Awara Premier Natural Hybrid Mattress Review

About the Awara Premier Natural Hybrid Mattress

• Firmness: Medium-Firm
• Trial length: 365 nights
• Warranty: “Forever”
• Sizes: Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, and California King

The Awara Natural Hybrid Mattress is one of two mattresses the company sells. The word “Premier” is the key word here as the mattress is around $300 more expensive than the entry-level Natural Hybrid Mattress. The extra $300 gets you a 4-inch top layer of latex foam, while the cheaper model only has a 2-inch layer. The mattress is available in Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, and California King. You’ll also probably get some bedding accessories with your purchase, such as cooling pillows, sheets, and a mattress protector, as the company often offers such promotions. Awara is owned by Resident Home, which also produces Nectar and Dreamcloud mattresses.

Awara’s mattress is a hybrid, which means it has springs and foam. The Awara has a base of eight-inch pocketed coils layered with four inches of latex foam and topped with a pillowy cover made of wool and cotton.

What we like about the Awara Premier Natural Hybrid Mattress

It effectively dampens motion transfer

No one likes to be woken up in the middle of the night by a restless sleeping partner, so having a mattress that dampens vibrations is crucial for a good night's sleep.

The Awara Premier mattress is bouncier than most and is noticeably springy when sitting or lying down. It feels similar to the Avocado Green, which isn't surprising considering that both mattresses use latex instead of memory foam. Despite the bounciness, the bed performed well in our motion transfer tests.

To test motion transfer, we drop a 150-pound punching bag onto one side of the mattress, and using an accelerometer, we record how the motion is registered on the opposite side. The higher the force peak, the worse the bed isolates motion. In the case of the Awara Premier, the motion isolation was good. Only about half the average force was transferred across the bed during the heavy bag drop. Awara's claim that the pocket coil construction isolates movement, and our tests seem to support this claim.

It will keep you cool at night

A sweltering sleeping surface is a one-way ticket to insomnia, especially in the hotter months of the year. A mattress that effectively diffuses heat at night will prevent overheating and aid in restful sleep. To test how well a mattress diffuses heat, we warm silicon heating pads to body temperature and place them on the bed on top of temperature sensors. We then cover them with a blanket and measure how quickly they cool down.

The Awara performed well in this area and just pipped the Avocado Green, which is constructed from similar materials.

It’s suitable for all sleeping positions

Finding a mattress that provides the right balance of firmness and cushioning is rare, but the Premier somehow manages it. The medium-firmness of the bed offers a versatile surface that should prove soft and supportive enough for back, front, and side sleepers.

It’s made from sustainable materials

Awara’s impressive environmental credentials are quickly catching up to its competitor, Avocado, although, it doesn't really count as "organic." Instead, the mattress is described by Awara as “natural”. Awara does list several certifications that suggest that, at the very least, efforts have been made to source organic materials and materials that meet environmentally conscious, ethical, and sustainable standards.

Awara’s Dunlop latex has the Rainforest Alliance certification, which means it is sourced in a way that meets “rigorous” conservation standards. The latex is also GOLS and FSC certified. Awara uses GOTS certified organic wool, but unlike Avocado, it has not sought out CertiPUR-US, which set parameters and require corroborating proof.

What we don’t like about the Awara Premier Natural Hybrid Mattress

The mattress has poor edge support

Poor edge support may seem like a minor issue, but if you have limited mobility and need assistance getting in and out of bed, then a sturdy mattress edge that won't buckle is crucial.

For our edge support tests, we take a 150-pound bag and move it along the mattress to see how and when the edges compress and how long it takes for the bag to roll off the bed. When we performed this test on the Awara Premier, the bag rolled off the mattress quite easily.

Pressure relief was mediocre at best

A mattress that evenly distributes weight and contours to the general shape of the human body should prevent excessive pressure around the hips and shoulders and provide a more comfortable sleeping experience. We move weights across the mattress and measure how the weights sink into the surface to get an objective sense of a mattress's overall pressure point relief. This gives a sense of how various parts of the body would be supported or cushioned.

Based on the pressure readings under the barbell, the Awara Premier mattress does an OK job of conforming to the body and providing a fair amount of pressure relief. It’s not awful by any means, but it is decidedly average.

What is Awara’s return policy and warranty?

Awara offers a trial period of 365 nights and a “forever” warranty. This means that Awara will replace it for your first 10 years of ownership if it’s defective in workmanship and materials. After the 10-year window is up, the company will still repair, re-cover, or replace the mattress for a fee. This warranty only applies if the mattress is placed on an “appropriate base” and the bed is still in the original owner's possession.

If you don’t like the mattress during your trial period, you may contact Awara’s “Sleep Concierge” to donate or dispose of the mattress locally.

What are other people saying about the Awara Premier?

The Awara Premier is only available for sale on the brand's website. It’s difficult to know exactly how many reviews it has amassed as Awara has combined the customer reviews for the standard and Premier options. Both mattresses have 1,326 reviews combined and an average rating of 4.7 stars. For the most part, reviewers like the lack of chemical scent, the low heat retention, and the firmness topped off with a soft pillowy layer. Many also bemoan the unboxing process but say it was “worth it.”

“I had never spent so much for a mattress and my family thought I was nuts but I love, love, LOVE my mattress,” writes a 5-star reviewer. “After 14 years of aches, pains, [and] surgeries, I am now able to sleep and feel better in the morning. My mattress isn't making me sweat and I don't wake up in order to turn over.”

There are currently 25 one- and two-star reviews. Almost all the customers who don’t like the mattress say it is either too firm or too soft, which is a good reminder that everyone has different preferences. We also noticed a few criticisms of the mattresses' soft edges.

Should you buy the Awara Premier Natural Hybrid Mattress

Yes, if you want an eco-friendly mattress with great motion isolation

The Awara Premier occupies an awkward spot when placed alongside the competition. It is a good mattress, but it’s not the best “natural” mattress you can buy. That honor goes to the Acovado Green, which offers marginally better cooling performance and significantly improved edge support. However, The Awara Premier is about $300 cheaper than the Avocado and provides impressive motion isolation to boot. So, if you’re set on getting a “natural” mattress and can put up with the mediocre edge support, then the Awara Premier is a good choice.