Dream Mattress

Air mattresses and airbeds: height, pump, and how long it holds air

An air mattress is a PVC or TPU bladder with a pump. For a guest it is a bed for a week; for a campsite it is insulation from the ground. The specification sheet is a height, a pump, a weight rating and a material, and the last two predict whether it is still inflated in the morning.

What the category is

Raised airbeds stand 18 to 22 inches, the height of a real bed, with a built-in electric pump, for guests. Low airbeds at 8 to 10 inches pack smaller and take an external pump. Camping mattresses and sleeping pads are thinner, lighter and insulated, and are rated by R-value. Most are PVC; the better ones use TPU or a laminated fabric that stretches less and smells less.

How to read the spec sheet

Height: 18 inches or more is a bed you get out of like a bed; 8 to 10 is a bed on the floor. Double-height models are two chambers stacked, and the sheet says whether the top chamber inflates separately.

Pump: built-in electric (mains) is the guest-room convenience; a built-in rechargeable pump adds camping use; an external or foot pump means the bed is lighter and slower. Inflation time in minutes is on the good sheets.

Weight rating: 300 pounds is common on a queen and is the total, not per person; 600 on the heavier-duty models. It is the figure that keeps two adults off the floor.

Material and internal structure: PVC thickness in gauge, a flocked top for sheets to grip, and the internal support — I-beams, coils or fibre-tech beams — that keeps the surface flat. TPU and multi-layer laminates stretch less, which is what “holds air” actually means.

Size: twin, full, queen, and whether the queen is a true 60 by 80 or a few inches short, which matters for fitted sheets.

Camping pads quote R-value (3 to 4 for three seasons), packed size and weight, and an R-value is the whole reason to choose one over a guest airbed.

Who it suits

A raised built-in-pump airbed for guests a few nights a year; a low airbed for a tent with a car nearby; a sleeping pad for anyone carrying it; a heavy-duty rated bed for two adults.

Who should skip it

Anyone sleeping on it nightly: an air mattress is not a mattress, and a cheap foam bed or a topper on a futon is better for the spine and the money.

Where to start

Six of the 122 air mattresses & airbeds mattresses and the things you sleep on reviewed on this site, one per model, across manufacturers. Every review is written from the manufacturer’s published specifications — how, and what that leaves out.

All 122 air mattresses & airbeds mattress reviews

Newest first. Consumables, accessories and parts that were once filed here are excluded.