Birch Natural vs. Birch Luxe Mattress Review 2025: A Natural and Organic Brand Tested by Sleep Experts

Let's face it: most online beds are comfy, but many aren't exactly designed with sustainability in mind. If you're more of an eco-conscious shopper, you're probably looking for a mattress with naturally sourced comfort materials like organic cotton, wool and latex foam. Luckily, there are lots of eco-friendly beds to choose from online nowadays, like the options from Birch.  

Birch is Helix Sleep's natural and organic sub-brand. It offers two different ethically sourced options: the flagship Birch Natural and the more enhanced Birch Luxe. In this review, I'll cover everything you should know about these two mattresses before buying either one online.

Video: Birch Natural vs Birch Luxe

Watch this: Birch Natural vs. Birch Luxe Mattress Review

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Watch me compare the Birch Natural to the Birch Luxe mattress.

First impressions of the Birch mattresses

Both of these Birch mattresses shipped to us for completely free with standard bed-in-box shipping. This means that each showed up inside a tall cardboard box, compressed and roll-packed in plastic. To set them up, all we did was drag the boxes inside, rip off all the packaging and watch as the beds quickly inflated -- it's always pretty wild to see an entire mattress unfurl out of that box.

On that note, since both Birch beds are made up of more responsive comfort and support materials, it didn't take much time for them to get to their true form. Still we have them a proper night to sit out on our foundations so they could properly expand. In the morning, though, we started testing them out. Each felt really bouncy and responsive. The Birch Luxe has more cushion due to its pillow top, but both felt like supportive latex hybrid beds.

Birch mattress firmness and feel

What do the Birch mattresses feel like?

While being slightly different when it comes to feel, both beds definitely exhibit a more responsive, latex foam feel in general. Both have organic latex foam layers for comfort, which makes them feel springy and spongy -- much more so than your average mattress online.

Since the Birch Natural has that latex foam just beneath its organic cotton cover, you mainly feel that comfort element, which, coupled with the coils, makes for a really responsive latex hybrid. The Birch Luxe, on the other hand, has a pillow top that incorporates more comfort elements like natural wool and a fire-retardant fiber blend. This gives the bed more of a cushioning, pillow-top feel compared to the Birch Natural. 

How firm are the Birch mattresses?

Like many other latex hybrid beds found online, the Birch Natural is on the firmer end of the spectrum. We'd place it at a proper medium-firm on our scale. This makes the bed most accommodating for the support needs of back, stomach, and some combination sleepers.

If you're a side sleeper looking for a more pressure-relieving option, the Birch Luxe is the more appropriate choice. It's slightly softer, between a medium and a medium-firm on our scale. Its pillow top makes the bed more plush, offering some extra cushion for your shoulders and hips at night. Still, it's not gonna be the softest option for strict side sleepers. For that preference, you can always check out our Best Beds for Side Sleepers list. For years, we've ranked mattress firmness from a subjective perspective, but we now have a machine called the Mattress Smasher 9000 that objectively tests how soft or firm a mattress is. After pressing into the bed with a precise pressure gauge, it gave the Birch Natural a score of 6.8 out of 10 -- right in-line with our subjective medium-firm ranking for the bed.

Birch mattress construction

These are both hybrid beds that have a combination of coils for support and naturally-derived comfort elements. Here's what each one is made up of:

1. Both start off with a base layer of a fire-retardant fiber blend on the bottom. These serve as the starting points for the beds.
2. Then, you've got a thick layer of individually-wrapped support coils that act as the primary support unit for each mattress.
3. Above the coils, both beds feature a more pressure-relieving latex foam transition layer. On the Birch Luxe, there's an additional latex foam layer that's a bit firmer.
4. Then, both beds have a comfort layer of natural wool to offer some cushion near the top. 
5. Just under the hoods, there's a fire-retardant fiber blend, and each one is wrapped in a nice organic cotton cover.

Birch mattress performance

Motion isolation

Since these Birch mattresses are designed to be more responsive and supportive, they deaden an average amount of cross-mattress movement. They're not going to isolate as much motion as a dense memory foam option, but they also shouldn't transfer an excessive level of motion for light sleepers, either. If you're an especially light sleeper who's woken up by even the subtlest of your partner's movements, you might have better luck with a memory foam bed. Still, you shouldn't have many issues with Birch Natural or Luxe.

Edge-to-edge support

Both of these beds feature a reinforced edge system, so they seem to have a very sturdy perimeter. Based on our testing, we found these beds to have really strong edges that don't overly sag under pressure. If you tend to sleep close to the edges of a mattress at night, these should be able to support you along the outer rims -- and it goes without saying, no one should be falling off anytime soon.

Temperature

Given that these are both latex hybrid mattresses, both should sleep around the temperature-neutral sweet spot. Latex foam as a material is really good at not absorbing tons of your bodily heat at night, and it's also naturally moisture wicking -- good news for sleepers with night sweats. Still, there's no active cooling cover or other special cooling technology within these mattresses. If you're looking for a mattress to help keep you and your partner sleeping cool, you can always check out our best cooling mattress for hot sleepers list. 

Durability

Since these are hybrid beds that have coils for support, we'd say that they should prove to be more durable than your standard, all-foam mattress found online. The steel coils should provide lots of support and durability for all body types: small, medium and even larger people. If you're a much heavier person who's upwards of 300 pounds, you may require more of an ultra-durable style of hybrid bed. In that case, feel free to check out our Best Beds for Heavy People list.

Who are the Birch mattresses best for?

While most eco-conscious shoppers will likely enjoy these Birch beds, they might not be the most appropriate options for absolutely everyone. Here's who we think will get the most out of them.

Sleeping position

Since it's around a proper medium-firm, the Birch Natural should work best for primary back and stomach sleepers. If you're a combination sleeper who prefers a firmer sleeping surface, it could also work well for that preference. The mattress itself provides more support and rigidity on top instead of pressure relief, which could be a drawback for side sleepers and combination sleepers who are looking for a softer bed.

This is where Birch Luxe comes in. While most latex hybrid beds range on the firmer side, this one's cushioning pillow top makes it much softer and more suitable for a side sleeper preference. Again, it's between a medium and a medium-firm, so it's not going to be the softest bed for side sleepers, but it definitely offers more of a plush feel for your shoulders and hips. Combination sleepers who favor their sides at night will also likely enjoy the Birch Luxe.

Body type

As mentioned, the hybrid construction of these beds makes them best at supporting all body types, including heavier people. If you're an average-sized person or even someone on the smaller side, you should too find them supportive, but you could save more money by going the route of an all-foam bed -- coil beds can be overkill for more petite people.

On the subject of price, these aren't the most affordable beds online. Compared to other more ethically sourced mattresses, however, I'd say they're reasonably priced. Keep in mind that this is the retail pricing before discounts are applied, which Birch, as a brand, usually offers on its beds. 

Trial, shipping and warranty

Birch backs its mattresses with some nice policies. Its beds ship to you for free, and once in your possession, you get a 100-night trial period to try them risk-free at home. If you happen not to like your Birch mattress 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 lifetime limited warranty. 

How do these Birch mattresses compare to other mattresses? 

Birch vs. Awara

These two online mattress brands are pretty similar in many ways. Both offer two mattresses of the more natural and organic variety, with the same overall firmness and feel. The biggest differences between them come down to certifications and price. Birch backs their beds with a higher level of eco-certifications, and the materials used within the beds are more organically certified. The beds from Awara also have organically certified materials but to a lesser extent. However, this makes them considerably more affordable compared to Birch, which is much more expensive. If you want a high-quality natural and organic mattress, go with Birch, but if you want to save a bit more money, go with Awara. 

Awara See at Awara

Birch vs. Avocado

These are two natural and organic bed brands that make ethically sourced mattresses of a higher quality. Avocado, however, is the absolute king in regards to a brand that focuses its beds on sustainability. They're a climate-neutral company, and its beds are entirely made of top-tier, ethically sourced materials -- right down to the recycled steel coils in the hybrid beds. This makes the brand's most popular mattress, the Avocado Green, a lot more expensive than either Birch mattress.

Avocado See at Avocado

The final verdict

Both Birch mattresses are pretty comfortable investments for eco-conscious mattress shoppers. Between the two, it really just comes down to your preference for firmness and budget. If you want a firmer option for back and stomach sleepers that's slightly more affordable, go with Birch Natural, but if you don't mind spending up for a more comfortable bed for side sleeping, go with Birch Luxe. Either way, you're getting a bed that's good for you and the environment.

You might like the Birch mattresses if:

• You want a supportive hybrid mattress
• You want a bed that's on the firmer side
• You want a natural bed with a latex foam feel
• You want a bed that's naturally hypoallergenic

You might not like the Birch mattresses if:

• You're looking for an all-foam mattress
• You prefer the feel of a dense memory foam mattress
• You want a much softer mattress for side sleeping
• You on a super tight budget below $1,000