Helix Dusk Luxe mattress review: a heavenly sleep experience for back and stomach sleepers
Helix Dusk Luxe mattress: Two-minute review
I’ve tested over 15 mattresses and I can say without a doubt that the Helix Dusk Luxe is one of the very best mattresses I've slept on. When a mattress, such as this one, is designed for back and stomach sleepers, it tends to be on the firmer side, but that’s not the case with the Helix Dusk Luxe. The hybrid design offers plenty of support, but the overall feel isn't firm or stiff. Rather, my body lies softly on the top, nearly snuggling into the cloud-like foam.
In terms of sleep feel, it's a medium – around a 6 out of 10 on the firmness scale. As intended, I found sleeping on my back and stomach far more comfortable than sleeping on my side, with the Helix Dusk Luxe providing considerable joint and pressure point relief throughout the night.
However, do approach with caution if you weigh above 230lbs – normally, it's recommended that back / stomach sleepers opt for something with a firmness of at least 7, to ensure proper support under the hips. Some of the side sleepers on our panel also got on well with this mattress, so don't discount it immediately if that is your preferred position, either.
I tested the mattress for three weeks in the summer when the temperature was in the 80s at night. It did an average job in terms of temperature regulation, so hot sleepers should upgrade to a GlacioTex cooling cover. Most couples will like this mattress since it isolates the movement of a partner getting in and out of bed. If they move in the middle of the night, there is a slight chance you'll feel them.
This isn't a particularly cheap mattress – it sits in the premium price bracket. However, I think it's well worth the investment. This is one of the most comfortable mattresses I've ever slept on. Read on for my full Helix Dusk Luxe mattress review.
Helix Dusk Luxe mattress review: Price
- Sits in the premium price bracket
- Expect 20% off, or 30% over big sales events
- Queen size usually costs $1,780
The Helix Dusk Luxe is never sold at full ticket price. Like many brands, Helix runs a mattress sale year-round. Expect 20% off, or perhaps more. Even with that 20% discount, it still sits in the premium bracket of the wider market. Among the Helix mattresses, the Dusk Luxe is not the most affordable, nor is it the most expensive. There's a range of standard mattresses, then the 'Luxe' branded mattresses are in the mid-range, with the 'Elite' mattress line priced the most expensively.
Here's a look at the MSRP for each size of the Helix Dusk Luxe mattress:
- Twin size: MSRP $1,373.80 (normally sells for $1,030.30)
- Twin XL size: MSRP $1,623.80 (normally sells for $1,217.80)
- Full size: MSRP $1,998.80 (normally sells for $1,499.10)
- Queen size: MSRP $2,373.80 (normally sells for $1,780.30)
- King size: MSRP $2,873.80 (normally sells for $2,155.30)
- CA King size: MSRP $2,873.80 (normally sells for $2,155.30)
The price of a Helix Dusk Luxe includes free shipping and usually comes with free pillows. For an (oddly specific) extra $265.30, buyers can add the GlacioTex Cooling Cover.
If you want the biggest discounts, the Black Friday mattress deals traditionally deliver the lowest prices of the year. Outside of that, Helix tends to bump up its discounts to 30% off over the mattress sales events that accompany national holidays – so it's worth keeping an eye on the Labor Day mattress sales in September, the Presidents' Day mattress sales, the Memorial Day mattress sales and the 4th of July mattress sales.
Helix Dusk Luxe mattress review: Specs
Helix Dusk Luxe mattress review: Design
- 13.5" tall, hybrid mattress with foam and springs, and a pillow-top
- Includes sink-in memory foam as well as bouncy foam
- Option to add a specialist cooling cover
The 13.5-inch tall Helix Dusk Luxe mattress is a hybrid mattress made of six layers. At the top, you'll find a TENCEL cover that is so soft, it feels like a crime to cover it with a fitted sheet. Hot sleepers may wish to upgrade this to a cooling 'GlacioTex' cover.
The next three foam layers – a responsive foam, a latex foam hybrid alternative, and a memory foam – all contribute to the amazing cradling, bouncy feel of this mattress. Note that the 'latex foam hybrid alternative' isn’t natural latex – it's just Helix's way of describing a bouncy foam. It can be a bit confusing on the website.
One thousand individually wrapped coils on a dense foam base layer provide the support needed for back and stomach sleepers. All the foams are CertiPUR-US and GREENGUARD Gold certified, which means there is no fiberglass in this mattress.
Upgrade to the Elite version of this mattress, and you’ll enjoy 16 inches full of five foam layers, two microcoil layers to reduce back pressure, and a the GlacioTex cover included as standard. Alternatively, the standard Helix Dusk is shorter again, and has a much thinner base foam layer and no pillow-top.
Note that Helix's USP is that is makes 'a mattress for every body'. That means if the Dusk Luxe doesn't sound exactly right for you, there will be a model that will suit. There are two soft mattress lines, two medium mattress lines and two firm. One of each pair is aimed at side sleepers, and the other at back/stomach sleepers. The difference is simply that the side-sleeper models use sink-in memory foam, while the back-stomach sleeper models use that bouncy latex-alternative foam.
Helix Dusk Luxe mattress review: Comfort & support
- Medium sleep surface with a cloud-like feel
- Most comfortable in a back or stomach sleeper position
- Supportive without feeling firm
Let me start out by saying that the Helix Dusk Luxe has easily made it into my top three most comfortable mattresses. It’s designed for back and stomach sleepers and I can attest that it offered incredible support along my back and hips so that everything remained aligned. For reference, I weigh about 170 lbs. and am 5'5".
Despite the supportiveness of the mattress, I found it to also be soft with a firmness rating of a 6 on a 10-point scale. When I placed a 20lb weight in the center of the mattress, it sunk about half an inch.
Sure, I lie nearly on top of the mattress and there isn’t a lot of contouring, but there’s a cloud-like quality to the mattress that brings the word ‘cozy' to mind. I didn’t wake up with any aches and pains. Most nights, I curled up on the Helix Dusk Luxe and fell asleep within minutes, not awaking until the morning.
Although I tried to sleep on my side, I found there wasn’t enough give around my hips to make that a comfortable sleep position. When I had someone else sleep on the mattress, they said that sleeping on their back felt most comfortable, followed by their side and stomach.
Our experiences with the Helix Dusk Luxe are a little out of line with the normal rules of thumb for mattress softness. Typically, it's recommended that back and stomach sleepers opt for medium-firm to firm mattresses (so a 7 out of 10 or more on the firmness scale), to ensure proper support under the hips. I think that this model would offer incredible support to most sleepers, but it's worth approaching with caution if you're on the heavier side (above 230lb) or suffer from back pain – if that's you, it might be worth considering something firmer.
Helix Dusk Luxe mattress review: Temperature regulation
- Average temperature regulation overall
- Some issues with trapping body heat on very warm nights
- Hot sleepers can upgrade to the GlacioTex Cooling Cover
I tested the Helix Dusk Luxe in August in Texas, when nightly temperatures were 80 plus degrees. This gave me a great idea on the temperature regulation, and overall, I’d say that this mattress does an average job.
I don’t generally sleep warm but even I found myself only using a sheet some nights. I’ve slept on mattresses that retained a lot of heat and I wouldn’t say this mattress does that, but neither is it particularly impressive in terms of breathability. (It’s probably a great mattress in the wintertime.)
I did not upgrade to the GlacioTex Cooling Cover but had the super soft, and warm to the touch, TENCEL Cover. If you sleep hot, go for the GlacioTex Cooling Cover as it’s surely going to offer some reprieve – although do be aware it'll make your mattress a little slippery.
- Temperature regulation score: 3.5 out of 5
Helix Dusk Luxe mattress review: Motion isolation
- Won’t feel partner get in and out of bed
- Average score in our motion transfer tests
- Suitable for most couples
To test the motion isolation capabilities of the Helix Dusk Luxe, I put an empty wine glass in the center of the mattress and dropped a 20-lb. weight at 4, 10, and 25 inches away. The wine glass didn’t move when I dropped the dumbbell at 25 inches away, however, it swayed at 10 inches. Sometimes the wine glass toppled over and sometimes it didn’t when I dropped the 20-lb. dumbbell 4 inches away.
During the testing period, I also had someone sleep on the mattress with me. The Helix Dusk Luxe did an amazing job of isolating the motion of the person when they got in and out of bed. A person likely wouldn’t wake up in the middle of the night if their partner went to the bathroom. However, I did feel when the other person changed their sleep position. It wasn’t incredibly disruptive but noticeable.
Overall, I’d say the motion isolation capabilities of the mattress is average.
- Motion isolation score: 4 out of 5
Helix Dusk Luxe mattress review: Edge support
- Mixed experiences with edge support
- I found good support along the sides, but poor at the corners and foot end
- May vary based on size too
I had mixed experiences when it came to edge support on the Helix Dusk Luxe. On my queen-sized review model, I felt very supported sitting along the sides of the Helix Dusk Luxe. Getting in and out of the bed was easy and I never felt like I would slip or roll off if I slept near the edge. This was reflected in my testing – when I placed a 20lb weight on the side edge, and it only sunk half an inch (the same as the sinkage in the centre, which is an indicator of good edge support).
However, I found the edge support along the corners and the foot of the bed was lacking. When I sat down in these areas, I nearly slipped off, leading me to say that they’re not as reinforced as the sides. That's surprising, as based on Helix's design diagrams, this mattress should have reinforced coils around the full perimeter. For most people, a weaker footer edge won't be as much of an issue as soft side edges – most people don’t sleep near or sit on the edge or at the corners of a mattress.
Note: TechRadar's sleep editor also had a chance to run tests on the twin version on this model in the Helix showroom. She found the edge support on all four edges to be fairly poor, which suggests the smallest sizes of this mattress might not have those reinforced coils around the edges at all.
- Edge support score: 3.5 out of 5
Helix Dusk Luxe mattress review: Delivery & setup
- Mattress delivered vacuum-packed, rolled and boxed
- Free shipping, though no White Glove delivery service
- Slight smell upon opening the mattress but disappears immediately
The Helix Dusk Luxe was shipped for free by FedEx, vacuum-packed and rolled into a box. I was able to track it easily through the FedEx site and it arrived in a timely manner. There is no option to upgrade to a White Glove delivery service. The box wasn’t that heavy, and I was able to move it by myself to my room.
In the past, I’ve had to take super sharp knives to mattress boxes to get to the mattress, so I really appreciated that once I cut the tape along the sides of the Helix box, it popped open. There was no excessive glue or staples that made it difficult to open.
When I removed the plastic wrapping from the mattress, there did seem to be a slight smell or off-gassing, but it went away almost immediately.
The mattress doesn’t have handles to adjust it on the bed, but at least it wasn’t too heavy. It seemed to inflate to its full height within 15 minutes. Helix recommends waiting two hours before sleeping on its mattresses.
- Setup score: 4 out of 5
Helix Dusk Luxe mattress review: Customer reviews
- A 4.5 rating out of 1185 reviews (September 2023)
- Over 830 5-star reviews
The customer reviews of the Helix Dusk Luxe can be searched through by star rating and keyword. Overall, there have been over 1185 reviews (September 2023) that have resulted in a 4.5-star rating. The reviews are not mixed in with reviews from other sites or with other types of mattresses.
When looking through the one- and two-star reviews, we found that there were two main complaints – unexpected sagging and a firmness level that was too soft for the individual. Only 13 reviews mentioned sagging so this is likely not a major issue that most people will deal with. As for the ‘too soft’ complaint, it’s likely that people have different ideas of what constitutes ‘soft.’ I’ve tested soft mattresses and this one is anything but soft, however, I can see that some people may need a firmer mattress. The one thing that surprised me the most was that there were negative reviews by those who sleep in the side position. This mattress is clearly marked as being designed for back and stomach sleepers.
As for the positive feedback, many reviewers noted the comfort level of the mattress. Some pointed out that it took them a few days to adjust but quickly found that they didn’t wake up sore any longer and that the mattress relieved their back pain.
Should I buy the Helix Dusk Luxe mattress?
The Helix Dusk Luxe isn't perfect, but for me, the flaws were more than made up for by how much of a dream this was to sleep on. If comfort is your priority, I would wholeheartedly recommend this mattress to pretty much any back or stomach sleeper. You’ll feel cradled in a cloud but with enough support to keep your body aligned and relieve any pressure points.
The Helix Dusk is not the best choice for side sleepers, and it only does an average job on heat regulation. If you live somewhere that has incredibly hot summers, you can still sleep on this mattress with just a sheet. The edge support is variable, and motion isolation fairly good, so it’s unlikely that a sleeper will feel their partner slip in and out of bed, although they might feel them changing position in the middle of the night. Despite the few drawbacks, I think the comfort of this mattress supersedes all.
How I tested the Helix Dusk Luxe mattress
I tested the Helix Dusk Luxe for three weeks in August when it was over 100 degrees during the day and in the 80s at night. The queen mattress was outfitted with microfiber bedsheets and a lightweight comforter. I also had my mom sleep on the mattress to get a second opinion. Between my personal experience and hers, combined with standardized tests I did to assess the comfort, edge support, and motion isolation, I was able to see how well this mattress performs overall.
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