Tom's Guide Verdict
The Puffy Royal Hybrid is a luxury 10-layer mattress made from premium foams and adaptive coils. We reviewed it for over three weeks and found that it offers a hit of sink-in softness when you first lie down, but the adaptive coil base helps to keep you supported and your spine aligned for healthy sleep posture. During testing, the Puffy Royal Hybrid performed well for motion isolation and we were most comfortable while side and back sleeping, so we're recommending the Puffy Royal Hybrid as the perfect choice for side and back sleeper who bedshare with fidgety partners and who enjoy a very plush mattress. Packing in 10 layers means it's tall at 14", so keep that in mind if you're looking for a lower profile mattress. The edge support on our review model was lacking a bit, and there's no option to customize the height or feel in the way you can with rival luxury hybrid the Saatva Classic, but there's still a lot to like here with a queen size often on sale for $2,399.
Pros
- +
Great motion isolation
- +
Super-plush sink-in feel
- +
Best for side and back sleepers
- +
Wool boosts breathability
- +
Lifetime warranty
Cons
- -
Average edge support
- -
No customization options
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The Puffy Royal Hybrid is one the brand's most opulent mattresses, second only in price to the Puffy Monarch. A luxury bed-in-a-box, the Royal Hybrid is designed to provide an ultra-plush feel, making it the softest bed in the brand's growing range.
Our Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress review process took place over three consecutive weeks, with our lead reviewer testing a king size in all key areas including pressure relief, temperature regulation, support, comfort and edge support.
Our full review is below, but if you're short on time and just want an overview of how we rate the Puffy Royal Hybrid and how to decide whether it's the best mattress for your body and sleep needs, we've included the highlights in this section.
Type: Hybrid
Materials: Wool, memory foam, other foam, coils
Firmness (out of 10): Medium-soft (4-5)
Depth: 14 inches
Trial period: 101 nights
Warranty: Lifetime
Price: From $2,599 to $4,248 at Puffy
The majority of the best hybrid mattresses typically offer a medium-firm feel, but because the 14" Puffy Royal Hybrid has 10 layers, it delivers a much plusher feel that allows sleepers to sink in throughout the night. It takes time for your body to descend down into those ultra-plush layers, but even when you do so, the adaptive coil system keeps your spine aligned and your hips supported enough to lie comfortably on your back and side.
The soft-medium feel of the Puffy Royal Hybrid is a strong selling point for people who like softer beds, however after testing we feel it also does a great job of motion isolation too. That means bedsharers shouldn't feel the movements of the other person too much. While this hybrid isn’t a proper cooling mattress, but it didn’t trap a lot of heat but there's a chance it could get slightly cozy, in terms of temperature, with two people. If you sleep hot, pair it with sheets only or a lightweight comforter.
A lack of customization options and average at best edge support are perhaps the biggest drawbacks to the Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress. You can test the mattress for 101 nights, so you'll be able to just this for yourself.
As a luxury mattress, the Puffy Royal Hybrid has a price tag to match, though thankfully there are regular sales discounting up to $1,350 off during special holidays like Labor Day, Presidents' Day and the Memorial Day mattress sales. We regularly see a queen size discounted to $2,399 (was $3,749) and it comes with free pillows, sheets, a mattress protector and a lifetime warranty to boost your value for money.
Read on to get a clearer picture as to how the king-sized Puffy Royal Hybrid Mattress performed in all areas of our mattress testing, and why we recommend it as a great mattress for side sleepers seeking a luxury bed.
Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress review: Price & trial
- The Royal Hybrid is Puffy’s second most luxurious mattress
- A queen size is often on sale for $2,399 (was $3,749)
- Comes with two free pillows, a mattress protector and bed sheets
The Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress sits right below the Puffy Monarch Hybrid in terms of the brand’s most luxury buys, and we consider it to be a premium mattress on the wider market. Currently, there are no upgrade or customization options for this particular mattress, which is a shame.
For comparison, the luxury innerspring hybrid Saatva Classic (our top rated bed of the year) costs $1,695 (was $2,095) in the Saatva mattress sale and it comes in three firmness levels and two heights. Read our Saatva Classic mattress review to learn why we rate it so highly for most sleepers.
Here's how much a Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress costs according to each different size, as well as the price that you could potentially pay (on average) in monthly mattress sales:
- Twin MSRP: $2,599 (normally sells for $1,249)
- Twin XL MSRP: $2,799 (normally sells for $1,449)
- Full MSRP: $3,499 (normally sells for $2,149)
- Queen MSRP: $3,749 (normally sells for $2,399)
- King MSRP: $4,049 (normally sells for $2,699)
- California King MSRP: $4,049 (normally sells for $2,699)
- Split King MSRP: $4,348 (normally sells for $2,898)
Puffy offers a military discount year-round to those who have served or are serving in the U.S. military, as well as their spouses and registered dependents. It’s perhaps the best deal you can get with a saving of $1,425 off any Puffy mattress. So with it you'll save an extra $75 on a queen size Puffy Royal Hybrid.
Everyone who buys the mattress also receives two free pillows, Puffy's best mattress protector, plus a free bed sheets set. Shipping is free and you'll have 101 nights to trial it at home – the trial starts from the day of delivery.
Every Puffy mattress also comes with a lifetime warranty which is not always a given with luxury mattresses. Saatva, Nectar Sleep DreamCloud Sleep, Awara, Layla and Nolah have lifetime warranties, though after a certain amount of years (usually ten), replacements will usually cost you a transportation fee. That doesn’t appear to be the case with Puffy, which is excellent news.
Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress review: Design
- A 14" hybrid mattress designed with 10 layers
- Cooling foams and pressure relief foam layers
- Contour adapt coils and a sculpting foam layer with five zones
The Puffy Royal Hybrid has ten layers, resulting in it being 14" tall and ultra plush. A quilted top layer has cooling yarns, meant to assist with the mattress’ temperature regulation. You cannot remove the cover, so it will have to be spot cleaned only. The cover is followed by two thin layers – a blended wool filling and a climate fiber layer. Where the wool wicks away moisture, the climate fiber assists with circulation. Both are meant to contribute to a cooler sleep experience.
The next four layers are foam layers. The first foam layer is a one-inch-thick infused cooling foam which works in connection with the previous layers to prevent heat retention. A reflexive memory foam and cloud comfort pressure relief foam help with comfort and pressure point relief. The largest foam layer (2.5" thick) is a cloud sculpting technology foam which has five zones meant to cushion your head, neck, shoulders, back, and legs.
The coil layer is only six inches thick and while the coils may assist with absorbing motion, they’re definitely helping with air flow too. As with most mattresses, the Puffy Royal Hybrid Mattress has a support foam layer on the bottom to help maintain the mattress’ stability and integrity. The team also added a grip base cover to the bottom of the mattress so it can grip any type of bed frame and won’t move in the middle of the night.
Two handles are placed on either side of the mattress in case it needs to be moved. Lastly, the Puffy Royal Hybrid is CertiPUR-US certified, meaning it has low volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and is free of ozone depleters, PBDEs, TDCPP, TCEP flame retardants, mercury, leady, formaldehyde, phthalates, and heavy metals.
Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress review: Support & comfort
- A plush mattress with a 6 out of 10 firmness rating
- Great for side and back sleepers
- Provides a sink-in feel while remaining supportive
The Puffy Royal Hybrid Mattress is a luxury mattress in a box described by Puffy as ultra-plush. Our reviewer (who is 5’5” and weighs 175lbs) found the mattress to be very comfortable, even though she usually prefers more medium firm mattresses. The Puffy Royal Hybrid Mattress is best described as soft-medium, or a 6/10 on the firmness scale.
When our reviewer first laid on the Puffy Royal Hybrid, it appeared to keep her body on top of the mattress. However, as time passed, our reviewer’s body sunk quite a bit into the cloud-like mattress, so that when she awoke in the middle of the night, she found that it had contoured around her body shape. It became more noticeable when she rolled over and noticed the height difference in the area where she’d been lying and the rest of the mattress.
There is nothing wrong with a sleep surface that sinks, as long as it still aligns the spine and provides pressure relief. Our reviewer found this to be the case, though having said that, it did make sleeping on her back or side much more comfortable than sleeping on her stomach. This was echoed by a secondary tester, who is 5 ft 7 inches and weighs 135lbs. They gravitated to sleeping on their side and raved about the softness of the Puffy Royal Hybrid.
When we placed a 15lb dumbbell in the center of the mattress, it sank 3/4ths of an inch, but after a few minutes, it seemed to be slowly sinking. Stomach sleepers may prefer the Puffy Cloud mattress (priced from $599 at Puffy) which has a firmer feel yet still boasts a soft sleep surface.
Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress review: Performance
- Minimal motion transfer
- Decent temperature regulation
- Edge support is not as good as we'd hoped
Over the course of three weeks, we tested a king sized Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress. Our lead reviewer tested the bed in every key areas as laid out in our mattress methodology.
Along with gathering test data, our main reviewer assembled a review panel of testers of different weight, heights and sleep positions to get their opinions of the mattress. Here's what we discovered during our Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress review...
Setup & delivery
The Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress ships for free in one to two business days. White Glove delivery service is not an option, which is disappointing, considering the price. The mattress arrives rolled and vacuum sealed in a cardboard box. A queen size weighs 115lbs, however, since we tested a 135lbs king size mattress, moving it from the front porch to the bedroom required the use of a dolly.
Removing the mattress from the box was easy enough, though it would have helped to have had a family member or friend to assist in moving the mattress from the floor to the bed as it was considerably heavy. For as tightly packed as the mattress was, it seemed to expand fully in 20 minutes. Our tester slept on the mattress the same night she unboxed it.
Upon removing the plastic, our tester noticed a slight chemical smell. While the smell lingered for a few days, it was only noticeable to the reviewer when she slept on her side or stomach (her face had to be a few inches from the mattress to detect the smell), so she slept on her back until the smell disappeared.
Perhaps most surprising, the mattress had a few stains on it. Two of the stains were about dime-sized, dark in color, and located near the center of the mattress. As for the other, our reviewer noted that one of the corners along the bottom of the mattress was stained yellow. While it didn’t affect our reviewer’s experience sleeping on the mattress, the stains were an out of the ordinary find.
Score: 4 out of 5
Motion isolation
We are of the mind that when two people sleep in a bed, one should not be awoken by the other simply because they move in the middle of the night. To observe the Puffy Royal Hybrid's motion isolation, we placed an empty wine glass in the middle of the mattress before dropping a 15 lb weight three distances away: 4, 10, and 25". The wine glass didn’t move when the dumbbell was dropped 10 and 25" away, but it swayed slightly at four inches.
This was impressive enough, though our reviewer went an extra step and had another person lie on the mattress and move into different sleep positions, as well as get in and out of the bed. In both instances, our reviewer didn’t feel the other person move at all.
With all this in mind, we rate the motion isolation of the Puffy Royal Hybrid Mattress significantly high, making it the perfect choice for side and back sleeper who bedshare with fidgety or restless partners and who enjoy a very plush mattress.
Score: 5 out of 5
Temperature regulation
The Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress did an average job when it came to temperature regulation. Our tester slept on the mattress for three weeks in April, during which time it was usually 63-73 degrees in her home as she had yet to put the air conditioner on. The fan was set and she slept under sheets and a medium heavy comforter.
For how warm it was in the house at times, the mattress did a decent job in terms of breathability. Our reviewer got a little warm occasionally, but generally, with the fan on, she was able to fall asleep quickly and could even pull the comforter up to her chin in the middle of the night. It should be noted that the mattress’ cover is not cool to the touch.
The Puffy Royal Hybrid Mattress isn’t the coolest or most breathable mattress our reviewer has tested, but it did a decent job. That said, it might warrant a lightweight comforter in the summer.
Score: 4 out of 5
Edge support
The Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress is not designed with reinforced edges, and this became all too apparent during testing. When sitting on the sides and the foot of the bed, our reviewer sunk in considerably, and after 10 seconds, would start to slide off the mattress. Even when we placed a 15lb dumbbell on the side of the mattress, we had to do so with care because it teetered precariously as if it wanted to roll off. The dumbbell sank about 3/4ths of an inch.
At least when our reviewer slept near the side of the bed, she did not feel like she’d slip off. All in all, this isn’t a stellar mattress in terms of edge support, which could be a drawback for those who need more support putting their shoes on while sitting on the side of the bed or who want reassurance that the mattress’ integrity will last for years to come. Keep in mind, it also comes with a lifetime warranty for extra peace of mind.
Score: 3.5 out of 5
Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress review: User reviews
- Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars from over 12,500 reviews...
- ...however all Puffy mattress reviews are grouped together
- Users praise the softness of the mattress and its pain relief capabilities
If you’re hoping to read specific customer feedback about the Puffy Royal Hybrid on the brand's website, prepare yourself for a bit of difficulty. Rather than separate the reviews for each mattress on their respective webpage, Puffy groups the reviews for all of the beds together.
So while it may say that the Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress has a 4.9 out of 5-star rating from over 12,500 reviews, that rating is taken from all Puffy mattress reviews – not just the Royal Hybrid.
We actually don’t know what the star rating is for the Puffy Royal Hybrid, and because the reviews are not searchable (either through your own word choice, star rating, or keywords), you can’t actually separate out the Royal Hybrid reviews to see what customers specifically say about it.
To determine what users thought about the Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress, we had to scroll through the reviews looking for mentions of the Royal Hybrid specifically. We saw reviewers constantly pointing out the soft yet supportive feel, especially for couples who are combo sleepers. Many mentioned that it helped alleviate their back, shoulder, hip and leg pain too. We found little in the way of critical feedback.
Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress review: Should you buy?
If you ask our reviewer, she’d tell you that a mattress with a lifetime warranty is an easy sell, especially with a brand like Puffy that doesn’t charge customers a fee to ship a replacement at any point in its lifetime (rival brands do this). However, we’re happy to report that the lifetime warranty is not the only feature of the Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress that makes it worth buying.
As you sleep on this ultra-plush hybrid, you’ll realize that your body begins to sink into the cozy surface in such a way that you feel like you’re in a comforting cloud. Even with the sinkage, the mattress’ 10 layers manages to offer support and pressure relief, especially for side and back sleepers. That’s not to say it’s a bad choice for stomach sleepers, but it might not offer enough firmness and support around the hips for stomach sleepers of all sizes.
The mattress is breathable in the sense that our reviewer did not overheat at night, but it didn’t overly impress us with its temperature regulation. The average sleeper probably won’t have an issue with it, but for those who sleep hot, there are mattresses like the Luxe by GhostBed (read our GhostBed Luxe mattress review for more) that do a better job.
Where the Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress shines is at motion isolation capabilities. Those with partners will sleep undisturbed even when their partner gets in and out of bed or changes sleep positions. If motion isolation is important to you when choosing a hybrid bed, but you have a smaller budget, take a look at our Leesa Sapira Hybrid mattress review – our current top pick for motion isolation and usually reduced to $1,399 (was $1,999) for a queen size at Leesa.
The edge support isn’t what we hoped it would be, but it’s unlikely that you’ll slip off while you sleep. The 14" height will help you get in and out of bed, but you probably can’t sit along the sides of the mattress and put your shoes on comfortably.
All in all, the Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress is a good choice for people who sleep on their sides and back and prefer a soft-medium feel with high levels of motion isolation for more rested sleep. If you’re on the fence, don’t forget that it comes with a lifetime warranty and a 101-night trial.
Puffy Royal Hybrid mattress review: Alternatives to consider
