We’ve tested every side sleeper mattress you can buy — our fave for people with hip and back pain is up to $789 off in the Presidents' Day sales

Tom's Guide Sleep Editor Nicola Appleton, dressed in blue and white stripped pyjamas, sits on the edge of the Helix Midnight Luxe hybrid mattress for side sleepers while testing it at home — (Image credit: Future)

Side sleeping is the most popular of all positions, with 65% of us bedding down on our side each night – and that includes me and most of my team. Between us we've tested over 120 mattresses, and our current top pick for the side sleeping brigade is the Helix Midnight Luxe, down to $1,048 (was $1,436) at Helix with the code TOMS27.

We've retested this luxury hybrid twice in the last two years (the Midnight Luxe was updated with all-new foams last year) and still rate it as one of the best mattresses you can buy to stop painful pressure points forming beneath your hips and shoulders.

The cheapest time to buy a Helix mattress is around a major holiday like Presidents' Day because this is when Helix rolls out its biggest discount. There's 25% off sitewide this weekend, but the best Helix mattress deal for most people is 27% off when you use the code TOMS27 at checkout. That nudges the price of a queen Midnight Luxe down to $1,751 (was $2,398), matching the cheapest price we tracked during the last major sale, Black Friday. You'll have 120 nights to try the Midnight Luxe at home, and you'll get a limited lifetime warranty and free shipping.

Our Helix Midnight Luxe review score: ★★★★½
User score: ★★★★½ (7,800+ reviews)

A mattress worth siding with

I'm always preaching the gospel of side sleeping and why it's the healthiest position for boosting circulation and aiding digestion. But let's be honest, side sleeping, when done incorrectly, can also cause pain. Especially in the hips. (My top tip: use a knee pillow or full body pillow for better side sleeper posture.)

My colleague Nicola Appleton has retested the Helix Midnight Luxe twice in nearly two years and all-but cries every time she has to hand it back to sleep on another bed.

"On other mattresses I have to keep switching from side to side through the night," she tells me, "but on the Midnight Luxe I can sleep comfortably on the one side for hours at a time.

"It's also the first mattress where I've enjoyed sleeping on on my back. I suspect this is down to the Luxe's reinforced lumbar support and that cozy pillow-top.

"Whether I'm on my side or back, I just feel the tension leave my body."

The image shows an woman smiling as she places her hands on the surface of a white mattress while she crouches next to it — (Image credit: Future)

Keep your cool

Nicola also praises the Helix for keeping her cool while sleeping. She doesn't have night sweats or chronic hot flashes, so if you sleep very hot, my recommendation as a sleep coach would be the Bear Elite Hybrid mattress.

This tall, luxury hybrid earned a full 5/5 score in our rigorous, lab-based temperature regulation tests (learn how we test mattresses). I watched in disbelief as the Bear Elite Hybrid shed several degrees' worth of heat in under a minute, proving itself the most powerful cooling mattress in the room.

The Bear Elite Hybrid (from $1,299 with free bedding at Bear) relies on celliant technology to drive a lot of its temperature regulation and active cooling.

The Helix Midnight Luxe comes with a Tencel cover as standard, although you can upgrade to a GlacioTex Cooling cover (for an extra $187). For chronic overheaters, the maximum cooling upgrade (which costs $375) is an option.

On the edge

I'll admit I'm a full-blown mattress nerd, and one of my biggest pet peeves on luxury beds is poor edge support.

The Helix Midnight Luxe has very strong perimeter support. It performed well in our various edge support tests (reviewed under the previous version of our mattress methodology), and this has a number of benefits:

The mattress is easier to get in and out of.
You can lie close to the edges and max out your sleep space.
You can sit on the foot of the bed and get dressed without sliding off.

Again, once I've completed testing the Helix Midnight Luxe under our brand-new methodology, I'll be interested to see how it stacks up against our current top performers for perimeter support...

These are the Saatva Classic (which earned a note-perfect 5/5 in our edge support tests), the Siena Signature (we scored it a 4/5 – impressive for a cheap mattress that costs under $300), and the DreamCloud Classic (another excellent 4/5).

According to Nicola's review of the Helix Midnight Luxe, it dishes out good motion isolation too. This feature is super-important to any of you who share a bed with a restless sleeper, or a person who comes to bed much later than you.

Want to know what our current top-testing mattress is for motion isolation? The Siena Signature, a firm memory foam mattress that punches well above its bargain price tag (from $159 at Siena).

Our tester lies on her side when reviewing the Saatva Classic Mattress — (Image credit: Future)

How the Helix stacks up against my fave side sleeper mattress, the Saatva Classic

I've tested a mountain of mattresses for my job as a Certified Sleep Science Coach and head of mattress testing at Tom's Guide, and some of them have been a real pain in the hip (and the shoulder and lower back).

While I've laid on the Helix Midnight Luxe and can see what all the fuss is about, the mattress that finally helped me sleep well again after being plagued by post-pregnancy hip and back pain is the Saatva Classic mattress.

The Saatva Classic, from $999 at Saatva, is a luxury hybrid rival to the Helix Midnight Luxe and the highest scoring mattress we've ever tested. It's also the top-rated option in the majority of our expert buying guides, including taking home the crown of the best luxury mattress and the best hybrid mattress of the year in our last Tom's Guide Sleep Awards.

I sleep exclusively on my side and have never slept better than I have on the Saatva Classic. It's designed with a memory foam lumbar crown and whenever I lie down on it, I feel like I'm having a gentle, pressure relieving massage. It's beyond heavenly.

That said, I'll soon be retesting the Helix Midnight Luxe from cover to base so I'll be interested in how it performs across a longer at-home testing period compared to the time I've currently spent on it.

Budget alternatives...

Looking for something a little different to the Helix Midnight Luxe? Here's what else we recommend...

In our DreamCloud Classic Hybrid mattress review, we found that it offered outstanding pressure relief, it regulated temperature well, and it has a high-quality finish. Our lead tester noted that it gave the right balance of support and comfort. You can get a twin for $399 and a queen for $699 in the DreamCloud mattress sale, plus you'll get a free bedding bundle. This bundle includes cooling pillows, a mattress protector, and a sheet set.

Our score: ★★★★½
User score: ★★★★½ (9,300+ reviews)

More of today's top bed sales to browse

Saatva: save $400 on our favorite mattress
Bear: 35% off our top cooling mattress
Helix Sleep: 25% off sitewide
DreamCloud Mattress: Up to 60% off + free bedding
Nectar Mattress: up to 50% off + up to 66% off bundles
Brooklyn Bedding: 30% off sitewide
Tempur-Pedic: up to $500 off mattresses

Claire is a Certified Sleep Science Coach and the Managing Editor of Sleep at Tom's Guide. She curates our mattress guides and oversees our rigorous mattress testing procedures. Claire has over 16 years' product review experience and is connected to a wealth of globally renowned sleep experts including mattress designers and buyers, neuroscientists, and doctors of sleep medicine. As the Managing Editor of our Sleep and Mattress Team, Claire is responsible for all mattress and sleep content published on Tom’s Guide and is our expert on Saatva, DreamCloud, and Nectar mattresses. Claire is also certified to advise people on how to choose a mattress that suits their needs and budget, as well as helping them to create a nighttime routine and bedroom environment that helps them sleep better.

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