Leesa Mattress Review | Reasons to Buy/NOT Buy (2024)

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The Leesa Original mattress isn’t just another bed in a box; it’s a pioneer that helped shape the way we buy mattresses today. Since its launch in 2015, this flagship model has evolved and continues to deliver on its promise of comfort, versatility and affordability. Designed to cater to a wide range of sleepers, it strikes a balance that few mattresses achieve — providing enough support for most without breaking the bank.

While no mattress is perfect for everyone, the Leesa Original stands out as an easy pick for anyone seeking a fuss-free, comfortable and budget-friendly sleep solution. After testing hundreds of beds, I can confidently say this one hits the sweet spot for those who value quality and simplicity.

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First impressions of the Leesa Original mattress

The exterior design of the Leesa Original hasn’t changed despite it receiving internal updates to the foams and this is a big positive. Leesa has its signature four-stripe design that is featured on all of its beds and makes them all visually appealing. 

Once the mattress was fully off-gassed and inflated to its proper firmness level, which didn’t take too long, my first impression was that it was incredibly comfortable in any sleeping position and that Leesa putting this under the “memory foam” category on its website isn’t exactly correct.

Yes, the bed does use memory foam but it doesn’t feel all that much like memory foam with a slow-to-respond, dense feeling. It has a much more balanced feel that I think pretty much everyone will find comfortable enough to sleep on, if not super comfortable. 

The only people who should avoid the Lessa Original are people who are dead set on a memory foam mattress feel, those who want an especially firm or soft firmness profile or sleepers who want a coil mattress. If that doesn’t sound like you, I think the Leesa Original should be a top choice.

Leesa Original mattress firmness and feel

Leesa Original feel

The feel of the Leesa Original mattress is what we call a “neutral” feel. Mattress feel is a spectrum with two poles: one end is a super responsive, buoyant and bouncy sensation, and the other end is a dense, slow-to-respond, sink-in type of sensation, with lots of room in between. 

The Leesa Original sits exactly in the middle of this spectrum because it doesn’t lean too hard in one direction or another and achieves a really nice balance of bounce and sink-in that should work pretty well for everyone. 

There are plenty of people who have a strong preference for a specific type of mattress feel, but for people who want a balanced, neutral feel like this, it’s ideal. It might also work really well for couples who have a hard time agreeing on mattress feel. I have a hard time picturing people trying out the Leesa Original and finding it uncomfortable.

Leesa Original firmness

The firmness profile of the Leesa Original is also right down the middle at a flat medium (4-6 out of 10), which means it should work fairly well for all sleeping positions. A medium profile works especially well for combination sleepers who split time between sleeping positions, and for couples who struggle to agree on firmness. 

Since this is Leesa’s flagship mattress, this is expected because it’s meant to appeal to the widest number of sleepers, and I think it accomplishes this well. 

According to our new Mattress Smasher 9000 device, the Leesa Original comes in at a 5.8 out of 10, which is nearly a perfect medium.

Leesa Original mattress construction

The construction of the Leesa Original is pretty standard — it is roughly ten-inches-thick and it is made with three foam layers. 

• A six-inch-thick layer of dense, supportive foam
• A two-inch-thick layer of pressure-relieving memory foam
• A two-inch-thick layer of a bouncy yet soft comfort foam. 

Having a layer of super dense, supportive foam as the bottommost layer is found in virtually every mattress that doesn’t feature coils for support — and the majority of mattresses we test feature some kind of “transition” layer that provides a comfortable buffer between the support foam and the additional comfort layer above. 

This transition layer, being memory foam, provides some additional pressure relief to the Leesa Original, but you don’t really feel the density of the memory foam because it is balanced out by the top comfort layer. 

On a previous version of the Leesa Original this top layer was corrugated foam, also called egg crate foam. This type of foam is usually really comfortable, but it is also less durable so most brands tend to avoid it and I think the new comfort layer is an improvement. 

The cover on the Leesa Original is also really soft and breathable and it also has the signature four-stripe design that I really like and makes all of the Leesa mattresses visually distinct. 

Leesa Original performance

Edge support

The edge support of a mattress refers to how well the perimeter of the bed holds up under pressure. If the edge compresses too much, you can feel like you are going to roll off the mattress, which usually leads to poor sleep. 

Even though there’s no design element meant to specifically enhance the edge support on the Leesa Original, we observed pretty solid edge support on this bed. I didn’t feel that roll-off sensation when putting all of my weight on the perimeter of the mattress, so if you are planning on sharing this mattress with someone, I don’t think you’ll have any issues with edge support.

If you are worried about edge support and want a bed that performs better, the Leesa Original Hybrid does feature thicker coils along the perimeter to enhance the edge support. 

Motion isolation

If you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night because your partner tosses and turns a lot, having a mattress that does a good job of isolating cross-mattress motion is really important. 

The motion isolation on the Leesa is excellent, comparably good to pure memory foam options like Nectar and Tempur-Pedic. Memory foam beds usually perform best in this category, and because the Leesa Original uses a layer of memory foam along with its foam support base, we expected good performance and that’s exactly what we observed.  

If motion isolation is something that’s been an issue in the past, then the Leesa Original should be an improvement. 

Temperature regulation

The Leesa Original should sleep temperature neutral which means you shouldn’t be sleeping warm at night because of the mattress. If you do sleep hot, it is likely due to other environmental factors. The foams and the cover are plenty breathable but there are no “active cooling” elements we find on other mattresses. 

If you are a hot sleeper looking for something with features to help cool you down, I would recommend our Best Cooling Mattress list, and by looking at the Leesa Chill Collection with many beds, I rate very highly, including the super affordable Leesa Studio Chill Hybrid.

The Leesa Original has always been an affordable mattress and while the price has increased a bit over the years, once you factor in discounts you should be able to get a queen-size for less than $1,000 which makes it a great value. It is also priced competitively with alternative mattress options like the Casper One, Puffy Cloud and Nolah Original 10.

Leesa usually has year-round discounts on this mattress but will often offer even better discounts around major holidays like Black Friday so be sure to check out our mattress deals page for the latest one Leesa. 

Leesa Original mattress policies

Free shipping

The Leesa Original mattress ships right to your door at no extra cost in the contiguous United States inside of a box. Unboxing a mattress is a quick and easy process; we’ve done it literally hundreds of times, and it’s actually fun. 

This bed is pretty light, so you might be able to unbox it solo, but I’d still recommend getting someone to help you, especially for larger sizes. 

100-night trial 

Leesa offers the usual standard in-home sleep trial of 100 nights. So you get roughly 3 months to really test out the bed to see if it’s supportive enough and comfortable enough for you. 

Keep in mind that it can take a month or longer for your body to adjust to a new mattress, no matter how well-suited it is to you. So, if you struggle to get a good night’s sleep in the first week or two, don’t panic.

Return policy

Leesa, despite more brands introducing return fees, still offers completely free returns on all of its mattresses if you choose to return it within the provided trial period. 

Returning a mattress is usually pretty easy; you just contact the company, and usually, a group will come by your house to pick up the bed, and then it will often get donated or sometimes resold by a third party.

Warranty

All Leesa mattresses are backed by a standard 10-year warranty. If you buy a mattress online, a 10-year warranty is the minimum you should expect.

How does the Leesa Original compare to similar mattresses?

Leesa Original vs. Casper One

The Casper One mattress is the most direct competitor to the Leesa Original, and before Casper updated its mattresses in early 2024, the beds were nearly indistinguishable in terms of firmness and feel. The Casper One still uses a three-layer, all-foam design that has a similar feel to Leesa, although I think you feel the memory foam layer in the middle more on the Casper One. Where the beds are very different is firmness; the Casper One is a proper medium-firm on our scale and not ideal for side sleepers while the Leesa Original is a flat medium.

As of writing, the Casper One is consistently a bit more affordable than the Leesa Original by roughly $100 which could move the needle for some people but I recommend the Leesa Original more. 

Leesa Original vs. Nolah Original 10

The Nolah Original 10 isn’t quite as popular as the Leesa Original, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to like about it. It also has a three-layer, all-foam design, but both of the top layers are made of Nolah’s proprietary “AirFoam,” which provides a nice blend of traditional memory foam and a bouncy foam. The Nolah Original 10 has a slightly different feel thanks to those foams, but I think most people will also find it comfortable. Both beds also have the same firmness profile, and the Nolah Original 10 actually has some zoned-support foam too, which is a nice feature for someone with back pain.

Final thoughts on the Leesa Original mattress

The Leesa Original is simply one of the most comfortable and accommodating mattresses on the market and it remains Leesa’s most popular bed even as its mattress lineup has vastly expanded over the last decade. 

For anyone looking for a comfy and affordable foam mattress, it’s easy to recommend the Leesa Original and I think if you get one for yourself you will almost certainly find it comfortable and you’ll get some great sleep for years to come. 

There are definitely mattresses that I personally like better and might also recommend to people, but the Leesa Original is on my shortlist of mattresses that I tell people to get when asked because it works well for pretty much everyone.

Also, it is easy to recommend Leesa as a brand because it has several charitable initiatives, including donating beds to people in need and supporting an organization called “CleanHub” to help remove plastic from the oceans.

You might like the Leesa Original mattress if:

• You want a neutral feel
• You enjoy a mattress with a medium profile
• You enjoy a mattress with a medium profile
• You want a mattress without coils
• You are shopping on a budget

You might not like the Leesa Original mattress if:

• You prefer a coil bed
• You want an especially soft or firm mattress
• You really want a specific type of mattress feel

Other mattresses from Leesa

Leesa Studio:The Leesa Studio mattress is the most affordable bed available from Leesa and it is very similar to the Leesa Original, the biggest difference being that the top two comfort layers are flipped with the memory foam layer being on top. This gives the Leesa Studio more of a memory foam feel. It is also slightly firmer than the Leesa Original, but I still think it is accommodating for most sleepers. So, if you enjoy the feel of memory foam, the Leesa Studio might make a bit more sense than the Leesa Original.

Leesa Original Hybrid:not to be confused with the Leesa Sapira Hybrid, the Leesa Original Hybrid is basically just the Leesa Original but with coils. The coils will provide more bounce, edge support and long-term durability compared to the foam model, but the foam model has better motion isolation. 

Interestingly, the foam comfort layers on the Leesa Original Hybrid are not identical to the foam model. Instead, it has a memory foam layer on top with a bouncier transition layer, but because the coils provide more bounce when compared to support foam the mattress feel is virtually the same despite the comfort foam swap. 

Leesa Sapira Chill Hybrid:one of the newest mattresses available from Leesa, the Sapira Chill Hybrid has a luxurious, pillow-top feel, a cooling cover and three different firmness options. This bed just has a lot of features and it would absolutely fit in at a high-end hotel. It is quite a bit more expensive than the Leesa Original, with a retail price of $2,159 for a queen-size, but for what you’re getting I think it is actually solid value.