Helix Midnight: Should you buy this top-rated mattress in a box in 2024?

Update: we've tested this out. Head to our official Helix Midnight mattress review to get the full low-down.

The Helix Midnight is a mid-range hybrid bed-in-a-box designed to support side sleepers, but many user reviews say it’s super-comfortable for back and stomach sleeping too. So should you buy it? Here we take a close look at the Helix Midnight ahead of publishing our official mattress review, and talk you through the price, design, comfort, features and more. 

We’ve also analyzed user reviews to see what existing customers think of this award-winner, looking out for any experiences of long-term use to assess its durability and lasting support. The Helix Midnight tops our ranking of the best mattress for side sleepers, and features highly in our best mattress guide too, because it offers ample cushioning around the shoulders, hips and knees in a side sleeping position. You'll find it in our best hybrid mattress guide, also.

This is no one-trick pony though, and the Midnight’s hybrid design (pocketed coil and memory foam) makes it a surprisingly breathable and versatile mattress that should suit a wide range of sleepers. Helix Sleep's official after Christmas mattress sale cuts 15% off all sizes of the Midnight, for a total savings of up to $232. Here’s what you need to know…

Helix Midnight mattress: At a glance

The medium-firm Helix Midnight is a hybrid mattress designed with layers of premium memory foam over pocketed coils. It’s one of six hybrid models made by Helix Sleep, and you can buy it in both the standard and Luxe version (with added comfort and pressure relief tech). 

Handcrafted in the US, the Helix Midnight is the brand’s most popular mattress and is one of its most affordable too, especially when there’s a mattress sale running. Made from a combination of memory foam, polyfoam and individually wrapped coils, the Helix Midnight is a comfortable and supportive mattress.

Despite a price increase in 2022, the Helix Midnight still sits comfortably in the mid-range mattress market and is one of the best memory foam mattresses for side sleepers. Prices range between $699 and $1,349 when on sale. This is particularly competitive for such a well-made and highly rated hybrid mattress, and you’ll also get two of the brand’s best pillows with the Midnight.

The Helix Midnight is a great choice for sleepers of most shapes and sizes (the Helix Plus mattress, which costs from $949 at Helix, is better for plus-size sleepers), yet it offers particularly good support for side sleepers. It’s effective at keeping pressure points well-cushioned, with the memory foam doing an excellent job of cradling the body from head to toe. Temperature regulation is also excellent, with air flowing freely through the pocketed coils and breathable cover that keeps the entire mattress cool to the touch. 

Those coils also work to isolate motion from your partner and vice versa, so you shouldn’t disturb each other as much with your in-bed movements. This is an important feature if you have different bedtime routines and schedules. 

However, stomach sleepers are likely to find the Midnight too soft for their needs and heavier sleepers of over 250lbs may not get the support they need to be properly aligned. We’d therefore recommend looking at the Luxe version, or even reading our Saatva Classic mattress review for a rival hybrid that suits average to heavier body weights.

At the time of publishing this article, the Helix Midnight mattress has over 4,788 user reviews, with an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars. The majority award the mattress 5 out of 5 stars, with many comments praising its pressure relieving qualities and sheet comfort for the entire body. Those who didn’t like the mattress complained that it was either too soft or too firm, which shows how subjective mattress firmness is. That’s also why Helix Sleep runs a 100-night risk-free trial, giving you enough time to ensure it’s the right choice for you. 

Helix Midnight mattress: Prices and deals

We’d consider the Helix Midnight a mid-range mattress, so it isn’t as cheap as budget models but it is well priced considering the build quality and materials used. Here are the listing prices for the Midnight mattress, plus the prices we normally see it on sale for:

• Twin: $799 (normally priced $699)
• Twin XL: $899 (normally priced $799)
• Full: $1,049 (normally priced $949)
• Queen: $1,199 (normally priced $1,099)
• King: $1,549 (normally priced $1,399)
• Cal King: $1,549 (normally priced $1,399)

The Midnight has a few direct competitors, including the DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid ($999 for a queen size at DreamCloud), and the Leesa Original Hybrid ($1,099 for a queen at Leesa). While those are close in terms of design and price, the Helix Midnight is hundreds of dollars cheaper than luxury rivals like the Casper Original Hybrid ($1,695 for a queen at Casper) and the Saatva Classic ($1,995 for a queen at Saatva)

View the Helix Midnight from $699 at Helix Sleep
The Midnight is routinely discounted by up to $150, plus you get two free pillows. As a medium-firm mattress it should suit a range of sleep positions, but it’s expertly designed to offer side sleepers the pressure relief they need on their hips, shoulders and knees. You’ll have 100 nights to trial it, and the Midnight comes with a 10-year warranty too. You'll normally pay $1,099 for a queen size.

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Helix Midnight mattress: Design and materials

• Made with toxin-free foam
• Pocketed coils aid pressure relief
• DuraFoam reduces premature sagging

The Helix Midnight is 12” deep and made from a range of high-quality materials to boost your sleep comfort and reduce pressure. The cover uses Helix Sleep’s Soft Touch Design and is a light, stretchy and breathable material that works to keep you cool at night. 

Underneath lives Helix’s bespoke memory ‘plus’ foam. This is designed to relieve pressure, providing gentle sinkage and body contouring. This layer also works hard at cradling pressure points but isn’t too thick, so you shouldn’t feel stuck in the mattress. 

Below this is a transition layer of polyfoam absorbs sinkage from the memory foam and provides support, keeping your spine aligned. Helix’s mattresses are all free from harmful chemicals, heavy metals and ozone depleters and use OEKO-TEX and Certi-PUR-US certified materials. 

The support layer consists of hundreds of individually wrapped coils that help to cradle your body and limit motion transfer from your partner to you and from you to them. They’re also reinforced at the perimeter for better edge support, and this means you’ll have an easier time getting in and out of bed, plus you’ll be able to spread out and use all available sleeping space. 

There’s also plenty of spacing between the coils to promote airflow, so while we wouldn’t describe the Helix Midnight as a cooling mattress, the design should naturally boost airflow. Finally, at the base you’ll find a layer of DuraDense foam. This reduces premature sagging and helps the mattress to last longer. 

The Helix Midnight comes rolled up and vacuum sealed, so be prepared for some off gassing for the first few days - this is normal and nothing to worry about. We’d recommend opening a window in your bedroom before unboxing the mattress to help that tell-tale off-gassing smell dissipate faster.

Helix Midnight mattress: Comfort and Support

• Medium-feel suits most sleep positions
• Foam and coils for better pressure relief
• Heavier bodies may find it too soft

With its medium firm feel, the Helix Midnight is particularly well-suited to side sleepers. Pressure points at the shoulders and hips are cradled by the memory foam on the top layer of this mattress which provides ample cushioning and support. When analyzing user reviews, we spotted frequent comments about how much this bed-in-a-box helps relieve general aches and pains. 

Based on our testing of similar models, we also feel the Midnight would be a good choice for back and combination sleepers (people who switch between back, stomach and side sleeping during the night). The mattress is designed to promote spinal alignment for back sleepers, and its hybrid nature means there’s enough bounce in the coils for combination sleepers to more easily switch positions through the night and not feel as though they are stuck in the mattress. 

We wouldn’t recommend it to stomach or heavier weight sleepers (over 250lbs) as it’s just not firm enough to support them. When creating our Nectar Mattress review, we found it to be the case on that mattress too, so it’s something to keep in mind if you have a heavier body. 

The Helix Midnight also uses a breathable cover and individually wrapped coils to boost airflow and regulate temperature during sleep. Considering how the memory foam layer doesn’t have any specific cooling qualities, this is doubly impressive. The mattress also has low motion transfer, so if you’re a restless sleeper or share your bed with a partner that moves around a lot, the Helix Midnight should help you both sleep more soundly.

Should you buy the Helix Midnight mattress?

If you’re a dedicated side sleeper looking for a reasonably priced hybrid mattress, the Helix Midnight is a great choice. Back and combination sleepers should enjoy it too – there’s plenty of cushioning for all pressure points and the coils give the mattress enough bounce to assist sleepers in changing position throughout the night.

Although hybrid mattresses aren’t ever going to isolate motion quite as well as a full memory foam mattress, the Helix is designed to reduce motion transfer. It also helps that the coils are low-noise, so you shouldn’t notice your partner moving around through the night. 

We wouldn’t recommend the Helix Midnight for stomach sleepers as we don’t think it would be far enough, but we’ll confirm this in our official Helix Midnight mattress review. It’s also worth noting that the brand makes the Helix Dawn with extra support for stomach sleepers, and that’s priced from $849 at Helix Sleep. Heavier weight sleepers of over 250lbs will be better off with the Helix Plus mattress, which costs from $949 at Helix. 

For side, back and combination sleepers though, the Helix Midnight is a comfortable and supportive mattress that will sleep well from day one. To keep it in tip-top condition, make sure you also invest in one of the best mattress protectors for safeguarding against stains and spills. It’s also worth noting that each Helix is handmade, so you may see a few dropped stitches or imperfections in the finish, but it’s all part of the charm.

To see how well you're sleeping on your new mattress, fire up one of the best sleep trackers for monitoring all aspects of your slumber.

Helix Midnight: Competitors