Sleeping Duck Mach II review: the most customisable mattress yet

There’s no dearth of mattress-in-a-box products in Australia now, with several brands becoming popular really quickly. One of the original companies to actually get a foothold in the local market, however, was Sleeping Duck.

While the Melbourne-based company came into being in 2014, it gained popularity after being featured in an episode of Shark Tank in 2017. The brand later expanded to a couple of other markets as well, including the UK and the US, but has since pulled out of the former.

Unlike other mattress-in-a-box companies, Sleeping Duck only offers one mattress in Australia – while not its first, the SD Mach II was launched in 2020 and is still available. It uses foam that’s made Down Under, while the assembly is done in China where the springs and upholstery materials are manufactured.

Sleeping Duck Mach II review in brief

• Well-constructed hybrid mattress with steel innersprings
• Adjustable firmness with 4 levels
• Excellent temperature regulation

The Sleeping Duck Mach II’s biggest selling point is its adjustable firmness levels, but it's got competition from the Eva Premium Adapt mattress. Both are similar – you can choose your preferred firmness when you order your mattress, then choose a different one within the trial period for free if the original doesn’t suit you. All you have to do is swap out the appropriate foam layer. In fact, both brands will also let you choose a half-half option so both you and your partner will be happy.

There are a couple of major points of difference that puts Sleeping Duck ahead of the competition — where Eva only offers three firmness levels, Sleeping Duck has four. Additionally, at the time of writing, Eva only offers three mattress sizes, but you get the choice of six sizes from Sleeping Duck. That said, the half-half adjustable firmness options are only available for the queen size or bigger.

Where Sleeping Duck really takes the lead is by offering smaller foam pieces in different firmness levels for different zones on the mattress. So you can potentially have a soft foam for your shoulder, but a firm foam for your hips, while your partner could have medium for their shoulder and extra firm for the hip zone. The customisation options are limitless!

Sleeping Duck has also made it quite easy to change the firmness layers — unzip the cover fully, remove the top foam layer, unzip the cover labelled ComponentAdapt and swap out the foam within, then replace the top foam and the cover. It would have been easier if the zip for the inner foam cover went all the around like the breathable top cover, but it's like slipping on a duvet cover, so quite doable by one person. That top cover can be machine-washed, but it will need to be sun-dried.

Customisability aside, the Sleeping Duck is also one of the better-made mattresses we’ve tested, and comes with side handles — the Eva Premium Adapt instead has end handles which we think don't help much with moving a heavy mattress around. And the Sleeping Duck is a heavyweight, with the double size (sent for this review) tipping the scales at 43kg.

The four side handles — two on each side — are well stitched and, the few times we’ve moved the mattress during the testing period, have taken the stress of the load well. The rest of the mattress also seems to be made from high-quality material (more on this later).

Importantly, everything that Sleeping Duck promises with its mattress, it delivers. The breathability here is one of the best we’ve experienced and made humid summer nights a lot more bearable. Motion transfer is also minimal and there’s good edge support for a hybrid mattress, giving you more sleeping room.

Overall, the SD Mach II is an excellent mattress that’s worth every penny, particularly in the larger sizes as they are the more customisable ones. Even at full price it’s worth the investment as we think it will go the distance.

Sleeping Duck mach II review: price, delivery and deals

• Competitively priced
• Not discounted too often
• 100-night trial and 10-year warranty

For a mattress that’s not just well constructed, but offering a lot of adjustability, the SD Mach II is very well priced. Prices start at AU$999 for the single, which is actually a little on the expensive side as it's not the most customisable option, but the bigger sizes offer better value for money.

Here is a breakdown of the prices of the various SD Mach II sizes:

• Single: AU$999
• King single: AU$1,099
• Double: 1,349
• Queen: 1,649
• King: AU$1,999
• Super king: AU$2,699

The only proper price comparison we can do is with the Eva Premium Adapt as it's a similar kind of mattress offering quite a bit of customisation. With a starting price of AU$1,300 for the double, the smallest option, it's only marginally cheaper than the SD Mach II, which is just AU$50 more for the same size. Go up one size and the Eva queen is AU$1,640 and the Sleeping Duck is AU$1,649 — not much of a difference there.

The below table compares the prices of the two brands for the different sizes.

Emma Sleep doesn’t have an equivalent mattress, but its Luxe Breeze mid-range mattress is priced at AU$2,220 for the double and AU$2,400 for the queen — expensive, and it doesn't offer any kind of adjustability.

Again, Ecosa also doesn’t offer a similar product, but it’s one of the more budget-friendly mattress brands in Australia. It’s most expensive offering — the Ecosa Align Firm will set you back just AU$1,025 at full price for the double and AU$1,125 for the queen.

So while the SD Mach II might be a touch more expensive than the Eva alternative, the quality of its materials, the amount of comfort and support you get, as well as the extent of adjustability more than make up for it.

View the SD Mach II at Sleeping Duck

Unlike other brands, Sleeping Duck doesn’t regularly discount its products. However, keep a lookout during the big Black Friday sales in November — chances are you’ll be able to save a little on what is already a well-priced mattress.

View Deal

Ordering the SD Mach II is really easy, with no annoying pop-ups to navigate. You just need to select the size and firmness level of choice, then proceed to checkout. The Sleeping Duck customer service is also one of the best teams we’ve had the pleasure of interacting with.

Depending on the delivery address, you can choose the date you want the mattress delivered. Sleeping Duck also includes the removal of the mattress’ packaging in its delivery service. Some metro areas also get a complimentary white-glove service that includes the removal of your old mattress as well. You can choose this at checkout or speak to a customer service representative after you've placed your order. If you live outside of these specific postcodes, you can still opt for the white-glove service for an extra fee.

If you’re undecided as to which firmness level is best for you, Sleeping Duck has a handy quiz on its site that takes about a minute to do and can give you an idea of what to order.

You get a 100-night trial for the mattress, which is quite standard and more than enough time to decide if the SD Mach II you’ve ordered is for you or not. You have the option to change the firmness layer for free after the first 21 days of your trial are done — this can be done by calling the company’s customer service. While the mattress comes via courier, the foam layers ordered later are usually sent via Australia Post, so delivery of the latter could take longer.

Warranty is also the standard 10 years for the SD Mach II, although you will need to keep in mind that Sleeping Duck is very particular about the bed base you use. Your warranty will be void if you use a sprung base, gas-lift bed or any other adjustable base. If the total weight on the mattress is over 280kg — or 140kg per sleeper — the warranty will be void. Thankfully Sleeping Duck lists its terms and conditions clearly on its website.

One thing to keep in mind with Sleeping Duck is its returns policy. While you can organise to have your mattress picked up for free within the 100-night trial period if you’re not happy with it, the company may direct you to a charity to organise the pickup. This isn’t mentioned on the website and can be a hassle to get sorted.

Sleeping Duck Mach II review: design and materials

• Steel pocket springs with two foam layers on top
• Well-made breathable and washable cover
• Four horizontal fabric side handles

We’ve tested our fair share of mattresses here at Tom’s Guide and we usually say they’re well made. However, after seeing what Sleeping Duck has achieved with the Mach II, the others pale in comparison.

For starters, we have to call out the four side handles on the SD Mach II — where other mattresses, if they even have handles, sport vertically stitched ones, here they’re horizontal and it makes a difference to how comfortably you can lift up the mattress to adjust or move. During our 70-day testing period, we moved the mattress five times to test the sturdiness of the handles, once even putting as much of the mattress’ weight as we could onto just a single handle — not a single stitch came loose nor were there any tears.

The rest of the mattress also looks good and seems just as well made, although the covers of the individual foam layers do appear like they could rip easily. That said, they're under a very nice bamboo top cover, so we don't think they'll incur too much wear and tear. This spun bamboo cover feels nice and soft, and always remains cool to the touch. It's also absorbent, unlike some polyester covers we've seen on other mattresses.

While the zip holding the cover in place is nothing to write home about, it didn’t snag on anything, and is stitched on quite well. The cover is machine-washable but it’s not as fast-drying as some Emma Sleep polyester covers we’ve tested. So if you want to give the cover a wash, we’d recommend doing so on a summer morning so it’s ready for you to sleep on by the night. Under the cover are two layers of foam.

The first is what Sleeping Duck calls an AntiGravity Surface foam — it’s a high-density AirGrown polyurethane foam that gives you the feeling of softness without compromising on support. It provides cushioning and pressure relief just like memory foam would but alters shape much faster than memory foam so it conforms to your body as and when you move.

As the topmost layer, it’s porous to allow air movement which, in turn, helps with temperature regulation. Sleeping Duck claims that the air bubbles within the foam have been made via a process called Variable Pressure Foaming rather than by chemical reactions, which is how other foams are made, and gets a GECA (Good Environmental Choice Australia) tick of approval that there are no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) within the foam. It’s also got a level A global Green Tag certification, meaning it follows the highest environmental standards. And given the foam is made in Sydney rather than in China, you can rest assured that the standards are definitely being met.

The second layer is the swappable foam, called the ComponentAdapt Customisation System by Sleeping Duck. This, too, is a high-density polyurethane foam made the same way as the AntiGravity layer, so there are no chemicals involved in the manufacturing process. While you make your choice of firmness level when you first order the mattress — including half-half options — you can change your mind within the 100-day trial period for either a replacement foam or additional panels to customise your bed.

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Both layers have their own individual covers that can be opened up if you want to vacuum them to increase their life, but it doesn’t seem like the covers themselves are washable.

Below the two foam layers is what the brand calls the Motherboard. It’s a layer of twice-tempered pocket springs, meaning they’ll last a long while. Sleeping Duck is one of the few mattress makers to reveal what spring gauges are used and this transparency goes a long way in building customer trust. The Mach II has three gauges — 1.8mm springs for the shoulder and knee zones, 2mm for the back and hip, and 2.3m around the mattress’ edge. This kind of zoning means your entire body gets the correct support each part needs while you sleep, keeping your spine aligned correctly. It also means the mattress is properly optimised for side sleepers.

Sleeping Duck Mach II review: firmness and comfort

• 4 levels of firmness in several customisable combinations
• Very supportive in any combination
• All-night comfort

The SD Mach II is one of the few mattresses to not have a default firmness rating provided by the manufacturer. That’s because it will depend on what you choose, and this is where we need to explain how the customisation works for the Mach II.

Your initial order can only be between Medium and Firm, or a Half-Half that gets you one side medium and other firm. However, after a period of 21 days (or three weeks) from the day of delivery, you can change your mind and opt to choose soft, extra firm or a half-half combination of any of these four different firmness levels.

Customisation doesn’t stop there — Sleeping Duck also offers smaller panels at these four firmness levels for different zones within the bed itself, so you can potentially get well over a hundred combinations. As long as you order these additional foam pieces within your 100-night trial, they are free, but again, you will have to first try out the new mattress for a period of three weeks first before you can change your mind. That’s the time it takes for a mattress to ‘break in’, so it’s not an uncalled-for request from the company.

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Note that this amount of customisation is only possible for the queen, king and super king sizes as it’s harder to make the smaller pieces for the smaller-sized mattresses. Customisation is also possible after the 100-night trial but, of course, you will need to pay for these. That said, it’s a lot cheaper than buying a whole new mattress.

No matter what firmness level you choose, we found the SD Mach II to be one of the most comfortable and supportive mattresses we’ve tried. For this review, we had the double mattress, so we couldn’t try out the full extent of customisations, but we were sent all four firmness options in full size. While we didn’t like the extra soft only due to personal preferences — we would give it a 5 / 10 firmness rating — the difference between the medium and the firm is quite negligible. We would rate the medium at 6.5 / 10 and the firm at 7.5 / 10. We think the former is ideal for most users while the latter would be best suited to side sleepers with lower-back pain. The extra firm is quite hard — we’d rate it at 8.5 / 10 firmness — and may not be to everyone’s liking, but this reviewer didn’t mind it at all. The amount of support it offered was excellent but got a little too hard in the shoulder zone.

Please note that our firmness rating is based on how the mattress feels with the top AntiGravity layer also set up on top, which adds a bit of softness to the actual sleep surface.

Given the extent to which you can customise this mattress — way beyond the nine options you get with the Eva Premium Adapt — it’s hard to see how it wouldn’t suit almost anyone.

Sleeping Duck Mach II review: performance

• White-glove setup available but off-gassing takes a long time
• Good edge support
• Excellent temperature regulation

You’d think that the extent of customisations available with the SD Mach II would make this a more objective choice than other mattresses, but that’s not necessarily the case — comfort is still highly subjective.

Moreover, you need to be patient with these configurations, trying what you think would be the best option for you and your partner, then choosing another and trying it for at least three weeks before you make a decision.

However, choosing the right mattress for you would take more information than just its adjustability and comfort. So we’ve put together the below guide to explain a few other features that we think you should consider before buying any mattress. We’ve also included scores out of five for each to help you make it easier for you to understand these metrics.

Setup

Score: 5 / 5

Like all other mattress-in-a-box products, the SD Mach II will arrive in a large box which, thankfully in this case, has wheels. This is a good thing because the mattress, particularly in the larger sizes, is quite heavy and we would recommend getting help to set it up — it’s a two-man job for double or larger.

That said, Sleeping Duck’s delivery service includes the courier opening the box inside your home and taking away the packaging the mattress comes in. The brand takes it a little further by offering a white-glove service too, which includes the removal of your old mattress as well. This is free for a small number of metro postcodes and you can set it up at checkout or by calling the company’s customer service team.

Even if you choose not to indulge in the white-glove service, getting the mattress out of the box and unrolled isn’t too difficult as long as you have a second set of hands to help as it's heavier than usual. Thankfully the four side handles help in positioning it correctly, something we found difficult with the Eva Premium Adapt as it's handles are on the end rather than the sides.

Off-gassing

Score: 3.5 / 5

This is where the SD Mach II disappoints. The strange thing is that we weren’t expecting a lot of off-gassing to take place considering the foam used here wasn’t manufactured using chemical processes, but there is a very distinct odour that will fill your room as soon as the mattress is unwrapped. While the odour is normal, it can take a few days to dissipate, which isn't all that normal.

If you had the space, we would suggest that you unroll the mattress elsewhere to allow the smell to go away before setting it up as your bed, but that’s far from ideal for most customers. That said, the air purifier we used to register possible formaldehyde and VOC emissions picked up nothing, so it’s possible that it’s just the smell of the materials and nothing harmful. To be fair, we started using the mattress on the first night itself for testing purposes and suffered no ill effects, except needing to get used to the strange odour.

In our case, it took over 10 days for the smell to disappear from the room the mattress was placed in despite being well ventilated.

Pressure relief

Score: 5 / 5

Most of us think that pressure relief comes from the foam you’re lying on and, while that’s true for all-foam mattresses, it’s not entirely so for hybrids and innerspring mattresses. With the SD Mach II, it’s definitely the pocket spring layer doing most of the heavy lifting with three gauges of springs supporting you. The gauge refers to the thickness of the wire used to make the pocket springs — for example, many bouncy hybrid mattresses will use a gauge of 1.2mm, so you tend to sink into the foam on top. Thicker springs will prevent that sinking and help keep your spine better aligned with the rest of your body.

As mentioned earlier in this review, the SD Mach II has pocket springs of thicknesses between 1.8mm and 2.3mm, so these are some seriously stout springs and their distribution across different zones definitely keeps the body straight, whether you sleep on your stomach, back or on your side.

If you are a stomach sleeper, though, we think the medium firmness would be ideal, but some users might prefer the soft. Many back and side sleepers will be best served by the medium or the firm, but even the extra firm foam might benefit some back sleepers. If you think you need to vary it further, speak to the Sleeping Duck customer service team to see if you can get hold of the smaller foam panels that will customise your mattress entirely.

Temperature regulation

Score: 5 / 5

One of the essential factors in a good night’s rest is how hot or cold you get under the covers and some of this is determined by the mattress — the more breathable the materials closest to your skin are, the cooler you’ll feel when sleeping.

For this, the SD Mach II uses what it calls a BreathTech material, which the company says is made from bamboo yarn. It’s soft and silky to the touch, just like any bamboo material you would find in attire, but it also seems a lot more durable than what you might find in clothing. This suggests there might be some polyester mixed in as well, particularly elastane as the material is stretchy and can easily be pulled over the corners when zipping up.

Despite the addition of the elastane, the bamboo is quite absorbent and more cooling than any other mattress we've tested, which makes for quite a comfortable night even in summer.

This reviewer suffers from night sweats and, after swapping over to using the Sleeping Duck, has had far more comfortable nights than previously with any other mattress. Throughout our 70-day testing period, the SD Mach II has been cool to the touch, even after body heat has accumulated under a blanket.

Keep in mind that if you use a mattress protector, you may not get the same amount of cooling as when sleeping on sheets directly over the mattress. We tried both scenarios and found that the best results were without a mattress protector. A cotton protector will keep some of the breathability of the mattress cover, but if you use a waterproof protector made from polyester, it might negate the cooling effect.

Edge support

Score: 4.5 / 5

The perimeter of the SD Mach II has 2.3mm thick pocket springs, which is quite strong and doesn’t compress easily. This means that there’s a good amount of edge support, in return giving you an almost-full sleep surface on the mattress. There is also a decent amount of foam density here to keep you comfortable even if you roll to the edge of the bed in the middle of the night.

Even when sitting at the edge, like if you were wearing your slippers in the morning, the springs don’t depress too much, although the foam does sink more compared to when your body is flat. So while you won’t feel like you’re slipping off the edge, you may feel like you’re not getting enough edge support, but that’s only because more body weight is putting pressure on a small part of the mattress.

Motion transfer

Score 4.5 / 5

An all-foam mattress is usually the best when it comes to fully dampening motion transfer — aka zero partner disturbance — but the SD Mach II does a pretty good job of making sure kinetic energy isn’t spreading throughout the mattress. We suspect that this is because the pocket springs are individual rather than connected. We also found that all four firmness layers were effective at dampening motion, although the extra firm was the best as it reduces the amount of sinkage the top AntiGravity layer can accomplish.

A small amount of movement did transfer when we dropped a 5kg bag of rice about 1.5 inches away from an empty glass placed upright in the middle of the mattress on the firm foam, which caused it to topple. However, the direction of the fall was away from the bag, so we also need to take into account any air movement caused when the bag was dropped.

It may not be perfect but we think only the lightest of sleepers will feel any disturbance when sleeping beside a restless partner. And, as we’ve said previously in other mattress reviews, there’s really not a lot you can do about pulled sheets and blankets.

Durability

Score: 4.5 / 5

We’ve previously said the SD Mach II is well made. The stitching is strong, the handles are sturdy and the foam showed no signs of sagging after two months of use. Admittedly a test period of 70 days isn’t long enough to judge the longevity of a mattress, but the Sleeping Duck has superior construction to other mattresses we’ve tested previously, so we think it will likely last well beyond the 10-year warranty period.

It’s important to note that the SD Mach II is rated for only 280kg of total weight (or up to 140kg per sleeper), which we think is rather conservative. The foam layers seem to be well made and the springs (going by their declared gauges) are strong, so we don’t anticipate any issues with sagging for a few years at the very least even if you and your partner are on the heavier side.

During our testing period we washed the cover twice and didn’t see any signs of wear and tear, plus the side handles seemed to be holding strong even after using them a few times during our testing period.

Overall, the SD Mach II is an impressively made mattress that should easily be able to handle more than 280kg a night for years to come. However, if you want peace of mind, you could consider the Eva Premium Adapt mattress, which is rated for a total of 400kg.

Keeping the mattress clean is also quite easy. While the top cover can be machine-washed, you can even keep the foam layers under it clean by removing their individual covers to vacuum them.

Sleeping Duck Mach II: user reviews

We fell in love with the SD Mach II from night one — although we will admit the odour released after the packaging was removed wasn’t all that pleasant. That one niggle aside, we think this is the best innerspring mattress-in-a-box currently available in Australia. If you don’t want to take our word for it, check out the nearly 5,500 user reviews on ProductReview.com.au (Australia’s most popular customer opinion site).

While the reviews are for “Sleeping Duck Mattress”, any dated prior to 2020 are for the older mattress models from the company — those published after 2020 are specifically for the SD Mach II.

Even the older mattress from the brand was well received, having won ProductReview’s Best Mattress Award in 2017. The Mach II went on to become a multi-award winner, receiving the same accolade in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Of the 5,460 user reviews — admittedly some of the older ones for original SD mattress — only 2% (or 130) were negative, but a whopping 5,279 people (97%) liked it enough to give the Sleeping Duck mattress an average rating of 4.8 stars out of 5. Most of these users were side sleepers it seems, and plenty with pre-existing back and neck conditions, so that’s saying something. The majority of the users agree with us — that it’s comfortable (over 3.7K reviews), doesn’t retain a lot of heat (nearly 2.7K reviews) and hasn’t sagged (nearly 3.7K reviews).

Some users who changed their mind have had issues with Sleeping Duck’s returns policy — and we agree that it’s ambiguous and not clearly spelt out on the website — but the company’s customer service got a whopping 4.9-star rating from just over 3,400 users. What’s even more interesting is that, at the time of writing, over 3,800 users think the SD Mach II offers good value for money. There are several reviews that follow the theme of “a little bit of heaven” or “fantastic mattress”, so it’s not just us who think the SD Mach II deserves top marks.

Should I buy the Sleeping Duck Mach II?

It’s very easy to recommend the SD Mach II even if we don’t know what kind sleeper you are. The extent of customisation alone means nearly anyone will find comfort and support on this mattress. Admittedly the customisation is also what can make this a confusing experience, but the company has tried to make it easy for customers to choose by offering a quick firmness quiz on its website to get you started.

It’s a heavy mattress and some people will find it hard to fit sheets on, but if you can get around that, we think the SD Mach II truly is a revolutionary product. It’s cool for hot sleepers, offers support in the right zones and, importantly, doesn’t compromise on edge support. It even manages to keep to its zero-partner disturbance promise, particularly if you opt for the more firm foams.

There are mattresses that cost a lot more than the SD Mach II and offer nowhere near as much adjustability. So, even at full price, we think the SD Mach II offers excellent bang for buck — it's an absolute winner!