Nectar is one of the most popular online mattress companies for good reason. With an array of products that includes both memory foam and hybrids mattresses, and offering a generous return policy, the brand has a lot to offer. But does the brand’s top-of-the-line memory foam offering—the Nectar Premier Copper—stand up to real-world evaluation? I put the mattress to the test.

I used the Nectar Premier Copper Mattress for a month. During that time I put it through a series of evaluations, including sleeping on it again and again. We placed the mattress in our guest room, so family and friends tried it out, too. Here’s how it measured up.

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My Initial Thoughts On The Nectar Premier Copper Mattress

When the Nectar Premier Copper Mattress arrived at my doorstep, I wasn’t too worried about moving it. I’ve been testing mattresses for years, so this isn’t my first mattress moving rodeo. While it was a hassle to get up the stairs, my partner and I could handle it. However, I did need his help, as my building doesn’t have an elevator and the box is large. It would be difficult for many individuals to carry the box up stairs alone, something to keep in mind when you plan your delivery.

Unboxing the Nectar Premier Copper was uneventful—in the best possible way. I was able to get it unfurled and onto the bed frame within about 15 minutes of slicing through the packing tape. The mattress had an initial chemical smell that lasted for three or four days, but diminished quickly and eventually dissipated entirely. If you’re looking to purchase this mattress, I’d recommend you don’t plan to sleep on it for the first few nights after opening, so it can air out. That said, if it’s your only option, the smell isn’t as bad as other mattresses I’ve tested.

From my first night sleeping on the mattress, I knew it was too memory foam-y for my preferences, but we’ll get into that more later.

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Nectar Premier Copper Mattress Design

Construction

The Nectar Premier Copper Mattress is the brand’s tallest and most memory foam-filled option. At 14 inches, it’s not excessively tall, but it is taller than many other mattresses on the market (on average, mattresses fall within the 8 to 14 inch range). The mattress is made with multiple layers of foam, which serve different purposes, like cushioning, support and more. Here are all the internal layers, from top to bottom:

• Cover: The fabric is woven from copper and polyethylene fibers.
• 4 inches of gel memory foam: This foam is dubbed “therapeutic” by Nectar, which likely means that it provides some pressure relief for your body.
• 3 inches of dynamic transition foam: You see so-called “transition” layers in many memory foam mattresses. These provide a buffer between the cushier upper foams, and sturdier base foams. They also sometimes aid in motion isolation.
• 7 inches of support foam: This is the foundation of the mattress, and it provides a sturdy support for your body and the other layers that sit above it. It’s typically the firmest layer, but it’s also the one you’ll feel the least as you have no direct contact with it.

The Nectar Premier Copper also contains copper fibers in its cover, which is designed to wick away heat. While this might help when you first lie down on the mattress, in my experience, any cooling or wicking sensation is temporary. I wouldn’t suggest choosing it for its cooling features alone, or rely on it if you’re a sleeper who runs particularly hot.

Firmness And Overall Sensation

According to Nectar, this mattress is a 6.5 out of 10, with 1 being the softest, and 10 being the firmest. I’d tend to agree with this assessment. To me, the Nectar Premier Copper is just a hair over the halfway point in terms of firmness. It’s nowhere near the firmest mattress I’ve experienced, but it’s also not all that soft. It has a balanced, middle-of-the-road feel.

The Nectar Premier Copper Mattress feels like memory foam. It offers the classic cushion and cradling that you get from the material. I noticed some sink-in when I first settled into the mattress, but it never felt like the dreaded quicksand that’s sometimes associated with memory foam.

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Nectar Premier Copper Mattress Features

The Nectar Premier Copper is the brand’s top-of-the-line offering, meaning it comes with all the high-end features Nectar has to offer. Here’s how those fancy features actually hold up at home.

Temperature

I found that this mattress runs a bit warmer than most, even with the heat-wicking copper cover. When I woke up in the morning, I found that the area where I was sleeping would still feel warm to the touch for some period of time. If you’re accustomed to sleeping on memory foam, I’d say the temperature regulation is close to par with many other options. If you’re coming from an innerspring mattress, the heat may bother you—but that’s where Nectar’s trial comes in. If you find yourself running too hot when sleeping on this mattress, you can simply return it.

I had family members sleep on the mattress while visiting, and some found it a bit too warm for comfort, while others said they had no issue. Other Forbes Vetted staff who have tried this mattress did not report any overheating. But at the end of the day, that’s typical: Your sleep experience is completely your own, so trying it out might be your best option.

Motion Transfer

One area in which the Nectar Premier Copper Mattress really shines is motion isolation. If you’re looking to hardly feel your partner move around at night, I think this is the mattress for you. When I tested the Nectar Premier Copper with my partner, I barely sensed his movements on the mattress. He sat, rolled and changed from lying on his stomach to his side, and I felt virtually nothing. Even when he got up and sat back down on the mattress (to simulate getting up in the night to go to the bathroom and returning to bed), I felt nothing. Compared to our personal latex mattress, the Nectar Premier Copper is a motion-isolating void.

The only area where I felt a slight bit of motion transfer was my lower leg and calf area. I suspect this might be because my calves and legs don’t sink into the memory foam quite as much as the rest of my body. Regardless, the movement I sensed near my calves never caused me to wake up in the night.

Edge Support

For a memory foam mattress, I find that the Nectar Premier Copper has reasonably good edge support. The edges do sink a bit when I sit directly on them, but it’s less than I’ve experienced with other all-foam options. This may be due in part to the mattress height and sheer volume of foam.

If you want to sit on the edge of the mattress while tying your shoes, you’ll have no problem with the Nectar Premier Copper. If you’re looking for something supportive enough to let you sleep right at the edge, I might consider other options—when I curled up less than an inch from the side, it caved beneath me and I started sliding right off the bed. For most people, of course, this won’t be an issue.

Memory And Pressure Relief

My partner, a side sleeper who likes cushy mattresses, found the mattress offered adequate cushioning for him—even if the bed was a bit firmer than he’d prefer. He found the cushioning was enough for his shoulders and hips to remain comfortable, even though they take the most pressure when side sleeping.

Then there’s me. I found the mattress had too much cushion and memory for me to comfortably sleep on my stomach—though this is not a surprise. (In general, I wouldn’t recommend anything other than the firmest memory foam mattresses for stomach sleepers.) My hips and lower back sank in too much for comfort on this mattress. Fortunately I sometimes switch to sleeping on my side, and the mattress was comfortable in that position. Still, as someone who primarily sleeps on my stomach sleeper, this wouldn’t be my first pick.

I wouldn’t say the mattress is as good at pressure relief as my latex bed, but it’s not bad, by any means. I found it provides adequate pressure relief for comfort. If you’re someone looking for the most pressure relief, this mattress might err on the edge of too firm, or in other words lack sufficient sink-in qualities for you.

Making The Bed

The Nectar Premier Copper is pretty easy to make, thanks to being relatively lightweight and having fairly rigid edges. However, I do have a bed where the mattress slots down into it—so the frame makes a box for the mattress. On my frame, the mattress was a tight squeeze, which makes it a bit tricker to fold quilts and duvets under the foot of the bed, or on either side. But as long as your fitted sheet is tall enough, lifting a corner and slipping it over is no problem.

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Final Thoughts About The Nectar Premier Copper Mattress

What I Like

If you’re looking for a mattress with a taller profile and perhaps a bit more cushion than the mid-tier model, the Nectar Premier Copper could be a great pick. The construction offers a true memory foam feel without an inkling of a quicksand sensation, which is great for a lot of people.

I’d say the mattress is a true medium firm. After sleeping on it and comparing it to a bunch of other mattresses, I’d rank it a 6 on a 10 point firmness scale. This is just a touch above a true medium mattress, which makes it a great fit for many sleepers.

This mattress is a great choice for side sleepers, in particular. I found it comfortable while sleeping on my side, as did my partner (who primarily sleeps in this position). However, he noted it felt a bit firm, though he prefers a truly soft mattress.

For folks who want maximum motion isolation, it’s a great choice. I wasn’t disturbed by my cat leaping on and off the bed (this is not inconsequential—he weighs a whopping 15 pounds) as well as my partner moving around. For all that, I really adore the Nectar Premier Copper.

What I Don’t Like

While billed as a luxury option, the Nectar Premier Copper is just good in my opinion. The standout (and namesake) feature—the copper that’s woven into the cover—doesn’t live up to its promise of cooling, in my opinion. It’s not the hottest mattress I’ve slept on, but I wouldn’t say it runs particularly cool, either. Hence, I’m not sure it’s worth the splurge on that front alone. However, other testers who run hot did not have this issue.

For stomach sleepers, it has the same pitfall as other memory foam mattresses: It isn’t quite supportive or firm enough. But for side and back sleepers, I think it’s a great option. I’m far more comfortable sleeping on this mattress on my side than on my stomach. I wouldn’t recommend it for stomach sleepers.

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How I Tested The Nectar Premier Copper Mattress

Mattress testing, at first blush, is easy: You just sleep on it. But there’s a lot of nuance. When reviewing a mattress, I weigh my sleep position and what that means for my experience (and how it differs from someone else’s). I also evaluate a number of things about each mattress I test while I’m awake, including edge support, memory and motion isolation.

In addition, my understanding of mattresses like the Nectar Premier Copper Mattress comes from years of testing. To date, I’ve tested more than a dozen mattresses by sleeping on them. As someone who has spent years covering sleep, I also understand mattress construction, the benefits and drawbacks of different materials and what to look for when considering a mattress. In every review I write, I weigh my own preferences with how they differ from other people’s, and give mattresses a fair assessment based not only on my perception of them, but how I think they’d work for folks who are different from me in sleep position, weight, body frame and more.

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What Other Testers Say

A number of other Forbes Vetted staffers have slept on this mattress. “I was already a fan of Nectar mattresses (I've had the original for the past three years), but the Premier Copper has really impressed me,” says deals editor Kara Cuzzone. “It offers the right amount of support for me as a side sleeper, ensuring that I don't wake up with hip or back pain. It also has impressive motion isolation—on most beds I can feel my dog moving around during the night but that isn't the case with this one. Plus, I appreciate the cooling cover since I tend to run hot. I haven't woken up sweaty once since trying out this mattress.”

Deputy editor Dave Johnson also has this mattress. “I was attracted to the Nectar Premier Copper mattress, in part, for its promised cooling action,” he says. “On that front, it works surprisingly well. Since starting to use this mattress about six months ago, I've never woken in a sweat even once—nor has my partner, who notoriously sleeps even hotter than I do. It's also superb at isolating movement; I stay blissfully asleep regardless of how much she tosses and turns. The Nectar Premier Copper is also just the right level of firmness for her. Though truth be told, I prefer a softer mattress (my sweet spot is probably closer to a 4 on the mattress scale).”

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About Nectar

Nectar is one of the most well-known online mattress brands these days. Its mattresses have more than 55,000 reviews to date, and it's popular in lists of the best mattresses you’ll see across the internet. The brand’s trial, return and warranty policies are also among the best you’ll find. We’ll dive into each one in a bit more detail here.

Trial And Returns

Nectar’s mattress trial period is among the longest in the industry. You have 365 nights to determine whether a Nectar mattress is the right option for you. For reference, most other companies offer a 100-120 night trial.

Like many online mattress brands, Nectar does not accept returns if you’ve had it for less than 30 nights. This is because there’s an inherent acclimation period to any new mattress. (However, you can return recently delivered unopened mattresses, too.) If you are past 30 days and it still doesn’t feel right, the brand will help you facilitate donation to a local charity that will take the mattress.

Note that if you don’t open your mattress within 90 days of delivery, the mattress is considered “misused” and is no longer eligible for return and warranty claims.

Warranty

Nectar also has an exceptionally long warranty, which it dubs the “Forever Warranty.” This covers the mattress, well, forever. Or at least as long as you’re the original owner and using the mattress. You can contact Nectar to make a warranty claim if:

• You notice an indentation that’s more than 1.5 inches deep
• There’s a physical flaw in the mattress, such as a split or crack, with normal use
• There’s a manufacturing defect in the cover

Of course, there are a handful of things that negate your warranty policy and ability to make claims. These include removing the mattress cover (nope, it’s not washable) and placing the mattress on an improper bed frame. That’s pretty ambiguous, so I dug into the actual bed frame requirements. You’ll want to make sure you’re:

• Not using the mattress on an boxspring
• Avoiding slats more than 5 inches apart
• Not placing the mattress on the floor

Other Things You Might Want To Know About Nectar

Nectar is generally popular with reviewers—its mattresses have an average rating of 4.7 stars. But, to do our due diligence in fully researching brands, we also consult the Better Business Bureau (BBB). I’ve been testing mattresses for years, and I’ve always used BBB as a metric.

In the past, Nectar had a lot of complaints lodged against it. However, the number of complaints on BBB has dramatically shrunk in recent years. At the time of publication, it had just under 500 complaints in the last three years and 125 in the the past 12 months. This is more than many other popular brands, including Avocado, Saatva, Awara and Casper.

Most recent Nectar mattress complaints relate to issues with returns, especially within Nectar’s 30-day required trial. Some customers say it feels like a scam, but as a mattress and sleep expert, I can tell you it’s completely normal and that many competitor brands have the same policy. Other complaints primarily concerned order delays, wherein the products did not ship within 1-2 business days as advertised, and issues with getting Nectar to honor its warranty. The majority of these claims were marked as resolved by the customers, and had responses from Nectar as well.

Finally, Resident Home, the parent company of Nectar, has had two run-ins with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)—one related to Nectar products, and another tied to Dreamcloud, Nectar’s sister brand. The claim against Nectar, which was settled in 2018, pertained to mislabeling of products. Nectar advertised its mattresses as assembled in the United States, when in reality they were “wholly imported” from China according to the FTC. (The Dreamcloud claim also pertained to falsely advertising where mattresses were manufactured, and was settled in 2021.)

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Other Mattresses From Nectar

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How Long Do Nectar Mattresses Last?

Though Nectar mattresses come with a forever warranty, that doesn’t mean the beds are actually designed to last forever. Most mattresses are designed for about 10 years of use. We’d expect Nectar’s mattresses to have a similar lifespan, regardless of whether you opt for a memory foam or hybrid version.

Learn More: When Should You Replace Your Mattress?

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Is A Nectar Mattress Good For Back Pain?

Nectar claims its mattresses can help with maintaining spinal alignment overnight, which might help improve back pain. However, it’s likely too soft for some back and stomach sleepers—meaning it could exacerbate back pain in these positions. It’s very difficult to know whether a given mattress will improve or exacerbate your back pain, which is why Nectar’s lengthy at-home trial is great. You can try the mattress for a long enough time to get a sense of what it does (or doesn’t) do for your back pain.

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• Saatva Classic Mattress Review
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