Over two-and-a-half years ago, armed with a laptop, a debit card and a $50 NYC subway coupon code, I ordered a Casper mattress to replace my aging, malformed spring mattress. I, like many other young people, found the premise of a reasonably affordable, hassle-free, mail-order, one-fit-for-everyone mattress to be a preferable alternative to the typical mattress shopping process. Casper made the bed-in-a-box the new standard for buying a mattress, and it’s the reason almost every new trendy online-only brand is referred to as “the Casper of” whatever.
Years later, I’ve grown to appreciate my Casper for what it is — fairly supportive, fairly comfortable, fairly hard to object to. It’s not perfect, but there’s no right or wrong preference for how a mattress should feel — the original Casper was built around that understanding and capable of making a lot of people happy. (When we first reviewed the standard Casper back in 2014, we called it “a Goldilocks bed.”) But now Casper seems to be reconsidering that approach and has added a new mattress to its lineup that costs almost twice as much as the one that made the brand a breakout success.
The Casper Wave is comprised of five layers of foam. There are contours at the head and foot of the mattress, but at the center — where your back and hips are — Casper added a network of polymer ribbing. The idea is to provide more support for your back, while allowing your shoulders to sink in more, aiding in spinal alignment. This, obviously, is good for spinal health and, according to a woman in the Wave’s promotional video, is supposed to feel like you’ve been “cradled in the softest way.”
The good: Sleeping on the Casper Wave feels like you’re suspended, almost floating, whereas in the standard Casper mattress you sink down more. You’re on top of the mattress, rather than nestled in, and you can feel the foam instantly conforming to your back as you lay down. It’s a firm mattress — it pretty much has to be to provide support — but the actual feel is still supple, almost marshmallow-like. It’s supportive and comfortable in the sense that you can barely tell that it’s there after laying down for a few minutes.
I experienced three benefits to this. For starters, this provides an incredible amount of back support. I’ve never had chronic back pain, but in the past, I’ve occasionally woken with an achy back if I slept the wrong way. This is not so with the Wave, and I consistently have woken up with no such issue — I’m not so sure there is a “wrong way” to sleep on it. Secondly, this setup helps relieve pressure points in your shoulders and hips while sleeping you your side. Also, since you aren’t ensconced in foam, the mattress retains less of your body heat (the open cell foam also helps). I’m a woefully hot sleeper, and this made sleeping so, so much better.
