I used to be able to sleep anywhere, but now that I’m in my late 50s, I am “enjoying” the worst sleep of my life. Between menopause, light sleeping, a snoring partner, PTSD-related sleep disruptions, and mild sleep apnea, I sleep so poorly that waking up and putting my feet on the floor has literally been painful—I am sometimes so stiff that I have to hold on to the dresser to stabilize myself, and hobble over to the coffee maker.
It somehow didn’t occur to me that a new mattress could help until I was offered the chance to try the Sleep Number ComfortMode Lux and adjustable base, which boasts customizable firmness that can offer “advanced relief for hips” and “25% more cooling materials.” I wondered, could this adjustable mattress actually reduce the amount of pain I felt each morning and help me sleep more soundly?
After over 30 days of testing multiple firmness settings, I can say the answer is yes. I noticed less pain immediately, and after settling on the perfect score for me, noticed my hips and lower back were nearly pain free. Here’s how I got there:
| Sizes | Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, Split King, Cal King |
| Type | Hybrid |
| Height | 10″ or 11″ |
| Firmness | Adjustable |
| Best for | Side sleepers with joint pain, hot sleepers, couples with different firmness preferences |
Getting started
I ordered a queen size of the ComfortMode Lux mattress. And for this model, Sleep Number recommends getting their adjustable frame, which we did, too. I have certainly aged out of assembling furniture, so I loved that a highly trained delivery guy did the entire setup, plus walked me through the app controls, how to use the remote, and more. I’m really glad he did the heavy lifting because the set up is much more complicated than slapping a typical mattress on a frame.
In addition to setting up the adjustable base, the ComfortMode Lux mattress also comes with a Firmness Controller System, which is the motor/mechanism that inflates and deflates to your desired mattress firmness, that needs to be set up under the bed. Then, it all needs to be paired with your app and remote. All in all, I would not have been able to do it alone and I am grateful Sleep Number offers full-service setup.
Set up and ready to go!
What I liked
Each side of the ComfortMode Lux has its own air compartment, so it’s ideal for couples who prefer different firmnesses (my partner Steve can be a bit of a rugged individualist). This model mattress has an optional feature called Responsive Air, which automatically adjusts the firmness for you when you move at night. Steve tried it first, but because he sleeps like the dead he felt no difference.
Upon first try, I thought it felt too soft, but the softness is actually superficial; it’s made of cooling foam and feels plush, not unlike a mattress topper. Beneath that, there’s a layer of firmness before you even get to the air compartment. The density of the mattress is, of course, adjustable via the app from 0 (least firm) to 100 (most firm) in increments of five.
Finding your perfect Sleep Number setting is also fairly easy. My first night I had no clue where to start, so I started experimenting to find the level that felt comfortable and supportive on my hips and lower back. Since my old mattress was on the softer side and I knew I needed something a bit firmer, I started at a 60. I felt less pain upon waking at 60, but after a few days upped it to 70. Pure magic. I felt almost no pain at 70. Not only that, but I was far less stiff and could stand up immediately upon waking. My conclusion is that my customized support helped my joints rest while still being comfortable and likely helped subside inflammation and strain.
The adjustable mattress also revealed a life-changing revelation: I am a one-pillow woman—as long as I can elevate my head a bit. I had always required two, but between flipping them over to feel the cool side on my night-sweaty face and trying to get the right angle, it is a little chaotic in the pillow department. One pillow makes for a simpler, calmer setup. Note: This bed is not split, which means that if I want to elevate my head, Steve also must be elevated. Luckily he sleeps like the dead, but for those who require different elevation levels in addition to firmness, the split king is a better fit.
What I didn’t like
The app is simple to use, but the sleep tracking didn’t always match my personal experience (or the data on my Apple Watch, which I wore a few nights out of curiosity.) In my experience, the sleep-tracking feature was better at measuring time spent in bed than how rested I actually felt the next morning. It frequently gave me excellent sleep scores on nights I was in bed longer, regardless of whether I was tossing and turning or not.
A night spent tossing and turning in bed.
Night I woke up rested.
I would also have preferred that the feet and head elevation and the firmness were controlled by the app, as an extra remote was hard to keep track of separately—plus, I have too much junk (eye mask, special sleep earbuds, mouth guard, etc.) on my night table as it is.
Two minor things bothered Steve: first, the adjustable frame with motor doesn’t allow for much under-bed storage (he has bins of old tees that no longer fit, but I’ll say my massive collection of current-rotation shoes fit just fine!). He also didn’t love that the instruction manual that came with the bed was generic (not specific to the ComfortMode Lux mattress) and he wasted time looking for features we don’t actually have. But, this is extremely minor considering how vastly our sleep improved.
How it stacks up with two people in it
This mattress is great for couples. Not only is my pain no longer waking me up, but I now wake up less frequently when Steve turns over. He is muscular, so his turns feel more like flops. It could be that he’s sleeping better and moving around less, or that the individualized firmnesses help minimize motion transfer between sides. Either way, it’s great.
As for the poor man who has to share a bed with someone with so many sleep issues, Steve says he hasn’t been awakened by me kicking or screaming since we got this bed. A coincidence? Perhaps. It could be because I’m not doing it as often (it only happens when I am sleeping lightly, and maybe I’m getting deeper sleep) or because he’s sleeping deeper and just didn’t notice.
The bottom line
After more than a month of testing, this customizable mattress has delivered on reducing joint pain, especially in my hips and lower back. It’s hard to find a mattress with the correct firmness for you personally—you kind of have to go to a showroom and lie on a bunch of them but you’re not in your natural habitat. And if your bedmate can’t sleep anywhere like mine can, it can be hard to agree. I am sleeping better and waking up with less pain, and Steve, who can’t feel the difference between the firmness levels, is happy I’m happy. For anyone who struggles with sleep disturbances, joint pain, or mattress disagreements with your bed partner, the Sleep Number ComfortMode Lux mattress is a great option.
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