Nest Starling Mattress Review 2024: Flying In With a New Take on Premium Comfort

The mattresses from Nest Bedding are among some of my favorite online beds I’ve ever tried. Why, you might ask? First off, Nest’s policy set is second to none, offering a lifetime renewal exchange on top of a 365-night trial and a lifetime warranty with many of its beds.

Secondly, the beds are all just super cozy and accommodating for many different preferences. Nest has the neutral, pillow-top bed dubbed the Sparrow, a flippable option known as the Raven, and two quality natural and organic mattresses — and those are just some, to name a few. 

Now joining the fray of mattresses in the Nest Bedding collection is the Starling, the brand’s newest premium memory foam bed. In this review, I’ll give you an overview of this option and cover everything that you should know about it, including who it might work best for.

First impressions of the Nest Starling

This bed ships completely free with standard bed-in-a-box shipping, where the mattress arrives at your door in a box. The unboxing process is quick and easy to complete. Once it’s out of the box, you may want to give the bed some time to off-gas and fully inflate. Since it’s a memory foam bed that’s been compressed for a while, it may look a bit sad right out of the box — this is totally normal.

After we let our Nest Starling mattress expand overnight, it was ready to be tested in the morning. Upon testing responsiveness, I immediately noticed that it had a memory foam feel of the more dense and viscous variety. The brand also says the cover has a phase-change quality, but I didn’t feel much of that during my initial tests. Instead, it felt temperature-neutral and was a looser fit on the bed than I’d prefer.

Nest Starling mattress firmness and feel

What does the Nest Starling feel like?

This bed definitely has that premium memory foam feel that the brand has been lacking up until now — similar to a Tempur-Pedic mattress or even the new Nectar beds. The Starling presents a nice body-conforming quality that fans of memory foam will likely enjoy. It might feel firm right when you hop on the bed, but that top layer will soften up as it slowly contours to your body’s shape.

Speaking of that top layer, Nest actually classifies it as an Energex foam rather than a memory foam. This means it’s designed to be more open-cell than a viscous gel memory foam, allowing for a faster response time comparatively. If you’re a fan of memory foam, you’ll definitely dig this bed, but I think it should also appeal to those who aren’t the biggest fans of memory foam to begin with.

How firm is the Nest Starling mattress?

Though Nest’s website says the bed is technically available in three different firmness levels, we’re currently only seeing the Medium version displayed. This is the model that we have, and we’d place it between a medium and a medium firm on our scale. This makes it a viable option for all sleeper types, but it might provide a slightly firmer sleeping surface for primary back and stomach sleepers.

We generally observe that back and stomach sleepers usually prefer sleeping on firmer beds, but that notion varies on a case-by-case basis. If you do want a softer version of the mattress, hopefully, the plush and firm levels will be available soon, but you can also check out other more pressure-relieving beds within the Nest lineup.

Nest Starling mattress construction

This is a premium memory foam bed with a surprisingly nuanced construction. It’s 12.5” thick and comprised of the following layers:

1. On the bottom, you’ve got a thin layer of base foam to serve as the bed’s foundation.

2. Then, you’ve got the bed’s main support, which, in this case, is a thick chunk of dense polyurethane foam. 

3. Above that, you’ve got an interesting transition layer called the Contour Grid Support Foam. It’s essentially a Zoned-support layer that’s laid out in a targeted grid format to help keep your back more aligned at night.

4. Then you’ve got a thin layer of memory foam to give the bed more sink-in, pressure-relieving qualities near the top.

5. And on top, you’ve got that layer of Energex foam, which is designed to be more open-cell than traditional memory foam. This makes the material more responsive and breathable. 

6. Rounding the bed out is a phase-change cover with a nice wavy pattern. Its cooling effect isn’t very apparent, but it should help to keep the mattress temperature neutral at night.

Nest Starling mattress performance

Motion isolation

This bed does a nice job of isolating lots of cross-mattress movement. Memory foam usually performs the best in this category for couples, and since the bed’s top layer behaves like a memory foam, it doesn’t reverberate motion as much as other beds can. For instance, with a more traditional innerspring bed, you could experience poor motion isolation, but here, your movements on your side don’t transfer over to your partner’s. The Starling should perform well for most light sleepers out there, based on our tests.

Edge-to-edge support

This bed also has good edge support for an all-foam mattress. Usually, hybrid beds perform better in this department, but the perimeter on the Nest Starling is sturdy enough to handle a good amount of nightly pressure. If you or your partner like to sleep close to the sides of a bed, you should still feel plenty of nightly support here. 

Temperature

Even though this bed is advertised to have a “phase-change cover,” we don’t think it really affects sleeping temperature all too much. For this reason, we’d classify the Nest Starling to be predominantly temperature-neutral. If you’re a hot sleeper who’s specifically looking for a cooling bed, I’d probably steer you toward our Best Cooling Mattress for Hot Sleepers list instead. That said, I don’t think the Nest Starling will sleep excessively warm for anyone, either.

Durability

Given this is a premium all-foam mattress, it will likely last quite a bit longer than the average three-layer foam option on Amazon. Compared to an ultradurable hybrid mattress, the Nest Starling might not hold up as long, but it will definitely serve its purpose for the next seven to 10 years, at least. If long-term durability is a top priority when it comes to your next online mattress search, there aren’t any real concerns here to mention with the Nest Starling.  

Who is the Nest Starling mattress best for?

Even though the Nest Starling is plenty durable and should last many sleepers for years to come, it might not be the most appropriate option for absolutely everyone. Here’s who we think it’s most ideal for.

Sleeping position

The Medium model should work fine for all sleep styles, but the slightly firmer surface will mainly work best for accommodating back and stomach sleeping. Side sleepers can also get by on it, but many will likely crave more cushion for their hips and shoulders rather than resistance. For that preference, I’d recommend checking out the Plush or Medium versions of the Nest Sparrow. Those will be great choices for side sleepers seeking a soft yet supportive mattress. 

Body type

This all-foam mattress will be ideal for supporting two average-sized people at once. If you’re both on the bigger side, I’d recommend checking out a hybrid bed instead. For singles, you can get by on the Nest Starling if you’re a bit heavier, but just know you’ll likely get more long-term durability out of a bed with coils on the bottom for support. You might have to spend up for those coils but trust me, it’s worth it.

Nest Starling mattress pricing

Speaking of spending up — this mattress isn’t cheap. Given it’s a premium memory foam offering, it’s easy to see why the pricing is up there. However, compared to other online beds in its class, it’s definitely within the same ballpark.

Thankfully, Nest as a brand is great with the discounts it runs on its beds. After you apply a discount to the queen size model, you can expect to pay around the $2,100 mark — not too bad, but still pricey.

Trial, shipping and warranty

Nest backs this bed with some of the most generous policies found within the online mattress space. Its beds ship to you in a box for free, and once it’s in your possession, you get a 365-night trial period to try it at home risk-free. If you happen not to like it within that time frame, you can return it for free. On the other hand, if you decide to keep it, you’re backed by a forever warranty. Also, don’t forget you also get that lifetime renewal exchange with this mattress — that’ll come in handy after a while.

How does Nest Starling compare to other mattresses? 

Nest Starling vs. Nest Sparrow

While these two Nest beds look pretty similar, there are many things that set them apart. The Starling is an all-foam bed, while the Sparrow mattress is a hybrid bed with support coils. This makes the Sparrow supportive enough to handle all body types, not just average to petite-sized builds. The Starling also has a memory foam feel, whereas the Sparrow has more of a generally accommodating, neutral hybrid feel. Firmness-wise, the Sparrow skews softer, while the Starling sits a bit firmer on the spectrum. The Sparrow is also considerably more affordable than the Starling, but it doesn’t have the Starling’s targeted Zoned-support feature. 

Nest Starling vs. GravityLux

This comparison is easier to make, considering they’re basically the same type of mattress. Both are premium all-foam beds that have memory foam for comfort. Their memory foam feels are slightly nuanced from bed to bed but still provide the same type of sink-in sensation. They’re each technically available in a few firmness options, making them versatile enough to work for all sleep styles. The biggest difference between the two ultimately comes down to price. The GravityLux is much more affordable after a discount, whereas the Nest Starling is more costly. It’s definitely priced within that luxury tier of memory foam mattresses by comparison.

The final verdict

I’m pleased to see Nest Bedding bringing a quality memory foam offering to the table. Its firmness and feel is pretty accommodating, especially if you dig memory foam, and the Zoned-support feature isn’t bad to have either — even if it’s super subtle. For me, the biggest drawback about this bed is how much it costs, it is up there in terms of price. However, we usually see new mattresses becoming more affordable over time, so hopefully that’s the case with the Starling.

You might like the Nest Starling mattress if:

• You want an all-foam mattress
• You want a dense memory foam feel
• You like a bed available in multiple firmness levels
• You want a bed with Zoned Support 

You might not like the Nest Starling bed if:

• You’re looking for a supportive hybrid mattress
• You prefer the feel of a neutral or latex foam mattress
• You’re looking for an affordable online mattress