2025: The Year You Start Sleeping Well

Set yourself up for success, and you’ll transform not only this year but also your life. To help you rest better, we highlight top-rated mattresses, pillows, sheets, and other sleep products.

Give your bed a lift: January is just right for a sleep makeover.

By Danielle Claro

Be honest: How many times have you made a resolution to upgrade or improve your sleep? No shame, no blame here. We’re all in this together: In a nationally representative Consumer Reports survey (PDF) in 2022, 9 out of 10 Americans said they experienced at least one sleep challenge within the previous 12 months, and 8 out of 10 said they attempted a solution. 

Which is to say, as a group we’re on the right track—understanding the importance of quality rest and working to make that the norm. That’s good news. Even better? It’s CR’s Sleep Week, so we’re here with solutions to help make 2025 a pivot point.

Whether you’re due for a new mattress, in need of the perfect pillow, longing for the fresh-start feel of a new set of sheets, or are desperate for white (or pink or brown) noise to usher you into dreamland, we’ve got the goods. 

Scroll for the best assists to truly restorative nights—and answers to burning questions, such as, What exactly is a hybrid mattress? Sleep tight!

The Foundation: Your Mattress

There’s no universal “best” type of mattress; it’s all about how you want your body to feel. Within each category that CR tests—innerspring, foam, and adjustable air—you’ll find a range of firmness options. A quick breakdown: 

Innerspring mattresses are made up of coils topped with fabric or foam (or both).

Hybrid mattresses (a mix of innerspring and foam) have thicker layers of foam on top of the springs. On a standard innerspring you’ll feel like you’re floating on top, rather than melting into the mattress.

Foam mattresses are made from synthetic foam (including memory foam) and latex. They tend to conform more to the body. Latex, which can be natural or synthetic, has a bit more spring and bounce than other types of foam.

Adjustable air mattresses have inflatable inner chambers (topped with foam or fabric) that you can customize for your firmness preferences, via an app or remote control. With most models, each partner can adjust their half of the bed.

Our mattress buying guide can help you zero in on the right choice for you. In our mattress ratings, you’ll find top-rated mattresses with firmness noted on a scale of 1 to 10, from soft to firm. (And remember, you can always customize your pick by layering on a cushy mattress topper.) We test for body type and sleep style, so you can see how your personal specs line up with the performance of different mattresses.

The shortest distance between you and a great sleep is a scroll through the best mattresses from our tests. And here’s a detailed look at the mattresses that currently top the charts for innerspring/hybrid, foam, and adjustable air.

Avocado Green

Casper The One

Sleep Number p6 smart bed

The Supporting Role: Your Pillow

Sure, there are general rules for pillows and sleep positions: low pillow for back sleepers, higher pillows for side sleepers.

But there’s more to it than that. “When you’re shopping for a pillow, the first thing to look at is your mattress,” says Chris Regan, CR’s lead test engineer for mattresses. “It’s a system: Mattress and pillow go together. If you have a softer mattress, you want less loft in your pillow because your body sinks deeper. On a firmer mattress, the distance between your head and the mattress is less. You’re more on top of it. So a firmer mattress generally calls for a thicker pillow.”

See CR’s best pillows for great options for your sleep style, and learn about our three top-scoring pillows below.

Coop Sleep Goods The Original

Sleep Number ComfortFit Ultimate

PureLUX Simply Cool Memory Foam

The Packaging: Your Bed Sheets

Sheets can be a pain in the neck to replace. We’ve found in our tests that some sets that purport to have deep pockets can’t even handle a 10-inch mattress. And claims about thread count won’t tell you a thing about longevity or overall quality—and, in fact, don’t necessarily correlate with softness.

In our labs, we wash fitted sheets according to the manufacturer’s directions more than 20 times. After each time, we try the sheet on mattresses of different depths to check for shrinkage. We also test for wrinkles, softness, and durability. So there’s no buy-and-try issue for you. When you shop CR’s best sheets, you know what you’re getting. Here are detailed test results for our top-scoring cotton sheets and synthetic sheets:

Casaluna (Target) Washed Supima Sateen Sheet Set (500 TC)

Coop Sleep Goods Comphy SoftSpa

Kirkland Signature (Costco) Pima Cotton (680 TC)

The Extras: Worth-It Sleep Accessories

Sometimes it’s the little things that make all the difference. 

Total darkness is recommended for bedtime. Check out our picks for the best sleep masks (our top pick costs less than $25).

Perhaps sound is keeping you up. If so, you’ll want to explore the best white noise machines, tested by light-sleepers on our staff. 

Looking for deep quiet? We evaluated earplugs for comfort, fit, and staying (in) power. 

If your mattress still has life in it but your bed needs a boost, a new mattress topper could be the refresh you’re looking for.

What’s softer and kinder than a sunrise gently lifting you out of slumber? One of our picks for the best sunrise alarm clocks could transform your day. 

Editor’s Note: A version of this article also appeared in the March 2025 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.

Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2025, Consumer Reports, Inc.

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