I Slept on the Purple Hybrid Premier 3 Mattress for 5 Years. Here Are My Thoughts

It's officially the end of an era for me. I slept on the Purple Hybrid Premier 3 mattress for five years. I've since swapped it out for a different bed, but I'm going to summarize my very long experience with that mattress. 

One thing I really liked about this mattress is the unique feel of the bed. All Purple mattresses have a Purple Grid that helps relieve pressure. This proprietary cushioning technology gives this bed a comfortable feel like no other.

Before I get into the nitty-gritty, it's important to note that the Purple bed I've slept on for five years is no longer available. Purple has updated its entire lineup, but I think it's still valuable to talk about my experience sleeping on this particular mattress, because one or more of the new Purple beds will have a similar feel.  

First impressions

Whenever anyone tries out a Purple bed for the first time, they have a pretty strong reaction, one way or the other. People will lie on it and immediately fall in love with the feeling, while others will try it out and think the feel is a little too strange -- primarily because the Purple Hybrid Premier mattress (or any Purple bed for that matter) is probably unlike any bed you've tried in the past (because of the Purple Grid we talked about earlier). 

When I first tried the Purple Hybrid Premier mattress, I thought, "This is so comfortable. I've never tried anything this comfortable before, and I really wanna be sleeping on this thing." Five years later, you really get used to the feeling, and the Purple bed ends up just feeling more like a responsive, comfy mattress.

The firmness and feel of the Purple Hybrid Premier 3 

Feel

The first thing we start with when discussing Purple beds is the bed's proprietary comfort layer called the Purple Grid. 

It's gone through several different name changes over the years that I've slept on this bed, but the material has remained the same. It's this really stretchy, squishy, responsive material that almost resembles a Dr. Scholl's insole. It's essentially Purple's bread and butter, and it has a very unique feel when you first start sleeping on the bed. 

Firmness

The Purple Hybrid Premier 3 came in only one firmness option. When my team and I tested it, we found it to be around a medium, which works really well for me because I'm more of a side and back sleeper. However, Purple revamped its mattress collection to provide more choices. 

Now when you check out a new Purple Restore mattress, you can choose between soft or firm.  

Who's the Purple Hybrid Premier best for? 

Sleeping position 

I generally fall asleep on my side, but oftentimes I'll wake up on my back or side. But It feels effortless to rotate between sleeping positions on a Purple, which helps me deal with fewer disruptions during the night. And thanks to its medium firmness level, the Purple Hybrid Premier accommodates both my sleeping positions. 

Body type

I'm a bit heavier, which means I felt the Purple Hybrid Premier 3 to be a little bit softer than a medium. This actually worked out well for me because I primarily sleep on my side, and side sleepers generally prefer softer beds. My sleeping partner, on the other hand, is more of a stomach sleeper, and even though they're more lightweight than me, they did develop some minor back pain over time and would've been better served by a slightly firmer mattress (which we have now). This just goes to show how subjective firmness can be.

Purple Hybrid Premier performance 

Motion isolation  

The responsive nature of the Purple mattress is something I enjoyed the entire time, because I'm more of a side and combination sleeper. That said, it isn't really something my sleeping partner liked, because my tossing and turning sometimes woke them up in the middle of the night. I wouldn't say that was because of the mattress' inability to isolate motion, however. The responsiveness is just something you'll have to deal with if you're someone who tosses and turns a lot at night. If that's the case and your partner is a light sleeper, a memory foam bed that deters you from tossing and turning might be a better proposition.

Temperature

One thing Purple loves to talk about on its website is how well these beds regulate temperature. There are no real Purple beds that our test team would classify as "active cooling," but thanks to that gel flex grid material, the Purple beds do sleep temperature-neutral. 

I slept on this thing for a number of hot summers and didn't really have temperature issues. I would still need to crank the AC in my bedroom when it got super hot out during July and August, but the bed did a solid job of regulating temperature. I think that'll be something you'll enjoy about a Purple bed if you decide to get one for yourself. 

Durability

Another thing Purple likes to point out about its mattresses is their durability. I agree with this -- to a certain extent. 

The gel-flex material is going to be the most durable. I don't really see that stuff degrading over time, unlike certain foams. The rest of the bed had the same components you'd find in most other mattresses, like coils and foams, and those will degrade over time. But it wasn't something I noticed in the five years I slept on this mattress. Its warranty is 10 years, so you wouldn't really expect any issues after five years. Until the 10-year mark, I think the gel flex material would hold up really well. 

Final thoughts

I don't really have anything major to complain about. I slept great for a really long time. The main reason my partner and I are swapping it out is because my significant other wanted something different. It's always a big challenge to find a brand-new mattress that satisfies two different types of sleepers.

I also didn't really experience any persistent aches and pains during my entire five-year span of sleeping on the Purple Hybrid Premier 3-inch. I'm not someone who generally has aches and pains. I'm still pretty back-pain-free, despite being in my 30s. Though I think that has less to do with the Purple Hybrid Premier 3 mattress itself and more to do with the fact that its firmness level works really well for me and my sleeping preferences. 

My body adjusted to the very unique feel of the Purple bed in no time. You have to take advantage of that 100-night trial period for any bed, but especially for Purple, to find out if you like it. 

It's the end of an era for me and my partner, but we're excited about the new Purple mattress lineup. The test team will have some more information about these brand-new Purple beds soon, as we finish going through the testing process.