If you're a heavier individual, finding a mattress that can support your body size can be a struggle. I've personally struggled with my weight these past few years, weighing 250 lbs, and it's impacted my sleep and how beds support me. Fortunately, Helix Sleep has addressed this concern by designing a mattress specifically to tackle it.

Helix Sleep is an online mattress brand that offers beds with varying firmnesses, feels and designs to suit any individual. The Helix Plus mattress line is targeted to help bigger body types fall asleep faster and cozier. Helix recently gave this line the Helix treatment, now offering the Helix Plus in three different models. For this review, I’ll be covering the Helix Plus Elite and why I believe it's one of the best online beds for larger people.

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Video: Helix Plus Elite mattress review

Watch me review the Helix Plus Elite mattress in this video review.

First impressions of the Helix Plus Elite

This bed ships to you completely free with standard bed-in-a-box shipping. But the difference between this bed and the other Helix Plus mattresses is that it ships in two boxes. One box has the main support layers of the bed and the other box has the comfort layers. Once you unbox them, you'll need to add the comfort layers to the support base. This is pretty quick and easy to do. But I recommend having a second person with you to help, since the bed is heavier, coming in at 172 lbs for a queen-size model. Once the bed is put together, you may want to give it some time to off-gas and fully inflate, but it should be ready to go on night one. If you're worried about setting up the mattress, Helix offers in-home set up and mattress removal of your old mattress at an additional cost.

When this bed came to our office, I was pleased to find the Plus Elite has a luxurious pillow-top design that any sleeper would find comfortable, and Helix didn’t sacrifice support for this. The bed is made out of thicker gauge coils that offer a zoned-support design, allowing lumbar support. The comfort insert also has micro coils that offer additional support for a grizzly bear like myself. As a heavier person, I find I sleep warm as well, and if you’re like me, the Plus Elite helps alleviate this issue. The pillow-top cover is made with Helix’s most advanced cooling technology, making you feel as if you're sleeping on a winter monsoon cloud right before it showers down the first rain of the season.

Helix Plus Elite mattress firmness and feel

What does the Helix Plus Elite feel like?

As I noted in my first impressions, this mattress features Helix’s enhanced cooling pillow-top, which feels like a cloud. Its mounded design creates rows of cushioning that gently lull you to sleep. While you get some cushion from it, since this bed is made to support larger individuals, there's plenty of supportive pushback while you're laying on it.

We often refer to this in our testing facility as a traditional pillow-top feel. Picture the comfort of a luxurious hotel stay -- that’s the level of relaxation the Helix Plus Elite delivers. The bed’s cushioning is comfortable enough that it doesn’t feel like the bed is enveloping you. I, personally, had no sink-in sensation while testing it.

How firm is the Helix Plus Elite mattress?

Our team found this mattress to be a medium-firm. All Helix Plus models will have this same exact firmness. For heavier individuals, this bed will feel closer to a medium firmness, as their weight influences the overall firmness of the mattress.

As a medium-firm mattress, it’s ideal for back and stomach sleepers who typically prefer firmer support for their sleeping positions. Side sleepers who like a firmer feel should also find this bed comfortable. It’s like I said in my Helix Plus Luxe review: we see the Luxe and Elite mattresses as accommodating for all sleeping positions if you clock in heavier than a professional running back but lighter than a grizzly bear.

Helix Plus Elite mattress construction

Since the Helix Plus Elite mattress is Helix’s top-of-the-line mattress, construction is different from the Helix Plus Luxe. The materials have some more specialized features for support and durability. Here’s what’s going on inside the bed:

1. On the bottom, you’ve got a thin layer of support foam. This provides the base for everything else.
2. This is the first foundation layer that separates this bed from the others. The layer has 1,000 TitanCore steel coils, which are a thicker gauge and support more weight than Helix Sleep’s typical coils. The coils are laid out in a zoned-support design that’s more enhanced than the Helix Plus Luxe’s support base. Both beds’ bases are reinforced along their entire perimeter.
3. Next is a transition layer of dense support foam to buffer between the support and comfort layers of the bed. This layer is more of a responsive foam in comparison to Helix Plus Luxe’s transition layer.
4. The comfort insert, which is comprised of multiple different layers of foam and micro coils, comes after. This comfort layer is kind of like a wafer cookie. There’s three layers of foam with two steel micro-coil layers sandwiched between the foam layers. The micro coils allow even more support and comfort that you wouldn’t find on the Helix Plus Luxe model.
5. The top foam on the comfort insert is the primary comfort layer, which helps cradle and contour to the sleeper’s body. This more premium foam isn't in the Helix Plus Luxe model.
6. Rounding everything out is the cooling pillow-top. It's a plush, quilted pillow-top with a cooling fiber fabric to dissipate heat, providing a cooling sleeping surface.

Helix Plus Elite mattress performance

Motion isolation

The tufted mounds in the pillow-top design, combined with the micro coils in the comfort layer, excel at minimizing motion transfer. From our years of testing, we find dense memory foam beds usually perform well in this category. The Leesa Reserve and TempurPedic Pro Breeze models are superior when it comes to motion isolation. The Leesa Reserve has a similar comfort insert layer to the Helix Plus Elite’s comfort insert. As far as we're concerned, we don’t foresee anyone waking you up on the Helix Plus Elite if they toss and turn throughout the night.

Edge-to-edge support

This bed also performs exceptionally in terms of edge support. Since the edges have reinforced coils, there isn't a roll-off sensation when sleeping close to the perimeter of this mattress. If your partner tends to hog the bed, you shouldn’t have any issues with falling off the Helix Plus Elite.

Temperature

The enhanced cooling pillow top is effective at keeping the bed at a cool temperature. Even after putting a mattress cover and sheets on it, you feel the cooling nature of the Helix Plus Elite’s cover.

Durability

The Plus Elite is built with durability in mind, ensuring long-lasting performance. The coils used in this mattress are thicker gauge, made to withstand more weight than the other Helix mattresses. The foam layers are also made of denser material and are specialized for this type of mattress. And the micro coils give this bed even more enhanced support over the Helix Plus Luxe mattress. These factors will likely allow the mattress to last, even if you’re a heavier person.

Who is the Helix Plus Elite mattress best for?

Helix Plus Elite is designed to give you a luxurious sleep experience. Here’s who’ll benefit the most from sleeping on this mattress.

Sleeping position

Heavier people will find the Plus Elite accommodating in almost any sleeping position given its medium-style firmness. If we were deciding for petite or average-sized individuals, this bed is more suitable for back and stomach sleepers. The cooling pillow-top makes it a strong contender for those who sleep warm at night, too.

Body type

All body types will be supported by this mattress. This is one of the three Plus mattresses from Helix. All three are made to support the lightest and heaviest of body types.

Over $3,000 for a queen-size bed is a lot of money to spend on a mattress. However, when you consider the sturdier materials and comfort features like its pillow-top, this bed isn’t meant to be cheap. Compared to other beds built for bigger figures, I’d say it costs more but is worth the price (if you have that kind of cash to spend).

Trial, shipping and warranty

Helix Sleep offers pretty basic policies when it comes to warranties. Its beds ship to you in a box for free, and once it’s in your possession, you get a 100-night trial period at home, risk-free. If you happen not to like it within that timeframe, you can return it for free, but a small return fee may be taken from your refund in some states. On the other hand, if you decide to keep it, you’re backed by a 15-year limited warranty with the Helix Luxe and Elite models. That’s an additional five years in comparison to the Helix Core models’ warranty.

How does Helix Plus Elite compare to other mattresses? 

Helix Plus Elite vs. Big Fig

These two durable hybrid beds come to mind when people ask me which mattress a heavier person should be sleeping on. The Big Fig mattress is one of the most marketable beds made for bigger individuals, hence the name. With that said, Big Fig’s construction doesn't have all the enhanced support features that the Helix Plus Elite offers. Plus, the Big Fig mattress does not have a tufted pillow-top like the Plus Elite, which makes the bed feel slightly firmer. Both beds have a cooling cover, but the Helix Plus Elite’s cooling cover is much more noticeable. Overall, the Big Fig mattress is the more affordable option if price is a concern for you.

Helix Plus Elite vs. Titan Plus Elite

Both of these beds are manufactured in the 3Z Brands factory located in Phoenix, Arizona. The Titan mattress has a similar lineup of beds with the Titan Plus, Titan Plus Luxe and the Titan Plus Elite. The Titan Plus mattresses share similar materials, such as the TitanCore coils. However, the Titan Plus Elite doesn’t include the zoned-support design of the Helix Plus Elite’s support coils. Both beds have a cooling pillow-top that works great for hot sleepers. We found the Titan Plus Elite has a softer firmness compared to the Helix Plus Elite. There is more of a sink-in sensation than what you would feel on the Helix Plus Elite. So if you prefer a bed with less support qualities and tend to favor your side while sleeping, the Titan Plus Elite is the better option.

You might like the Helix Plus Elite mattress if:

• You want a bed built for heavier individuals
• You want a durable and supportive hybrid mattress
• You want a luxurious pillow-top feel
• You want a bed with an enhanced cooling cover
• You want a bed that offers a zoned-support design and micro coils for added durability

You might not like the Helix Plus Elite bed if:

• You're looking for a soft mattress
• You prefer the feel of a neutral or memory foam mattress
• You’re on a strict budget