that it's incredibly comfortable. I'm a side sleeper, as is my partner, and I've struggled with lower back pain for the last few years. Sometimes my back can hurt when I sleep on a mattress that's too soft for me, but I also find extra-firm mattresses uncomfortable on my hips when I toss and turn in the night. 

The WinkBed Plus doesn't sink under my weight like a memory foam mattress would, so if you're on the lighter side, you may find that it won't contour to the shape of your body. Instead, at the target weight for this product, it gives a bouyant feeling throughout the night while keeping my spine aligned. I haven't had any back pain since sleeping on the WinkBed Plus, and my partner, who sometimes struggles with sore joints, also noticed a reduction in pain after a few weeks on this mattress. 

To show how firm this mattress is, I placed a 12-lb weight on the center and the edge of the WinkBed Plus. The mattress did not visibly sink under the weight of the mattress. Instead, the gel top cushioned the weight while the spring base kept the mattress from sagging. 

The support was just as impressive at the edge of the mattress as it was in the center. The issue I had with the side support on this mattress came not when I was lying flat, but when I swung my legs out of bed in the morning and sat on the edge of my bed. When I did this, the springs sank noticeably and I did not feel as supported as I was used to feeling on my older, less spring-based mattress.

The bounciness of this mattress made it feel luxurious both to look at, and to sleep on. It reminded me of some of the more high-end hotel beds I've slept on. However, this bounciness did mean the WinkBed Plus has more motion transfer than I'm used to. 

Memory foam mattresses absorb a lot of the movement you make in the night, which means you and your partner are able to sleep independently without worrying about being woken up by each other's tossing and turning. 

In contrast, this spring-based mattress did transfer movement when my partner, or more likely I, switched sides in the night. It took him a few nights to get used to this, and although it's not disrupted our sleep at all it could be a downside for light sleepers.

Is the WinkBed Plus mattress breathable and cool?

The breathability is where the WinkBed Plus really stands apart from my old memory foam mattress. Like many plus-size people, I run a little hotter than the average body temperature, and I'm more prone to overheating in the night when it's hot out. 

This means I need a mattress that will dissipate my body heat as opposed to absorbing and holding it, and memory foam can be quite bad at doing this. Spring-based mattresses, by contrast, create the space needed to dissipate your body heat.

Combined with the gel topper on the WinkBed Plus, I found it to be a cooling and comfortable mattress in the spring month I tested it, and I will continue to test this as summer approaches. 

Is the WinkBed Plus mattress right for you?

If you're a plus-size person looking for a durable and supportive mattress, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better mattress than the WinkBed Plus. 

Unlike many market leaders, it was clear to me from first use that this product has been designed for people like me and my partner to sleep on, and we thoroughly enjoyed testing it. 

I'm particularly confident in the durability of this mattress, because the deep springs provide great bounce while the gel top hugs the body without sinking under it. 

With that being said, lighter sleepers may be annoyed at the motion transfer that you'll get with such a bouncy mattress. On account of the springs it's also slightly lacking in edge support, however it does still prove supportive to sleep on even if you find yourself pressed up against the edge of the bed. The price could also be hard to stomach for some people, but the lifetime warranty goes a long way in reassuring me that this is an investment that will stand the test of time. 

If this doesn't sound quite right for you, we've rounded up some highly rated alternatives to consider with comparable features.

How we tested the WinkBed Plus mattress

I tested the WinkBed Plus in my own home for nearly a month before writing this review. I used these criteria to guide how we test mattresses.

Unboxing: I considered the condition of the mattress and the boxes that arrived in, as well as how easily I could carry the boxes and remove the components. I also looked at the types of packaging materials used and considered whether those materials were recyclable. 

Operation: I evaluated the entire process of using the mattress, including the setup and how well I was able to sleep on it. I performed several tests, including measuring the motion transfer and evaluating the amount of edge support that the mattress offers. I paid attention to how I felt while sleeping on the mattress, including factors like whether the mattress slept hot and whether I felt any pressure points. 

Ease of use: I also tested how easily I was able to use the mattress. I considered factors like how well I could get the mattress into place and whether it moved around. 

Millie Fender

I'm Millie Fender and I've been reviewing the leading home products for Real Homes for nearly five years. Having tested everything from air fryers to duvets, I know what to look for when selecting sustainable investments that will stand the test of time in your home, and I'd never recommend anything I wouldn't buy with my own money.