Are Smart Beds Worth It? A Certified Sleep Science Coach Weighs In (2026)

While they maynot be able to levitate or act like aJetsons-style robot personal assistant, smart beds these days come pretty close to accomplishing both.

As a professional mattress tester andcertified sleep science coach, I always expect the unexpected, especially when it comes to smart beds.

The latest and greatest models these days include features I usually see insleep trackers,noise machines, and evenmassage guns—all contained in a single mattress.

In my honest, professional opinion, smart beds are similar to, but not the same as,adjustable mattresses.

It’s easy to get them confused because they are indeed similar and overlap in features like adjustable firmness and the ability to raise and lower the head and foot.

These days, though, smart beds offer so much more and operate at a different level, integrating AI and specialized programming to deliver all their features.

However, if you’re keen on sticking with more old-school mattresses, or need something very specific for your particular situation, we have tested plenty of those, too.

Check out our guides on theBest Mattresses You Can Buy Online, theBest Organic Mattresses, and theBest Mattresses for Back Pain.

Most smart beds you'll come across use air chambers to achieve adjustable firmness.

Most of the time, this is fine, but you can definitely feel the flexible air chambers underneath you.

Certain adjustable bases let you unlock relaxation features, such as the heavily marketed “massage” settings.

But that tech typically isn't built into the mattress itself, and when I've tried them, I wouldn't exactly call them relaxing.

I didn't sign up for an earthquake simulation, just better sleep.

But that's not the case with Bryte's Balance Pro, which is why it's so interesting.

Instead of air chambers on each side of the mattress, this smart bed follows a more traditional blueprint of coils and memory foam layers.

These coils, called Bryte Balancers, can be adjusted to specific zones.

If you want extra lumbar support or contouring, use the Bryte app to select that area of the bed to get a boost.

There are also 100 firmness levels, with 100 feeling very firm thanks to the Balance Pro's coil usage.

This level of support also opens smart bed access to more sleepers, as stomach sleepers and heavier body types may not find air-chambered smart beds to be firm enough for lumbar support.

The smart bed is controlled exclusively via app, with an AI Sleep Concierge feature.

The Sleep Concierge is best for getting tips on how to sleep better or to explore the bed's features.

My favorite feature, by far, is the massage settings in the app's Guided Meditation library, which gently press the coils against you.

Another feature built into this smart bed is sleep tracking.

It will monitor your sleep metrics, including sleep phases, hours of sleep, heart rate, respiratory rate, and the number of bed rebalances.

This refers to how it automatically adjusts its Bryte Balancer coils while you're sleeping, keeping your support evenly distributed.

Bryte Balance Pro ranges from $5,999 for a twin mattress to $6,899 for a California king.

If you’re looking for the spaceship of smart beds, Tempur-Pedic's Tempur-ActiveBreeze comes pretty dang close.

This is a true luxury smart bed, with a unique build centered on temperature control and intense programming.

It's also got some of the most extensive sleep tracking and temperature control features I've ever seen, which factors heavily into its cost.

The main appeal of this bed is that it caters to hot sleepers in more extreme night-sweat situations, whether that's due to chronic conditions, body composition, or medical treatments.

There are fans built into the base, and you have three airflow speeds to work with: slow, medium, and fast.

Airflow is streamlined from the base through two ports in the bed.

To help with this, the perforated memory foam layers and coils inside are meant to promote circulation.

Altogether, it's supposedly designed to provide either a 30-degree cooler or warmer temperature range.

The wild thing is, I felt cool air lightly skittering along the surface.

Even when I piled on my heaviest duvets and bedding, I did not break out in a sweat once.

The marketed temperature range is debatable, as I only saw a 6-degree drop when I used a temperature gun.

There are so many variables that can affect temperature, like time of year, the clothing you wear, or how your body functions.

However, the cooling was palpable, which was exciting.

The depth of data the Tempur-ActiveBreeze can pull from is also a big driver of this bed.

With Sleeptracker-AI integration, you can utilize an AI sleep coach to get active feedback on how to tackle the day based on how you rested.

You can also monitor your bedroom's air quality and analyze sleep metrics like breath and heart rate, plus gauge all the sleep stages you were in.

The app will break down this data into nightly, monthly, and eventually yearly views for you—and send updates via an email report.

It's important to note that this is the only bed I've tested thatdoesn't qualify as an adjustable mattress, as it has only one firmness level.

With the provided adjustable base (if you purchase directly from Tempur-Pedic), you can do typical smart-bed settings like zero gravity, head-and-foot angles, and anti-snore.

The Tempur-ActiveBreeze (base included via Tempur-Pedic) ranges from $10,398 for a queen to $19,396 for a split California king.

Sleep Number (With FlexFit 3 Base)
Memory foam and side sleepers are a perfect match.Side sleepersneed a softer surface for their hips and shoulders to sink into, and memory foam is the leading mattress material for this.

It provides pressure relief in areas that have many nerve endings.

Too firm a surface, and these joints will let you know in the form of joint pain or next-morning soreness.

This is where Sleep Number's P6 is such a good fit.

Aside from the adjustable firmness levels that come standard with Sleep Number beds, the P6 features additional pressure-relief foams to enhance cushioning.

Its standout feature is the “Responsive Air” setting.

Relying on sensors, this sleep technology gauges the amount of pressure across your body as you sleep and automatically adjusts to areas where it detects high pressure.

To redistribute your body weight away from your joints and high-pressure areas, this setting inflates and deflates small air chambers along the surface.

You can turn this feature off in the app, and the sound of it happening does take some getting used to.

But if you have problematic joints like mine, it's a futuristic experience for your hips and shoulders to receive.

Sleep Number is already well regarded for helping carve out a niche in the mattress industry, allowing smart beds to flourish.

So it's no surprise that theSleep Number P6holds its own with its sleep-tracking metrics.

Sensors in the bed provide detailed sleep tracking, giving you a SleepIQ score that measures overall sleep quality and your projected energy for the day.

The caveat is that you absolutely should pair this mattress with anadjustable basefrom the brand, and both the bed and base require Wi-Fi to function.

I tested it with the FlexFit 3 to experience all its features, such as foot warming, motion-sensor underbed lighting, and a range of motion at the top and bottom of the bed.

The Sleep Number P6 (bed only) ranges from $3,199 for a queen to $7,998 for a flextop California king.

Personal Comfort (The Rejuvenate)
Personal Comfort (Power-Flex 4 base)
Personal Comfort’s Rejuvenateis a really solidadjustable mattress, particularly for side sleepers, and ideal for those who may not want sleep tracking or tech.

While it's got “smart bed” in the name and an app to control it, with no extra programming or sleep tracking, it doesn't qualify as a true smart bed in my book.

This doesn't mean it's bad, but we need to align expectations before you make the investment.

I consider the Rejuvenate to be a side-sleeper-friendly option because of its generous memory foam layers that contour to the body.

If you want to sink in while still relying on the 45 firmness levels to ensure you're getting the support you need, this is it.

Given the prominence and depth of its foam layers, I recommend sticking to the firmer range—I ended up using 30 when testing.

This will balance things out toward a medium-firm level and help to ensure healthy spine alignment, another critical aspect of side sleeping.

Aside from adjustable firmness levels, the majority of the “tech” in the Rejuvenate comes from an adjustable base, which isn't included.

An adjustable base is also helpful if you opt for one of Personal Comfort’s specialty bed sizes, such as a flex-head queen or king, which allows the top of each side of the bed to move independently.

It's an additional fee, but it’s the only way to move the top and bottom of the Rejuvenate, as well as the adjustable lumbar support, pillow tilt, and massage settings.

I tested thePower Flex 4.

It really amps up lumbar support, particularly with its “lumbar adjustment” setting.

This adjustable bar projects from the base and provides a firmer feel right under your midsection.

Don't put all your hopes in that massage feature, though, as I found it to consist of increasingly aggressive vibrations, akin to tectonic plates.

But for everything else, it's solid and can be bundled with the bed when Personal Comfort runs a bundle promotion (which it does, frequently).

Personal Comfort the Rejuvenate (mattress only) ranges from $3,900 for a twin XL to $5,600 for a split California king.

I spend a minimum of two weeks sleeping on each smart bed to analyze not just how it performed from a mattress standpoint (aka, is it comfortable and supportive), but to gauge all the tech offerings too.

I wore my sleep tracker to bed to cross-compare data points and determine accuracy of all sleep metrics recorded.

Do I Need to Use a Wearable With a Smart Bed?

It comes down to personal preference, and if your smart bed has that capability to begin with.

If you are someone who is used to wearing asleep trackerto bed, many smart bed models eliminate the need to do so by offering built-in sleep tracking.

The thought process behind this is that it helps with your overall comfort and promotes more restful sleep, without any disturbances or stimulation from wearing something.

Personally, I like to compare data points and continue to wear myApple Watchto bed, even though I'm recording my sleep data through the smart bed app on hand.

Do I Need an Adjustable Base to Go With My Smart Bed?

You are very likely going to want an adjustable base to go with your smart bed in order to enjoy everything your smart bed has to offer.

This is especially true if you are purchasing one with the expectation of being able to move the top and bottom of the bed into different angles, like “tv watching” and “zero gravity” settings.

In the case of Sleep Number's FlexFit 3 adjustable base, you can only have motion-sensor underbed lighting and foot warming options with the use of this base.

The P6 smart bed is unable to do these two functions by itself.

What’s the Difference Between an Adjustable Bed and a Smart Bed?

Adjustable beds and smart beds are similar in that they can change their firmness level with the help of an app or remote, or move into different angles with the help of an adjustable base.

Smart beds, though, are the only ones that have heightened tech integration to help with relaxation and sleep tracking that is on par with a wearable.

Can a Smart Bed Work for All Sleeping Positions?

With adjustable firmness levels, technically smart beds can work for all sleeping positions.

However, just like with any other mattress type, material is going to play a big role in determining if it's a good fit for you.

For example, the Bryte Balance Pro is a much better—or should we say, smarter—choice for stomach sleepers or if you have a heavier body type.

Coil support simply does not compare to even the firmest of inflated air chambers, which are usually what make smart beds' firmness levels “adjustable.” On the other hand, the Rejuvenate has a softer feel right off the bat because of its memory foam layers, making it ideal for side sleepers who need pressure relief.

Do I Need Wi-Fi Connectivity for My Smart Bed to Work?

This is one of the pitfalls of smart beds.

If the power goes out, your smart bed will likely go offline.

Smart beds are factored into smart home technology, meaning they rely on Wi-Fi for full functionality, especially to track sleep data and maintain the firmness level you've chosen.

How Does WIRED Acquire the Mattresses?

Usually, a lot of research is conducted ahead of testing to see what's happening in the industry.

This is very much the case for smart beds, but a lot of it took place in the field as opposed to going deep into web searches.

While on a media trip to the Tempur-Pedic factory, I was introduced to the Tempur-ActiveBreeze.

The Bryte Balance Pro came on my radar while I was on vacation and researching sleep resorts!

All mattresses that appeared in this guide were provided to WIRED as media samples for free, but with the understanding that there would be no promises of coverage or insight into testing or the editorial process.

We won't promote a product we don't like based on commission rate—that's really important to me as a mattress tester.

What Does WIRED Do With the Mattresses After Testing Them?

Once a bed has completed its testing run, off to the local community it goes!

These beds went to nurses, students, families in need, or those with medical conditions that were affecting their sleep.

These smart beds were provided for free as media samples, and we donate without personal benefit when testing is done.

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