Tom's Guide Verdict
The Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe mattress proves that hybrid mattresses can live up to their hype. It delivers a comfortable and supportive sleep surface that we'd recommend to anyone who suffers from back pain, while the heat-dissipating GlacioTex cover will keep hot sleepers cool. However, the cooling GlacioTex material also makes the top surface annoyingly slippery, and the above average motion transfer might cause issues for light sleepers and restless couples.
Pros
- +
Great cooling properties
- +
Three firmness options available
- +
Very comfortable and supportive
- +
Wide range of sizes including RV
Cons
- -
Slippery top surface
- -
A fair bit of motion transfer
- -
Our review model had strong off-gassing
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Recent updates
Our Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe mattress review has been updated for February 2024 to reflect the current pricing for every size of this hybrid bed ahead of the Presidents' Day mattress sales.
Brooklyn Aurora Luxe mattress review in brief
The Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe mattress (or, to give it its full name, the Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling mattress) might just be the answer to every hot sleeper’s dilemma. This bed-in-a-box hybrid takes cooling very seriously with its cooling top weave and copper-infused foam layer that work beautifully and effectively, even if you’ve accidentally left the heater running on high all night long. In fact, it might be one of the best mattresses out there for hot sleepers.
Type: Hybrid
Firmness: Soft (2-4), medium (4-6), firm (7-8)
Materials: GlacioTex cover, memory foam, other foams, coils
Depth: 13 inches
Weight: 60 to 130lbs
Sizes: Twin, twin XL, full, queen, king, Cal king, split king
Trial: 120 nights
Warranty: 10 years
It's not perfect. The GlacioTex cover has a smooth weave that prevents your fitted sheet from staying put, and has you sliding around – so you'll need to decide whether this fabric's cooling powers are worth that annoyance. Our review model also emitted a strong, noxious odor during the first few hours of unboxing, which we could have done without.
Those niggles aside, there are many things we appreciate here. The fact that you can choose the firmness level, for one. The Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe mattress is one of a handful of models that offer this, and it's always a welcome addition. We chose the medium firmness, which was perfect for our lead tester – a petite side sleeper who needs that perfect balance between plush and supportive.
There's also an option to pay to add a cushioning cloud pillow top. We didn't sleep on that model, but we did have a chance to test it out in the Brooklyn Bedding showroom.
We think this is one of the best cooling mattresses out there. Its specialized cooling layers are effective at keeping you comfortable, regardless of the temperature of your bedroom. The fact that it comes in sizes suited for RV beds means you can sleep luxuriously cool on your road trips without having to book a room at a hotel.
Price-wise, you can pretty much ignore MSRP as Brooklyn Bedding almost always has 30% off. With that discount, the Aurora Luxe sits in the upper mid-range bracket if you choose the regular version, or in the premium bracket if you go for the quilted top. We'd always recommend spending what you can afford to get the right mattress for you, and we think this model will be worth the investment for most people. Read on for our full Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe mattress review.
Brooklyn Aurora Luxe mattress review: Price
- Constant sale takes 30% off MRSP (occasionally more)
- Sits in the premium / upper mid-range bracket
- Queen size is $1,865 at full price, but usually available for $1,305.50
At MSRP, the Aurora Luxe is a premium mattress, but as with many mattress companies, Brooklyn Bedding holds mattress sales throughout the year, consistently knocking 30% off ticket price. This takes the model from the premium bracket into upper mid-range (assuming you don't go for the pillow-top upgrade, in which case you're back in premium territory, regardless of discount).
Here's a look at the MSRPs for each of the main sizes (no cloud pillow-top), plus what you can expect to actually pay:
- Twin: MSRP $999 (normally available for $699.30)
- Twin XL: MSRP $1,232 (normally available for $862.40)
- Full: MSRP $1,599 (normally available for $1,119.30)
- Queen: MSRP $1,865 (normally available for $1,305.50)
- Short Queen: MSRP $1,865 (normally available for $1,305.50)
- Split King (i.e. 2 x Twin XL beds): MSRP $2,464 (normally available for $1,724.80)
- King: MSRP $2,265 (normally available for $1,585.50)
- Cal king: MSRP $2,265 (normally available for $1,585.50)
- RV king: MSRP $2,265 (normally available for $1,585.50)
- RV Bunk: MSRP $1,599 (normally available for $1,119.30)
The Aurora Luxe sits in the upper-middle of Brooklyn Bedding’s (slightly confusing) lineup, above its original model (read about that in our Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid mattress review) and below the range-topping Sedona Elite. The extras are fine but not especially generous: the Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe comes with a 120-night mattress trial, 10-year warranty and free shipping.
Because mattress sales happen so frequently makes it difficult to directly compare across the market, but based on typical prices the Aurora Luxe is roughly in line with the Saatva Classic, Purple Original and the WinkBed mattress.
Brooklyn Aurora Luxe mattress review: Design & materials
- Two layers dedicated to cooling
- Third and fourth layer vary depending on firmness
- 8-inch zoned coil layer delivers support
We swear by a premium hybrid mattress, and the Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling Mattress is yet more proof why a hybrid bed is the way to go, especially if you’re a little picky about where you’re sleeping. The great thing about hybrid mattresses is that they will envelop you in cloud-like comfort while still delivering a lot of support for your back and hips. And, this offering from Brooklyn bedding does exactly that.
At the top of the bed you'll find the smooth-weave cooling cover. This uses GlacioTex – a technical fabric found in a number of specialist cooling mattresses, and known to be super-effective when it comes to keeping you cool at night.
If you opt for the Cloud Pillow-Top upgrade, this encases the foam-stuffed, cushioning pillow top. Otherwise, it sits on top of a layer of CopperFlex foam, which is infused with copper with the aim of boosting temperature regulation further, as well as adding antibacterial properties (in reality, infusions like this rarely make a noticeable difference to the feel of the foam, but nevertheless we did find this mattress cool to sleep on – but we'll get into that properly in the Performance section).
The next two layers are responsible for comfort and pressure point relief, and they differ depending on your choice of firmness. If you opt for a soft model, there's a two-inch, soft memory foam and a one-inch gel swirl memory foam, which are designed to deliver really good sinkage. The medium firm model, has two inches of medium memory foam and an inch of gel swirl memory foam, which together provide “just right” comfort. That means there’s still decent sinkage but not too much. If you go for the firm model, there's a 1.5-inch firm memory foam and a 1.5-inch VariFlex transition foam, which deliver a firmer sleep experience.
Beneath the foams you'll find a layer of eight-inch, individually encased coils. The perimeter of the mattress is constructed with higher gauge coils for firmer edge support. Finally, there’s the 0.75-inch high-density foam base.
It's impossible to accurately assess durability over just one month of testing, but the Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling Mattress kept its shape wonderfully over our four-week testing period, with zero signs of sagging, even when we’ve slept in one particular spot right around the middle (it's a pretty low bar, but this isn't true of all mattresses we've tested). The mattress seem pretty robust and well put together, with high quality materials.
One final thing worth highlighting on the design front is that the Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling is that it has three additional sizes that other top brands do not offer: the short queen, and two RV mattress sizes (the RV king and RV bunk). So as well as being a good choice if you're just looking for the best queen size mattress, it can also be a great choice for more unusual spaces.
Brooklyn Aurora mattress review: Firmness & comfort
- 3 firmness options to suit a wide range of body types and sleep positions
- We tested the medium option, and found it cushioning yet supportive
- Optional pillow-top upgrade for a more luxe feel
The Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling Mattress is available in three different firmness options. Here's a quick guide to who should each version might be best suited to:
| Version | Rating | Sleep position | Body weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft | 3/10 | Side sleepers only | Under 230lb |
| Medium | 5/10 | Any | 230lb or more |
| Firm | 7/10 | Stomach / back sleepers | 230lb or more |
Do factor in personal preference here. Our main reviewer, a combi-sleeper who is petite and is under 130lb, found the medium firmness model offered the perfect balance of support and sinkage. We'll be focusing on this model throughout this review. If you fancy one of the other options, Brooklyn Bedding does offer a lot of information in the FAQ section of its website.
The great thing about the medium firmness Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling Mattress is that although you have 4.5 inches of foam underneath you, two inches of that is medium firm, which means you’re still getting enough support even if you are a petite or light weight sleeper and you're not heavy enough to reach the coil layer.
Our lead reviewer's main issue with mattresses is that they tend to be too light to sink enough to actually get to that supportive layer, leading to a back and hip pain in the morning. That wasn't the case with this offering from Brooklyn Bedding. The medium premium memory foam here is very effective at preventing you from sinking out of alignment, while still providing enough cozy comfort and minimizing pressure points. And it provides enough support for your body until you reach the coil layer for a firmer foundation.
Those who are heavier than 130lb, however, should be more than satisfied by the level of cloud-like sinkage, pressure relief, and contouring that these foam layers offer. This mattress is excellent for side sleepers, molding to their bodies so that the arms and hips aren't 'shouldering' their full weight. Meanwhile, back sleepers should feel those layers hugging their bodies for a dreamier slumber.
We dropped a 25lb kettlebell in the middle of the mattress, where it only sank about two inches.
The other big thing that will affect the sleep feel is whether you opt for a regular top or a Cloud Pillow-Top. For our main review, we slept on the regular version, but we also tested out the pillow-top version (medium firmness) in the Brooklyn showroom. The pillow-top gives the mattress an undulating, soft and bouncy padded surface.
During our brief, hands-on testing period, we found this mattress ultra-comfy in all sleep positions, with the extra stuffing cushioning the joints nicely, while the sturdier lower levels (which you can feel if you apply pressure to the pillow-top) mean there's still ample support. Because the extra padding is springy rather than squishy and slow-moving, the bed is still nice and easy to move about on.
Brooklyn Aurora Luxe mattress review: Performance
- Excellent temperature regulation
- Some degree of motion transfer
- Good edge support
We put the medium firm Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling Mattress through its paces, sleeping on it for about a month assessing it across a range of performance markers. Here we'll focus specifically on cooling performance, edge support and motion isolation.
Temperature regulation
Hybrid mattresses almost always sleep cooler than all-foam models, with the innerspring layer boosting breathability by creating space for the air to circulate. But being a cooling mattress, the Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe goes beyond that, with a few special features designed to keep you cool no matter the room temperature or weather conditions.
Granted, we only started testing the mattress in the fall, but we often had our space heater warming up our room, and it's powerful enough to make things toasty even with the window ajar. We found the Aurora Luxe's cooling features worked very effectively to keep us from overheating.
First up, the GlacioTex cooling cover, made up of cooling fibers that are designed to be cold to the touch and remove excess heat from the mattress’ surface. This fabric appears in a few specialist cooling mattresses, and we find it always delivers reliable cooling; the Aurora Luxe is no exception. One annoying side-effect worth mentioning is that the GlacioTex has a slightly glossy surface, which minimizes friction, preventing our fitted sheet from staying put. It’s a little annoying and, if you’re very particular about your fitted sheet being tight or you hate sleeping on folds and wrinkles, this is something that might irk you.
Underneath that, you'll find a layer of 'dynamic cooling' foam, which is designed to absorb excess body heat and release it back when the sleeper is in need of a boost of warmth. Finally, the memory foam here is infused with copper and gel, apparently to improve temperature regulation further. Take these kinds of claims with a pinch of salt – although infused foam are common in the mattress world, in reality the difference they make to the feel of the foam is minimal. Regardless, we were very impressed with the temperature regulation properties on this mattress.
Our score: 4 out of 5
Motion transfer
The motion isolation, truth be told, is nothing to write home about. In fact, we probably would have preferred to not to write about it at all because there’s barely any. We tested this mattress' motion isolation in two different ways: first, by putting an empty wine glass in the middle and then dropping our 25lb kettlebell nine inches and 25 inches away, and, second, by having two people lay on the bed side-by-side and having one of them toss and turn to see if the other one would feel it. The Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Mattress didn’t fare well on either test.
The kettlebell almost broke the wine glass in half at nine inches because the glass immediately bounced out of place at first impact. At 25 inches, the wine glass didn’t topple over but it still moved around a bit.
Testing it with this reviewer and a friend, there was also considerable movement felt by one every time the other turned or moved. It’s not too much that you would get shaken awake if your partner tossed and turned in bed, but definitely enough to keep you from being able to drift off.
In our warehouse tests, the pillow-top version of this mattress fared slightly better, but not much. We could definitely feel our fellow tester getting into and out of bed, and movements reverberated across the sleep surface. All in all, if you’re a sensitive sleeper with a partner, we’d give this one a pass.
Our score: 2 out of 5
Edge support
We’ve tested beds with amazing edge support, that stay firm even when you’re putting all of your weight on the perimeter. We've also tested beds with edges that just collapse under our weight, causing us to slide off even when we’re only sitting on them.
The Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling Mattress is constructed with higher gauge coils on its perimeter, allowing it to straddle both worlds. Its edge is not too firm but not too soft, either. So, when you’re sitting or laying on it, you get a bit of sinkage without sliding straight off.
When placing a weight on the edge of the mattress, the sinkage was almost exactly the same as it was in the middle, which indicates good edge support (essentially you're looking to avoid a mattress that has more sinkage on the edges than it does in the middle). Edge support was also good with the pillow-top version.
Our score: 4 out of 5
Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe: Delivery & setup
As with most bed-in-a-box models, the Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling Mattress doesn’t come with a white glove delivery service.
The courier service delivered the box to our doorstep, from which we hauled it inside and shimmied it into the bedroom. Once we'd dragged the mattress out of its box, all that was needed was to unwrap its layers of clingwrap and cut it loose from its plastic covering. The whole process didn’t take us long, more or less 15 minutes to unpack and set up on our frame for off-gassing.
Bear in mind though, that since it’s not that lightweight, you should plan to have someone assist you during this process, especially if you don’t have that much upper-body strength. There's no option to pay for upgraded delivery from Brooklyn.
Unlike the more recent mattresses we’ve tested, this comes with two handles on each side, which we truly appreciate as it allows us to grip it better when we’re doing things like changing the sheets or rearranging our bedroom.
Our main reviewer has tested a lot of mattresses, but never had any significant issues with off-gassing smells. In fact, we were starting to think that those had become a thing of the past. That is until we unwrapped the Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling Mattress, and found it gave off a strong odor.
What is off-gassing? Strong off-gassing odors are usually indicative of the VOCs or volatile organic compounds, which can cause an allergic reaction, headaches, nausea, or even eye irritation. We didn't experience any of the serious symptoms with the Aurora mattress, but it did give us a bit of a headache. The odor was strong enough, especially in our small room, that we had to step out of that room to keep our headache from getting more severe. And that’s with the window open.
The odor lasted a while too – it was several hours before it dissipated. We unpacked it early afternoon, and by nighttime, the smell had mostly dissipated. We were disappointed with this, especially in a premium mattress. However, it's worth noting that off-gassing experiences can vary hugely, and sometimes even within the same mattress model. It's not a common complaint amongst other customers' reviews of this mattress, so it might be that we just got unlucky.
Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe: Customer reviews
The Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling mattress has received a lot of enthusiastic reviews, scoring an average of 4.7 out of 5 over ~3,100 reviews on the Brooklyn Bedding website (May 2023). Commenters praising it for its comfort as well as its cooling properties. We’re surprised that not a lot of people were bothered by its minimal motion isolation as well – in fact, many of couple reviews haven’t mentioned it at all, which suggests that not a lot of people actually care about motion transfer, especially those who have been sleeping with their partner for years.
The most common complaint we’ve seen is regarding its semi-glossy, slippy top surface. As one reviewer said, “the surface is slippery so sheets do not stay in place and get all bunched up.” That is certainly similar to what we’ve experienced. However, it also looks like people find this bed so comfortable, they’re willing to work with its quirks. This same reviewer, for example, said that she’s going to try and find a different cover, presumably one that will work better with the mattress’ surface, or use straps to fasten and secure her fitted sheet better.
Should I buy the Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling mattress?
The Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling Mattress is among the most comfortable we’ve ever slept on. And that’s saying something, as our main reviewer tends to be a little picky with their mattresses – so much so that they have been known to suffer from insomnia if what they're sleeping on isn’t quite right.
We’re happy to report that the Aurora Hybrid Luxe has successfully kept our insomnia at bay. The memory foam layers truly delivered cloud-like comfort that lulled us to slumber during testing, while the coils kept our spine properly supported, and ensured we didn't feel like we were being engulfed by memory foam. It provided that great balance of plushness and firmness that’s proven to be the perfect formula for us, personally.
The Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling mattress is well constructed and thoughtfully crafted, and the choice of firmness options means it can be adjusted to suit a wide range of sleepers. The effective cooling technology means it's a good choice for even the warmest sleepers.
The main area that this mattress fell down in was its motion isolation. If you're a light sleeper, or share a bed with someone who moves around a lot at night, you might need to look elsewhere. We were also frustrated by the slipperiness of the top cover – you'll need to decide whether the cooling powers of the cover fabric are worth that annoyance.
If you can move past those hurdles – which we have – you’ll start to appreciate just how comfortable this mattress is. Our experience with the Brooklyn Aurora Hybrid Luxe Cooling Mattress has been mostly positive, and we’ve had nothing but a good night’s rest on it. It’s certainly something we’d recommend, no matter your mattress preference.
- First reviewed December 2022
Brooklyn Aurora mattress review: Alternatives to consider
