Bensons for Beds iGel NanoTech 6000i Plushtop Mattress Review

Verdict

Using a clever layer of iGel NanoTech, the Bensons for Beds iGel NanoTech 6000i Plushtop Mattress manages heat well, moving it away when you’re hot and pushing it back when you’re cold. S

oft enough to sink into and firm enough to offer proper support, this mattress is supremely comfortable to sleep on. It is very deep and very heavy though – so might not suit all homes.

Introduction

The Bensons for Beds iGel NanoTech 6000i Plushtop Mattress looks like a mattress stacked on top of a mattress, and in a way, it is. An iGel NanoTech layer sits on top of a more traditional pocket-sprung mattress, designed to regulate temperature while providing high levels of support.

The result is a supremely comfortable mattress that gives a brilliant night’s sleep. Just be aware of how big and heavy this model is.

Sizes and Trial

You can get the Bensons for Beds iGel NanoTech 6000i Plushtop Mattress in all the traditional sizes: single, small double, double, king and super king. There’s then a choice of two firmness levels: medium (which I have on review) and firm.

There’s a 40 Night Comfort Guarantee with this mattress. You can exchange it for a different model if you’ve tried it for at least five nights. To qualify for the exchange, you do have to use a mattress protector.

Design and Layers

• Extra deep mattress
• iGel topping with pocket sprung base
• Non-washable cover

I’ve seen deep mattresses before, such as the Simba Hybrid Pro, but the Bensons for Beds iGel NanoTech 6000i Plushtop Mattress is an absolute monster at 38cm thick. That’s even deeper than the 31cm Dreams Dream Team Gold Knighton Pocket Sprung Mattress. I struggled to get some undersheets to fit, so I recommend buying extra deep ones.

It is, as you’d expect, extremely heavy. In fact, the king-sized mattress I have on review is so heavy, at 65kg, that my ottoman storage bed is hard to open and won’t stay up. As this bed is on legs, it feels like quite the climb to get into bed.

Before buying it’s worth considering how the mattress will get to your room of choice, as there’s not a lot of bend in it, so you need a relatively straight run to get it into place. And, think about the weight, as this mattress requires regular rotation, to avoid dips.

While there are handles on the side to aid this job, rotating the mattress is still a proper two-person job.

This mattress is so deep because it has a Plushtop topper on top of a pocket-sprung mattress. A combination of mini and full-height springs give this mattress a more traditional feel, and level of support, but it’s the Plushtop that you’ll lie on.

This mattress has a soft quilted surface, that’s nice to the touch and has a smooth, comfortable feel to it. This cover can’t be removed, so buying a mattress protector makes sense.

For the top layer, Bensons for Beds has used an 85mm layer of iGel Nanotech Graphene Technology, which the company says transfers heat 12 times faster than traditional memory foam.

iGel, comprised of crystals, is designed to give the perfect level of support, and is a phase-change material, releasing heat when you’re cold, and taking it away when you’re warm. The idea is that the mattress maintains a stable temperature regardless of whether it’s hot or cold.

This mattress also has AdvantEdge support, which is designed to keep the mattress firm to the edge to prevent anyone from rolling off. Given the height of the mattress, that can only be a good thing.

Comfort and Support

• Excellent levels of support
• Good motion isolation

I find the Bensons for Beds iGel NanoTech 6000i Plushtop Mattress extremely comfortable, and it has given me some of the best sleep I’ve had. I’ve got the Medium firm version of this mattress, which has a bit more give in it.

Taking my normal measurements, I started by sitting on the edge of the bed. I measured that the mattress dipped 7.3cm. That’s a little more than on the Simba Hybrid Pro, which is much firmer. I did notice that the edge support here toughened up the sides of the mattress, which made it feel less likely as though I’d slip off the bed, despite the dip.

Sitting up in bed, I found that the Bensons for Beds iGel NanoTech 6000i Plushtop Mattress dipped just 4.5cm. That’s a small dip and means that this bed is comfortable and supportive when sitting up.

I started with the ideal sleeping position of lying on my side in the fetal position, which is good for the back. At the shoulders, I measured a dip of 6.5cm, while my hips sank 5.7cm into the bed. At this difference, the mattress was doing a very good job of keeping my spine aligned, while allowing a degree of softness for comfort.

Turning onto my back, the Bensons for Beds iGel NanoTech 6000i Plushtop Mattress let my shoulders sink in 3cm, and my hips 4cm; again, that’s a good ratio for keeping my spine straight.

I rolled onto my front, which is a terrible sleeping position. Here, my chest dropped 5cm into the mattress. If you are going to sleep on your front, that’s a good result.

I also found that motion isolation was very decent. Using a motion sensor, placed where a partner would sleep, I found that getting into bed caused very little movement on the other side.

Turning over in bed, there was a bit more movement pushed through to the other side, with a few larger peaks in the data the motion sensor recorded. That’s to be expected with a mattress that has pocket springs, but the motion isolation with the Bensons for Beds iGel NanoTech 6000i Plushtop Mattress was much better than with the similar Dreams Dream Team Gold Knighton Pocket Sprung Mattress.

To really reduce motion transference, you’d need a much firmer, foam mattress, which may not be as comfortable.

In general, I don’t find my partner’s movements likely to disturb me while I’m sleeping, which is all that you can ask for from a mattress.

Heat

• Cleverly recycles heat
• Quick to initially dissipate heat

To see how the Bensons for Beds iGel NanoTech 6000i Plushtop Mattress dealt with heat, I laid on it for 10 minutes, and then used a thermal camera to take a picture, which you can see below. In the image, the yellow and white spots are the hottest, and you can clearly see my outline.

I then took a photo every minute to see how heat dissipated. It’s typical for a mattress to slowly release that heat, with the thermal outline disappearing and blending in. With the Bensons for Beds iGel NanoTech 6000i Plushtop Mattress, I noticed that heat dissipated quickly at first, but then my outline stabilised for a few minutes, with heat not dissipating at the same rate.

That is what this mattress is supposed to do: moving heat away at first, but then releasing it to maintain warmth later. From my thermal photos, I’d say that this is exactly what’s going on.

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