Nectar vs. Helix Mattress Comparison for 2024

Nectar vs. Helix Mattress Overview

Who Should Get the Nectar?	Who Should Get the Helix Midnight?
People with restless partners	Fans of hybrid mattresses
Back sleepers	People with back pain
Firm mattress fans	Average-weight people

Nectar vs. Helix: How Are They Similar?

• Mattress-in-a-box – Nectar and Helix are both beds-in-a-box that conveniently arrive on your doorstep. However, you can pay extra for white glove delivery.
• Knit covers – Both beds have breathable knit covers, which help with temperature regulation.
• Memory foam – These beds each have contouring memory foam within.

Nectar vs. Helix: How Are They Different?

• Mattress type – The Nectar is an all-foam build, while the Helix is a hybrid. However, the Nectar is also available in hybrid form for a slightly higher price point.
• Firmness – The Nectar is firmer (we ranked it at a 7.5 out of 10), while the Helix is softer (rated by our team as a 6). 
• Cooling options – The Helix takes cooling one step further with the option to upgrade to a more powerful GlacioTex cooling cover. Nectar doesn’t have this option for this Classic model, but it sells the Nectar Premier, which the brand says has 60 percent more cooling than its Classic counterpart.

Nectar vs. Helix: Firmness, Feel, and Construction

Firmness & Feel

Our firmness scale is used to rate beds from 1 to 10, with the plushest, cloud-like beds coming in at a 1 and the firmest beds coming in at a 10. Most beds fall in the middle. We rated the Nectar as a firm 7.5 and the Helix Midnight as a slightly softer 6, or medium-firm.

Mattress	Sleep Advisor Firmness Rating	Feel	Tester Feedback
Nectar	7.5/10	Firm	Nectar Classic is labeled as a medium-firm, but we found it felt more like a true firm since its foam layers aren’t as contouring as other foam beds. Instead, they are more dense, which lends itself well to promoting natural spinal alignment (you won’t find yourself sinking too far into these foam layers).
Helix Midnight	6/10	Medium-Firm	The Helix Midnight surprised us with its softer contouring memory foam, which is counteracted by a supportive coil system to give this bed the best of both worlds. Between its soft top layers and firmer interior, it fell into a the medium-firm category.

Mattress Construction

The Nectar and Helix Midnight are similar in that they both have memory foam layers and knit covers. They’re also close in height (with the Nectar Classic standing slightly taller at 12 inches vs. the Helix Midnight’s 11.5 inches), yet that’s where the similarities end. 

The Nectar is an all-foam bed, while the Helix Midnight has a hybrid build with foam and pocket coils. The Helix Midnight also has six layers, and while the Nectar has four, they are much thicker.

What’s the Nectar Mattress Made Of?

What’s the Helix Midnight Mattress Made Of? 

Nectar vs. Helix: Body Type and Sleep Position

Nectar Mattress

Body Type	Weight Range	Side Sleeping	Back Sleeping	Stomach Sleeping
Lightweight	Less than 130 pounds	Poor	Good	Poor
Average-Weight	130-230 pounds	Poor	Excellent	Good
Heavyweight	More than 230 pounds	Poor	Excellent	Average

Helix Midnight Mattress

Body Type	Weight Range	Side Sleeping	Back Sleeping	Stomach Sleeping
Lightweight	Less than 130 pounds	Average	Good	Excellent
Average-Weight	130-230 pounds	Average	Good	Good
Heavyweight	More than 230 pounds	Good	Good	Poor

Nectar vs. Helix: Mattress Testing Performance

Pressure Relief

• Nectar Pressure Relief Score: 4/5

• Helix Midnight Pressure Relief Score: 5/5

We employ the help of a pressure map that generates colored images to show any areas of pressure buildup. The Nectar was mostly blue and green, which means little to no pressure, with just a few yellow areas along the side with moderate pressure, which is why we docked a point.

The Helix Midnight had just a hint of green for back sleeping, and while there is some yellow in the hip for side sleeping, we still gave it a perfect score because our tester for that is petite, so she wouldn’t sink into the materials as much as most other sleepers. Based on this and the Midnight’s comparatively softer feel, we think it’s the better choice for more robust pressure relief.

Support

• Nectar Support Score: 5/5

• Helix Midnight Support Score: 5/5

We determine support by laying on each mattress on our stomach, back, and side. We then gauge how well our spines stay aligned (and don’t bottom out). Both the Nectar Classic and Helix Midnight excelled in support. Our spines stayed lifted, and we felt like we were lying on top of the bed, rather than in it. These beds performed equally in this category.

Motion Isolation

• Nectar Motion Isolation Score: 5/5

• Helix Midnight Motion Isolation Score: 5/5

We use a nifty seismograph app to measure ripples of movement on top of a bed. We had two testers lay on each bed, with one shifting around to mimic moving around in one’s sleep. Our app picked up almost no motion transfer on the Nectar. On the Helix Midnight, motion isolation was mostly good; the only spikes you see are from when we came down hard and put concentrated pressure on the mattress. With either bed, we couldn’t feel our fellow testers moving around, so we’d say both beds excellent for couples who bed-share.

Temperature Regulation / Cooling

• Nectar Cooling Score: 4/5

• Helix Midnight Cooling Score: 5/5

We use a thermal gun to measure the temperature of a bed before, during, and after laying on it. The Nectar rose about 7 degrees while laying on it (solid cooling), but the Helix performed even better by rising only 4 degrees, meaning it has fantastic cooling properties.

Bounce 

• Nectar Bounce Score: 3.5/5

• Helix Midnight Bounce Score: 3.5/5

We drop a ball on mattresses we test to see how quickly the bed bounces back into shape. This shows responsiveness, or how easy it is to move around on top of a mattress. 

The Nectar and Helix fared equally in this category with average bounce. While you shouldn’t find yourself necessarily feeling stuck on top of these beds, you may need to put in a little extra effort to move around or change sleeping positions.

Edge Support

• Nectar Edge Support Score: 5/5

• Helix Midnight Edge Support Score: 2/5

We test edge support by laying on it for a minute and then sitting a the edge for a minute. This is an important feature for couples who need extra space to spread out or people with mobility issues who might struggle to get in and out of bed. 

The Nectar got a solid 5 out of 5 because we noticed almost no sinkage. The Helix performed poorly (likely due to its softer build compared to the Nectar), so we don’t recommend it for these groups.

Couples

• Nectar Couples Score: 4/5

• Helix Midnight Couples Score: 3/5

We generate our couples scores based on the bed’s scores in other categories we test that would make bed-sharing easier, like good overall support, cooling, motion isolation, bounce, and edge support. The Helix may have slightly outperformed the Nectar in cooling, but the Nectar blew the Helix out of the water in edge support, which is why we ultimately deemed it our winner for couples.