Sleep Number P6 Smart Bed Review: Advanced and Adaptive

Detailed slumber tracking tech. Auto-adjusting accessible via the Sleep Number app.

Even with 100 firmness levels, firmness is truly lone detectable successful increments of 10. A abstracted adjustable basal is required to unlock the bed’s potential.

Odds are, you've heard of Sleep Number before, careless of whether you were buying for a mattress oregon not. The company’s been astir since 1987 arsenic Select Comfort, but rebranded to Sleep Number successful 2017. It has since gained momentum done strategical selling and brick-and-mortar stores.

The institution offers 11 models of astute beds with varying levels of AI integration that way your bosom rate, respiratory rate, and slumber quality. You tin power the mattress’s firmness level, and with the optional base, the space of incline and decline. With sensors, the mattress besides tracks your slumber advancement done the Sleep Number app. This is meant not lone for convenience but besides to destruct the request for remotes and adjacent a slumber tracker—everything you request is successful 1 place.

I decided to trial the P6 mattress from Sleep Number’s Performance Series, arsenic it was designed to supply the astir unit relief, and the FlexFit 3 adjustable basal to power its incline, decline, and ft warming.

Search History

All mattresses successful the Performance Series, including the P6, person a “Responsive Air” auto-adjusting pressure-relief setting. This involves unit sensors that automatically set the bed’s topmost zoned aerial chambers for customized unit relief.

The P6 is 11 inches tall, acknowledgment to an other inch of ceramic gel foam compared to the different 2 astute mattresses successful the Performance Series, the p5 and the pSE. This foam is designed for accrued cooling and unit relief. I wanted to spot if that was genuinely the case, and if it would assistance enactment my ongoing backmost issues and beforehand deeper sleep. Plus, the thought of not having to deterioration a slumber tracker to furniture was intriguing to me, adjacent from a sensory standpoint.

When I deliberation of mattress giants with established histories, specified arsenic Serta, Sealy, and Tempur-Pedic, Sleep Number besides ranks among them, acknowledgment to its important influence. Founded successful 1987, the institution present operates 610 brick-and-mortar mattress stores crossed the United States. Despite this, I person ne'er completed arsenic extended investigating implicit 1 of its mattresses successful my astir six years of investigating mattresses—until now.

The accustomed assertion to fame of high-tech astute beds, including the P6 aerial bed, is that each broadside tin beryllium modified. While Sleep Number isn’t the lone innovative mattress marque retired determination that offers this, its sanction is simply a motion to the immense scope of firmnesses disposable successful its beds. Each sleeper tin pinpoint the nonstop firmness they prefer, and wherever they onshore connected a standard of 1 to 100 is yet their “Sleep Number setting.”

Stay Firm

Typically, mattress firmness is measured connected a standard of 1 to 10, with 10 being the firmest. The P6’s 100 full firmness levels are a full different shot game. To execute this range, the P6 relies connected dual aerial chambers that deflate to get a softer consciousness oregon inflate to go firmer. Hoses connect the aerial chambers connected each broadside of the P6 mattress to a small, underbed motor that plugs into the wall. The P6 besides needs to beryllium synced with the Sleep Number app and your home’s Wi-Fi to instrumentality these firmness changes. If determination is simply a powerfulness disruption, that’s a problem, arsenic your furniture fundamentally deflates and goes offline—so possibly see adding a power station to spell with the furniture if powerfulness outages are a concern.

It took 2 days of proceedings and mistake to onshore connected my idiosyncratic “Sleep Number,” arsenic neither extremity of the firmness spectrum was precise comfortable. The softest setting, 1, felt similar a deflated aerial mattress with a slab of foam connected top; 100 felt truthful steadfast it was achy for my unit points. I spent astir of my clip wrong the 40 to 50 range, arsenic it was the closest to medium-firm I could get connected my broadside of the bed. On my husband’s side, helium aimed for the precocious 60s. Each broadside of the P6 (and Sleep Number beds successful general) has its ain interior aerial chamber, truthful couples tin get precisely what they prefer—hence wherefore astute beds are truthful fashionable for pairs.

However, achieving the perfect firmness level is lone fractional of the experiential equation to me. The pressure-relief features touted by this furniture were wherefore I chose the P6 exemplary to statesman with. This is wherever “Responsive Air” comes into play. While determination are layers of foam utilized successful the P6, including an other inch of ceramic gel foam, it was really the 5 chambered zones I felt much than thing else. Mini aerial chambers, oregon “comfort zones,” are liable for fulfilling this feature. They trust connected galore sensors to observe adjacent flimsy variances crossed the surface. If 1 country of your assemblage is pressing successful much than the rest, the P6 volition usage this diagnostic to set enactment and contour astir that peculiar area. As a broadside sleeper, my shoulders often instrumentality the brunt. With the mounting enabled, I could consciousness successful existent clip erstwhile the furniture adjusted successful antithetic spots to offset unit buildup. It’s a spot jarring astatine archetypal (especially successful the mediate of the night, erstwhile you perceive the bed’s motor moving to execute this), but it did marque a quality successful distributing my weight. But if you find it to beryllium disruptive, the Responsive Air diagnostic tin beryllium toggled disconnected successful the app.

Keeping Track

The sensors aren’t conscionable liable for Responsive Air; they besides way your biometric data, known arsenic Sleep Number’s SleepIQ technology. SleepIQ is an AI algorithm that learns much astir you the much you slumber connected the bed, including slumber prime metrics similar clip to autumn asleep, restlessness, and existent slumber time, and whether you permission the bed. It besides tracks much precocious biometrics, including breathing rate, bosom rate, and bosom complaint variability (HRV). Heart complaint variability is simply a measurement of the clip betwixt heartbeats. In a nutshell, it’s a mode to cheque successful connected aggregate bodily systems that your tense strategy (both the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems) is successful complaint of overall.

All these information points combined marque up your SleepIQ Number, a numerical people that reflects however good you slept. But I wanted to cognize however P6 was capable to propulsion unneurotic each this in-depth data, supposedly connected par with that of my fittingness tracker. My fittingness tracker, an Apple Watch SE, tin measurement bosom rate, HRV, and slumber by straight contacting my skin. I figured that the sensors picking up this information wrong the P6 would beryllium similar, possibly close underneath the mattress cover. Turns out, they’re astatine the bottommost of the bed.

I spoke with Raj Mills, Sleep Number’s elder vice President of partnerships and research. She tells me, “Our AI models instrumentality into relationship foam extent and inactive support the aforesaid level of accuracy careless of however acold beneath the aboveground of the furniture the sensors are.” She shares that they are cohesively performing a ballistocardiograph, which monitors the humor travel generated by the bosom and yet determines your bosom complaint score. How efficaciously they tin bash truthful is debatable.

Ultimately, I recovered determination was rather a spot of variance successful presumption of the nightly people calculated connected some ends. On bully nights, some pointed to higher scores, but the last fig could disagree by up to 10 points. On the Sleep Number app, I recovered it concerning that astir of the time, my Sleep Score numbers were not arsenic precocious arsenic I thought they would be—my mean for the three-week trial play was a 74.

Matrix Mattress

If you similar a remote, that's either a abstracted outgo ($50) oregon perchance a antithetic furniture altogether. The lone mode to run this mattress is by creating an relationship and downloading the app successful advance. Security of one’s idiosyncratic information is apical of caput for many, and I wanted to cognize however the immense quantities of information accumulated by Sleep Number’s lawsuit basal were managed. When you archetypal motion up for your account, you tin either stock your information with Sleep Number oregon opt retired altogether. For those who stock their information willingly—about 550,000 individuals, according to Mills—Sleep Number's information subject squad performs probe and presents findings from its user basal astatine large slumber conferences, including SLEEP and World Sleep Congress.

It's a broad information acceptable to enactment with, and it continues to germinate done the adaptive AI astatine play, which includes SleepIQ technology. According to Mills, the company's AI models are structured to analyse sleepers astatine an idiosyncratic level, due to the fact that each sleeper has a antithetic build, age, symptom issues, and assorted needs. According to Sleep Number's privateness policy, the institution doesn't merchantability your accusation to 3rd parties, and you tin retreat your consent to stock accusation astatine immoderate time. At the extremity of the day, Sleep Number is simply a concern that tin perchance usage your information to make caller products, and it's up to you whether that's worthy it oregon not.

Power Couple

An adjustable basal is what enables each broadside of the mattress to independently set caput and ft angles. I tested the FlexFit 3 adjustable basal alongside the P6 mattress, which is Sleep Number’s top-of-the-line offering. It offers timed ft warming (which takes astir 2 minutes to vigor up and has a two-hour default setting) to assistance humor travel distant from your halfway and assistance faster sleep. There is besides a zero-gravity setting, spouse snore (elevates the caput and cervix somewhat to assistance unfastened up airways), and motion-detect underbed lighting. I loved the gentle airy root for late-night bath breaks, and the divided king adjustability allowed maine to partake successful late-night speechmaking without disturbing my partner. However, the lone diagnostic that separates the FlexFit 2 basal from the FlexFit 3 is the inclusion of ft warming, and it’s a $400 upcharge for a queen size.

However, I’d accidental the FlexFit 3 is simply a worthy investment, and 1 I’d personally outpouring for earlier getting the P6 mattress itself. It doesn’t person to beryllium paired with a Sleep Number mattress, but the mattress has to beryllium compatible with an adjustable base. The FlexFit 3’s caput and ft adjustability helped chiefly erstwhile I wasn’t sleeping (reading and relaxing), but I can’t ideate skipping retired connected ft warming oregon adjacent the under-bed lighting. I felt similar I fell dormant faster with the ft warmer, chiefly due to the fact that I can’t modulate my assemblage somesthesia well. The timer diagnostic shuts disconnected erstwhile I’m asleep, truthful I don’t aftermath up overheated. But for blistery sleepers who similar cooling mattresses and person nary involvement successful ft warming, you could astir apt skip this successful favour of the FlexFit 1 basal (no ft adjust, zero gravity, oregon ft warming) oregon the FlexFit 2.

Beta Mode

During my clip investigating the P6, I’ve gone backmost and distant connected whether having 100 firmness levels astatine my disposal was excessively overmuch of a bully thing, oregon the precise happening I’d been missing retired connected successful my years of mattress testing. On the 1 hand, the firmness variance was convenient, allowing maine to marque it somewhat softer erstwhile my unit points needed it. Then, connected the different hand, unless you person slumber issues stemming from unwellness oregon wounded that would payment from a diagnostic similar this, you technically aren't giving your assemblage a accordant aboveground to get utilized to. Mattress brands usually necessitate 30 nights earlier customers tin initiate returns, truthful that they tin get utilized to it. With each these firmnesses to prime from, it’ll apt instrumentality you longer to marque up your mind.

Over the years, investigating mattresses, I’ve recovered that immoderate mattresses labeled “adjustable basal compatible” truly aren’t. The interior pocketed coils astir ever popular and creak arsenic the caput and ft of the furniture determination up and down. This doesn’t bode good for semipermanent durability and support—not to mention, it’s similar nails connected a chalkboard to me. Ultimately, it’s different crushed I’d constituent to keeping the furniture and basal bundled together, akin to Apple instrumentality enthusiasts sticking to what they cognize alternatively than venturing into Android territory.

My takeaway from this investigating acquisition is that I would get the FlexFit 3 adjustable basal successful a heartbeat—the ft warming, automatic underbed lighting, and assorted incline and diminution settings conscionable can’t beryllium beat. I’m appreciative of each the P6 offers, but deliberation that its specialization is champion for sleepers successful precise chiseled scenarios. If you’re idiosyncratic with terrible unit constituent symptom (perhaps you got a hep replacement oregon spinal fusion), oregon woody with wellness oregon slumber disorders wherever tracking slumber prime is imperative, I’d rapidly constituent you successful the absorption of the P6.