Expert Rating

80

We are always looking for the best mattresses and here is another we looked at.

It seems like with every month that goes by in 2016 (only one more to go, thank goodness), a new startup you’ve never heard of before is offering a bed-in-a-box system that promises to “revolutionize the way you sleep” from now until the end of time. It may even be a great mattress for sciatica.

No-name companies like Eve, Casper, and Novosbed are rubbing shoulder-to-shoulder with giants like Sealy and Tempurpedic to eke out their corner of the mattress market, and now a new contender from a company called PangeaBed is looking to join the fray with its own entry onto the online shelves.

This bed features innovations that the other guys can’t match like a copper antimicrobial layer to help your mattress clean itself over time, as well as a layer of “Cool Gel” which wicks away the heat that other memory foam mattress would otherwise hold onto. But will these minor upgrades be enough to make up for the lack of any firmness level options? Read 0n in my PangeaBed Mattress review to find out!

Overview

Price: $620
Available: Now
Size:
 Queen

Summary: The PangeaBed adds a new layer of comfort and a number of features to a quickly stagnating market of beds in a box, but its lack of firmness options may scare off those who need an extra-soft or extra-hard bed to cure their back pain.

What We Liked

  • Perfect comfort level for my own preference
  • Barely any smell out of the bag
  • Solid warranty options

What We Didn’t

  • May not be comfortable for those who like extra-firm or extra-soft beds

PangeaBed Mattress Specs

pangeabed-mattress-review
Firmness Options Medium
Trial Period 100 days
Warranty 10-years
Antimicrobial Layer green-check-mark
Price $370 – $810 (depending on size)
Buy Now

Set Up/Initial Impressions

PangeBed Mattress
“Bro do you even lift mattresses?” “Only when I set them up bro.”

As a professional product reviewer, I probably spend at least half the time I get with a product going through the painstaking process of setting up/building/welding together all the various parts of a device before I actually get a chance to use the damn thing. I mention this because of all those products, these bed-in-a-box systems are far and away one of the easiest of the bunch, requiring only a minimal amount of effort as I dump the rolled up/packaged mattress out of the box, cut the film, and let gravity do the rest. If you want to stay cool with another mattress that has a cloud gel layer, read our Puffy Lux Mattress review.

Like other mattresses in this category, I only needed about five minutes to get from packaging to plopping down on top of the thing, though PangeaBed recommends around 20-30 minutes to allow the bed to reach its full pillowy potential.

Read More: Eve Mattress Review

Easily the biggest benefit we noticed is that unlike other bed-in-a-box systems (looking at you, Sealy), the PangeaBed only had a faint, nearly non-noticeable odor when it came out of the bag. Other beds that use similar materials as these can stink for up to two weeks, and at least in the case of the aforementioned Cocoon, I couldn’t even stay in my bedroom the first night I opened it because the smell was so overwhelming that I had a headache throughout most of the day.

After those 30 minutes had passed I did my very scientific and rigorous “run from the other side of the apartment and jump on the bed like Superman” test, which went off with flying colors. The bed is a lot more plush on the top than others, and feels like it has a bit more give thanks to what looks like a thin layer of quilting that’s been sown in. However one small drawback I noticed was that because of that topping, edge control was a bit of an issue. It was easy to accidentally slip off if you weren’t careful, because the quilting lets you think there’s more mattress to go when it’s actually just a straight drop to the ground. Learn more about this Novosbed review to find another great bed recommendation.

Customer Service and Warranty

PangeaBed Mattress
PangeaBed offers a 100-day risk-free trial, so you can all sleep as happily as the woman in this photo

PangeaBed is a brand new startup company as of 2016, one that is trying to compete in an extremely overcrowded market that seems to have “sprung” up “overnight”. (And I promise those will be the last two mattress/sleep-related puns in this review.)

Whether this is due to the arrival of new compression technologies or memory foam types I can’t say for sure, but either way PangeaBed seems to know that it’s up against a lot of startups with this first mattress, along with a lot of titans in the industry like Sealy and TempurPedic to boot. As such, they’re offering a familiar list of benefits to purchasing a PangeaBed mattress which leave you relatively risk-free if you decide to go with them over the others, including: a 100-day sleep trial, free shipping, and a 10-year warranty.

Watch: Novobed Mattress Video Review

Unfortunately unlike those other companies, while you can order the mattress in a range of sizes from Twin to California King, PangeaBed offers only one firmness level, which I’d refer to as “medium” just from a general feel standpoint, though the company never actually elaborates on this themselves. The quilting on the top adds to the overall sensation of softness, though the material underneath is still quite firm and will support your back nicely no matter which position you sleep in.

Lastly, it’s important to note that the PangeBed is quite a bit less expensive than its competitors, often ranging anywhere from $50 – $200 cheaper depending on the size of the mattress you go with and the company you’re comparison shopping against. The queen size we tested is running for only $800 out the door, which is about $150 cheaper than the Sealy we tested just a few short months ago.

Two Months Sleeping on a PangeaBed Mattress

PangeaBed Mattress
The PangeBed comes in just one firmness setting – medium – which was fine with me and my back

As I mentioned in that same Sealy review, I’m a stomach/side sleeper who through most of his life had erred on the side of soft-to-lumpy mattresses that offered little (if any) support for my back. After a few months on the firm Cocoon I’d found significant pain relief in the main sore spot I had since being a teenager (my lower back), and things have only improved body-wide since then.

All that said, the medium firmness of the PangeBed was surprisingly comfortable as well, and didn’t bring back any familiar pain that I’d originally experience when sleeping on softer mattresses. Some customers might be dismayed by the lack of options in this department (there is only medium and no other options to choose from), but personally at least, I found it was still a nice middle ground between the two extremes.

The Cool Gel layer definitely helped me keep cool, though this could also be attributed to the fact that I had been testing the mattress in the middle of a particularly gloomy and cold Portland fall. To try and push it to the limit I spent one night with my heater cranked to full, but even then the mattress still wicked away heat from my body effectively enough.

Wrap Up

Overall, the PangeaBed mattress benefits from a few key upgrades to its layering system that other bed-in-a-box systems have yet to catch up to. The plushy, quilted top is comfortable enough to sleep on without any sheets, and if you went with the Copper upgrade (about $100 more depending on size), you wouldn’t even need to worry about it collecting germs.

Quite a bit cheaper than the competition and significantly less smelly out of the box, this is a mattress that seems to have been studying what the industry was doing wrong and has improved on every aspect of the experience from top to bottom. If you’re someone who’s okay with a decently priced bed and don’t have any specific requirements when it comes to firmness, the PangeaBed is going to be the choice for you.

Related: Bear Mattress Review