iSense Hybrid Premier mattress – a gamechanger for couples

There are a lot of bonuses to living with a partner; shared household chores, splitting bills, having someone who’s contractually obliged to listen to your story about the cute cat you saw on the way to the gym this morning.

But, there are also plenty of compromises that come with sharing a living space, especially if you share a bed with your partner. That’s because the best mattress for one half of a couple may not be the best mattress for the other half.

Enter the iSense Hybrid Premier Mattress now available at Sleep.8. This mattress is ‘dual-adjustable’ meaning that each sleeper can adjust the firmness of their side of the mattress independently of the other, and even more ingeniously, this mattress is ‘smart’, so you can operate it simply by touching your phone screen.

The ability to tailor the comfort of the mattress to each sleeper’s individual preferences is a game-changer, as this is usually one of the biggest factors affecting the sleep quality of couples.

Experts say this is a particularly useful solution for couples who differ in body weight. ‘If one of you is significantly heavier than the other, you may find it tough to compromise on a mattress that suits you both,’ explains Emma Beck, buying manager at Bensons for Beds. This is because ‘weight can affect the feel of a mattress,’ says Michael Buckle, Senior Mattress Buyer at Dreams, including how firm or soft the same mattress feels to each sleeper.

‘Heavier individuals tend to experience more sinking and heat retention,’ explains Michael, ‘while lighter individuals may find the same mattress firmer and less responsive to pressure points.’

Perhaps little wonder then that, according to iSense, ‘on average, iSense sleepers get 73 more minutes of sleep per night than the average sleeper.’

But you don’t just need to take the brand’s word for it. The iSense Hybrid Premier Smart Mattress also comes with a built-in sleep sensor that tracks your sleep quality and uploads the data to the iSense smart App to provide insights on your sleeping patterns and sleep environment, along with suggestions on how they could be improved.

A hybrid mattress that employs a comfort layer of open-cell foam over a base layer of pocket-spring support, the firmness of the iSense Hybrid Premier Mattress is adjusted by air that’s pumped in between the foam sections to make for a firmer sleep surface or ‘deflated’ for a softer feel.

It’s one of the only mattresses of its kind I’ve come across, but, it does have a downside. Namely, it’s price, because the iSense Hybrid Premier mattress certainly isn’t cheap. It retails for over £3000 for a double, and nearly £5000 for a super king! Yikes.

Of course, it’s hard to put a price on a good night’s sleep, but if your budget just isn’t going to stretch to the iSense mattress, I’ve found three more affordable alternatives that are well worth considering.

Shop more affordable alternatives

Plus, there are other solutions if you’re one half of couple who is trying to compromise on their sleep environment. Such as the German Doppelbett sleep method that hinges around partners sleeping on their own single mattress contained within a shared bed frame, or zip-and-link mattresses, whereby two single mattresses of different firmnesses are joined together via a zip.

There’s also the option of embracing sleep divorce, and opting for separate beds in separate rooms in order to sleep better. Don’t worry, experts say it can actually improve your relationship, not harm it!

I guess it all comes down to how much you’re willing to spend for a good night’s sleep, but still have your partner within arm’s reach.