Brooklyn Bedding is a well-regarded brand in the online mattress world, known for producing high-quality mattresses at affordable prices. And the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan is the brand's recovery-focused bed marketed as one of the best mattresses for athletes. You don't have to be a pro athlete to enjoy this mattress, though—it can also work for those simply leading active, healthy lifestyles.
It doesn't matter what type of physical activity you engage in, runners, weightlifters, yogis, and CrossFit enthusiasts all need quality sleep to allow their muscles and joints to recuperate and function at their best. By improving your sleep hygiene, you can improve your performance both in and out of the gym. And the mattress you sleep on every night plays a big part in that.
In this Spartan Mattress review, you'll find out if the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan is the bed for you—and if it can help your body recover from exercise—we're here to break it down for you. The ACTIVE Reviews Team teamed up with the sleep experts at Mattress Advisor to put this bed to the test. Keep reading to find out if this is the best mattress for you.
Why Trust Us?
The ACTIVE Reviews Team is made up of fitness and wellness experts that include athletes, coaches, and certified trainers who bring years of knowledge and experience to each review. More importantly, each member of our team is a health enthusiast. Wellness may be our job, but it is also our passion. Therefore, we strive to bring you products that we trust and would personally use.
MA Score: The Mattress Advisor Score is a weighted score that takes into account 14 different factors related to the mattress' performance, function, and convenience, as well as the brand's social responsibility.
By clicking on the product links in this article, Active.com may receive a commission fee at no cost to you, the reader.
Brooklyn Bedding Spartan Mattress - The Breakdown
- Mattress type: Hybrid (foam and coils)
- Mattress Advisor score: 8.9/10
- Firmness: Soft, medium, and firm
- Trial period: 120 nights
- Warranty: 10-year
BUY IT: Brooklyn Bedding Spartan
Who is the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan Mattress Best For?
Best for:
- People with back pain: If you're struggling with an achy back, the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan mattress can offer relief. Its coil and foam construction helps it promote healthy spine alignment, which takes the pressure off your lower back.
- Hot sleepers: The Brooklyn Bedding Spartan's coil base helps promote airflow throughout the center of the mattress, while the cooling cover keeps the surface extra breathable.
- Back, stomach, and combination sleepers: All three of these sleep positions should feel well-supported atop this mattress thanks to its sturdy base and responsive coils.
- Athletes and active individuals: The Spartan utilizes FDA-approved infrared technology in its cover, which is designed to speed up recovery while you rest.
Not best for:
- Couples: Those who sleep with a partner may feel their movements at night. The Spartan didn't perform as well in motion isolation, which measures how well a mattress isolates movement from one side to the other.
- Those who crave the feeling of a memory foam mattress: If you love nothing more than sinking into a foam bed that hugs your body, the Spartan might not be for you. It uses a combination of individually-wrapped coils and foam in its construction, which gives it more of a balanced, supportive feel.
Inside the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan Mattress
Made up of five layers, the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan uses a mix of materials to promote healthy rest. At 11 inches thick, it starts off with a thin cover made to promote recovery. The cover uses Far Infrared Rays technology to transform your body's heat and reflect it back to you. This method can help your body recover quicker and rest better.
Beneath this cover lies a foam-like layer that's made to be bouncy and has an elastic feel. It's designed specially by Brooklyn Bedding to contour along your curves like memory foam but respond quickly to changes in movement like latex. Another foam-like layer exists underneath, which provides deeper compression and pressure relief. An eight-inch system of individually encased coils make up the base, providing support and structure. Surrounding this base's perimeter is another layer of coils designed to create firmer edges, which make getting in and out of bed easier. A final layer of high-density foam completes the bottom half of the mattress.
How Does the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan Mattress Feel?
One bonus about the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan is the choice sleepers have between three different firmness options. Choose between soft, medium, and firm depending on your comfort preferences and sleep needs.
Mattress Advisor testers ranked each option on the mattress firmness scale based on how they felt. For reference, 1 represents the plushest, while 10 represents an extra firm feel. They found that the soft option fell at a 4 out of 10 on the scale, meaning this bed will have more give to it, allowing your body to sink deeper into its layers. The medium option falls in the middle of the firmness scale, around a 6 out of 10. You can expect a more balanced feel to this bed, offering a nice blend of comfort and support. For those who like a sturdy feel to their mattress, the Spartan's firm option might be right for you. Testers found that it fell around an 8 out of 10 on the firmness scale and gave the sensation of sleeping "on top" of the mattress rather than "in" the mattress like a more plush option would.
In Use: What Is It Like to Sleep on the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan?
Below is a summary of some of the standout factors Mattress Advisor experts found when testing this mattress in the sleep lab.
Spine Alignment
Spine alignment describes how well a mattress maintains your body's natural "S" curve. Testers found this mattress provided excellent lumbar support, helping it earn a high 9.5 out of 10 score in this category. No matter which position they laid in, their backs felt supported.
Responsiveness
A crucial factor for sleepers who switch positions at night, responsiveness measures a mattress' ability to adapt to changes in position. When testers tossed and turned on this bed, switching from their sides to their backs, they found the Spartan moved with them and responded quickly to their movements. This made it easy to change positions so testers scored it a 9 out of 10 in this category.
Cooling
Testers weren't shocked to find that the Spartan also performed well in cooling (it earned a 9 out of 10). Its hybrid construction helped keep them cool when they sunk into the top layers—coils are great for breaking up any heat retained by more stuffy materials like foam.
Durability
With the Spartan mattress, testers found they weren't worried about this bed breaking down anytime soon. Its high-quality construction added up to solid edge support and a well-made mattress, earning it a 9 out of 10 for durability.
Pressure Relief
One area the Spartan was lacking in, though, was pressure relief. Testers found the topmost layers of foam did an OK job of catering to their hips and shoulders but didn't provide the same level of pressure relief that a mattress made entirely of foam would. The Spartan earned an 8 out of 10 in this category, meaning its pressure relief is adequate but not the best we've seen.
Brooklyn Bedding Spartan Mattress by Sleeping Position
The right mattress for one sleep position may not always be a good fit for another. Keep reading to see how the Spartan fared for each sleep position.
Side Sleepers
Side sleepers need a good balance of pressure relief and spine alignment to keep their sides cushioned and their backs straight. Because the Spartan offers decent pressure relief, it may be suitable for some side sleepers who don't require quite as much cushioning at the hips and shoulders. But other side sleepers may prefer a mattress that offers deeper contouring in these areas.
Back Sleepers
The easiest position to appease, back sleepers' main concern is spine alignment. The Spartan scored high in this category, plus the combination of supportive coils and comfort layers up top make this mattress a good choice for back sleepers.
Stomach Sleepers
Those who rest face down need even more support than back sleepers. This is so their hips don't sink into the mattress, causing the spine to fall out of alignment which places excess strain on the neck and back. Luckily for this group, the near-perfect score in spine alignment and durability ensure the Spartan is both supportive and sturdy enough to keep most stomach sleepers happy.
Combination Sleepers
There's nothing worse than trying to flip to your stomach and finding yourself stuck in your mattress, unable to shift around easily. That's why those who change positions at night need a mattress that can keep up with their movements. The Spartan's high score in responsiveness—and latex-like layer combined with its coil base—makes this bed incredibly easy to move around on.
Brooklyn Bedding Spartan Mattress Policies: Everything You Need to Know
If you've never purchased a mattress online before, or simply don't know much about the process, we're here to break it down. Below are the Spartan's purchasing policies:
Shipping and Delivery
Once you place your order, your Spartan mattress should arrive about two to three weeks later. It takes about 10-14 days to produce the mattress, then another three to five to ship and deliver. Shipping is free anywhere in the U.S. with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii.
Unboxing
The Brooklyn Bedding Spartan will arrive at your doorstep compressed in a box. When Mattress Advisor testers unboxed the Spartan in the lab, it took them about two minutes. This mattress is on the heavier side (queen-size is around 100 pounds) so be sure to recruit a partner to help you. After unboxing, the mattress puffed up almost immediately.
Trial Period
As with most online mattresses, the Spartan comes with a trial period that specifies the length of time you can try the mattress and return it for a full refund if you don't like it. The Spartan's trial period is 120 nights, but keep in mind that it typically takes about 30 nights to break in a brand-new mattress.
Returns
Should you find that the Spartan is not for you, you can return it after at least 30 nights of sleeping on the mattress. As long as it's returned within the 120-night trial period, you will receive a full refund. Other possible return methods include exchanging the Spartan for a different Brooklyn Bedding mattress. Brooklyn Bedding will also send you a mattress topper if you find the Spartan to be too firm for you.
To issue a return order, you can email the company at support@brooklynbedding.com or call the number (888) 210-8751.
Warranty
Brooklyn Bedding offers a 10-year warranty with your purchase of the Spartan mattress. This means that any defects like deterioration in the cell structure of the foam, splitting or cracking of the material, impressions greater than 1 inch, or excessive sagging (not valid if your mattress isn't supported by a solid foundation) are protected under the warranty. During the warranty period, if you experience any of the above issues Brooklyn Bedding will repair or replace the mattress.
For more information, check out their policy on the Brooklyn Bedding website.
Brooklyn Bedding Spartan Mattress: Sizes and Prices
Typical of most hybrid mattresses, the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan is right around the $1,000 mark for a queen-size. It's less pricey than other options while still containing a mix of high-quality materials that help make it more durable and supportive. It also typically goes on sale, so you can get it for an even more affordable price.
Check out the table below for a rundown of each size it's available in and how much it costs.
| Size | Price |
| Twin | $699 |
| Twin XL | $849 |
| Full | $999 |
| Queen | $1,249 |
| King | $1,499 |
| Cal King | $1,499 |
| Short Queen | $1,249 |
| Split Cal King | $849 |
BUY IT: Brooklyn Bedding Spartan
Brooklyn Bedding Spartan Mattress vs. Bear Hybrid Mattress
Bear Hybrid Mattress Stats
- Mattress type: Hybrid (foam and coils)
- Mattress Advisor score: 9/10
- Firmness: Medium-firm
- Trial period: 365 nights
- Warranty: Limited Lifetime
The Bear Hybrid mattress is, like its name suggests, made from a combination of materials, namely coils and foam. This makes it highly cooling, supportive, and durable. Its medium-firmness level also helps it accommodate a wide range of sleep positions and preferences. You also get a 1-year sleep trial and lifetime warranty with your purchase, which is much more generous than the industry standard. Bear also sells an all-foam version of this recovery-focused mattress: Read more about it in our Bear Mattress Review.
Which Is Better?
Both are advertised as athlete-oriented mattresses, and the reality is that both beds can provide a restful night's sleep for active individuals. Each is made up of five hybrid layers and performed well in similar categories like spine alignment, durability, responsiveness, and cooling. The main difference between the two is the inclusion of an FDA-approved, recovery-specific material in the Spartan, which sets it apart from the Bear.
For those on a budget, the Spartan may be a better choice since it's less expensive. But if you have some qualms about buying a mattress online, the Bear Hybrid offers a significantly longer trial period and warranty than the Spartan. If you want more options, though, the Spartan's choice between three different firmness levels might be right for you. Which one is better for you really just comes down to your specific needs.
Brooklyn Bedding Spartan Mattress vs. Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Mattress
Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Mattress Stats
- Mattress type: Hybrid (foam and coils)
- Mattress Advisor score: 8.8/10
- Firmness: Soft, medium, and firm
- Trial period: 120 nights
- Warranty: 10-year
Regarded as one of the best cooling mattresses by Mattress Advisor testers, the Brooklyn Bedding Aurora uses a hybrid construction of individually-wrapped coils and gel-infused foam. It's made up of six layers and comes with a cooling cover made from temperature-regulating material. This design earned it a near-perfect cooling score from testers, but it also performed well in responsiveness, motion transfer, and spine alignment. Its warranty and trial period policies are identical to the Spartan, and it also comes in three firmness options: soft, medium, and firm.
BUY IT: Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Mattress
Which Is Better?
Both Brooklyn Bedding mattresses are supportive, responsive, and come in multiple firmness options. If you're a true hot sleeper, though, the Aurora may be a better choice due to its exceptional cooling abilities. It's also a better pick for couples due to its high score in motion transfer. Back, stomach, and combination sleepers are a good fit for either mattress, but side sleepers may be better off with the Spartan, which performed better in pressure relief.
Pricewise, the Spartan is a little less expensive. When it comes to athletes, the Spartan reigns supreme. Its innovative recovery technology and near-perfect spine alignment score help it support active bodies as they rest.
Final Thoughts
We found that the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan is a great choice for those who lead active lifestyles. It works well for most sleep positions, comes in numerous firmness options for differing comfort preferences, and offers excellent support and recovery. If you want a mattress that promotes quality rest and recovery, we think the Spartan is worth a try.
What we loved:
- Unique technology that promotes recovery
- Excellent spine alignment and responsiveness
- Promotes cooling
- Durable and well-made
What we didn't love:
- Not recommend for all side sleepers
- Co-sleepers might feel their partner's movements
BUY IT: Brooklyn Bedding Spartan
Brooklyn Bedding Spartan Mattress FAQs
Can you flip the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan mattress?
The Spartan is not a flippable mattress, so we don't recommend flipping it. If you do so, the coils will be on the top and the soft comfort layers that are made for sinking into will be on the bottom. This will negate many of the benefits of the mattress and make it much less comfortable, as well as potentially damaging it.
What kind of frame does the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan require?
We recommend using either a box spring or other type of supportive foundation with your Spartan mattress. As long as the frame provides little to no flex, it should work with this mattress.
Where can you buy a Brooklyn Bedding Spartan mattress?
You can purchase this mattress online from the Brooklyn Bedding website, or from one of their stores located in the U.S.