✔️Customer Rating: 4.5/5 | |
✔️Mattress Advisor Score: 8.8/10 | |
✔️Type: Hybrid | |
✔️Firmness: Firm | |
✔️Free Shipping & Returns | |
✔️100-Night Sleep Trial | |
✔️10-Year Limited Warranty |
New Year’s Sale: Get Up to $200 OFF + 2 FREE Dream Pillows
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✔️Customer Rating: 4.5/5 | |
✔️Mattress Advisor Score: 8.8/10 | |
✔️Type: Hybrid | |
✔️Firmness: Firm | |
✔️Free Shipping & Returns | |
✔️100-Night Sleep Trial | |
✔️10-Year Limited Warranty |
New Year’s Sale: Get Up to $200 OFF + 2 FREE Dream Pillows
In a nutshell: The Helix Dawn is an affordable mattress that is perfect for back and stomach sleepers who are after a firm sleeping experience. The Helix 100-night trial and 10-year warranty will ensure that you rest easy and without fear of risk.
Helix Dawn is best for: | Helix Dawn may not be best for: |
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Helix is a bed-in–a-box mattress company that crafts a wide variety of hybrid mattresses to suit every body shape, sleeping position, and firmness preference. The Helix Dawn is the firmest mattress in their standard mattress line. It’s designed to provide the support and contouring needed by back and stomach sleepers who love a firm feel.
See how the Dawn performed when we put it to the test in the Mattress Advisor lab. You’ll learn who is and isn’t a good fit for the Dawn, how the Dawn compares to Helix’s other beds, its price point, and more. By the end, you’ll know if the Dawn is the best mattress for you.
We put the Helix Dawn through our multi-staged testing process, which you can learn more about here.
Mattress Advisor Test | Score (Out of 10) |
Shipping | 10 |
Trial Period | 9 |
Return Policy | 10 |
Warranty | 9 |
Set-Up | 8.5 |
Motion Transfer | 9 |
Edge Support | 8.5 |
Pressure Relief | 8.25 |
Spine Alignment | 9 |
Responsiveness | 8.25 |
Cooling | 8 |
Durability | 8.5 |
Customer Service | 9 |
Social Impact | 5 |
We put our mattresses through two tests to assess motion transfer performance: the wine test and the human motion test. The human motion test has two of us lying side-by-side. One of us is blindfolded while the other tosses around and gets in and out of bed. In the wine test we place a glass of vintage red on one side of the bed and roll around on the other.
The Helix Dawn performed well in both! We could barely feel each other moving around and, most importantly, the wine did not spill. Don’t believe us? Check out the video below.
The Helix Dawn provided great pressure relief when we were on our backs and stomachs, but one of our testers noticed some uncomfortable pressure in his shoulders and hips when he was on his side. Take a look at the pressure map below. Lots of blue and green is a good thing, red means there is too much pressure.
Some people like to roll right up to the edge of the bed while they sleep, maybe even dangle an arm over the side. It’s important that these daredevils feel that the edge won’t sag underneath their weight and potentially drop them over the side.
Being that this Dawn is quite firm, there was absolutely no sagging while we were lying on the edge of the bed. However, when we sat down to tie our shoes there was a slight sensation of slipping off.
Combination sleepers should find the Dawn’s responsiveness ideal for shifting positions easily throughout the night, while stomach and back sleepers, who often prefer something a bit firmer, should appreciate this mattress as well.
Unfortunately, side sleepers may find that the Dawn does not allow sensitive areas like shoulders and hips to sink far enough into the mattress.
Because of its hybrid build, the Dawn does a good job of promoting air flow which helps prevent the mattress from overheating. That said, very hot sleepers may still find that some of their body heat gets trapped in the dense foam layers.
The Dawn mattress can support people who weigh up to 500 lbs. Its high-density foams and durable coils provide an excellent bed for plus-size people and lighter people who love extra-firm mattresses.
The Dawn is best supported by a firm, durable base. The best options include adjustable bed frames, platform frames, and slatted bases. You shouldn’t use the Dawn on top of a box spring unless you use a bunkie board in between for added support.
The Dawn is a 4-layer hybrid mattress that combines the pressure relief of a foam mattress and the responsive support of an innerspring bed. Let’s take a look at what’s inside.
Size | Dimensions | Price* |
Twin | 38” x 75” x 12” | $600 |
Twin XL | 38” x 80” x 12” | $700 |
Full | 54” x 75” x 12” | $850 |
Queen | 60” x 80” x 12” | $999 |
King | 76” x 80” x 12” | $1,349 |
Cal King | 72” x 84” x 12” | $1,349 |
*Prices do not reflect exclusive offers or Helix discounts. Click below to see the best price for the Helix Dawn mattress.
The Dawn took just under two minutes to unbox and setup, and the off-gassing odor was noticeable but not overwhelming.
Want to know what to expect when buying a new Helix mattress online? We’ll walk you through the process here.
Policy | Details |
Delivery | Ships free and arrives within 6-10 business days |
Trial Period | 100-night sleep trial |
Warranty | 10-year limited warranty |
Return Policy | Free returns during trial period |
Financing | Available through Katapult or Klarna |
Helix mattresses are handmade in the United States. They don’t sit in a warehouse, but are instead made upon order. What this means is that the shipping time takes longer than your average online mattress. The normal shipping time is 6-10 business days, and shipping is free.*
*COVID-19 may impact your delivery date. Check on Helix’s website or contact their customer service for current estimated delivery times.
You have 100 nights from the day you receive your new Dawn mattress to test it out in the comfort of your home. After 30 days, you’ll qualify for a full refund if you find that the Helix Dawn isn’t the right mattress for you. Just be sure to get in touch with Helix before your 100 nights are up to get the refund process started.
If you love your new bed but wish it were just a touch softer, Helix offers a complimentary mattress topper to help you find the comfort you’re looking for.
The Helix Dawn mattress is backed by their 10-year limited warranty. This covers defects in materials or workmanship that aren’t expected from normal wear-and-tear. Contact Helix customer care to initiate a warranty claim.
Helix is available to answer your questions from 10am-6pm EST, Monday to Friday. Here are the ways that you can reach out.
When we’ve contacted Helix, it’s taken a minimum of 3 days to receive a response. On their contact us page, Helix explains that they’ve been experiencing a high volume of sales and requests, leading to extended wait times. As a result, expect to wait a bit before your questions are answered.
Helix has a generous return policy, offering free returns and full refunds during their 100-night sleep trial. Contact Helix customer service to initiate a refund. Once your request is processed, Helix will have a local charity come to your door to pick up the mattress. Once it’s been successfully donated, you can expect to see a refund.
That depends largely on what you are looking for, firmness-wise. As far as very firm mattresses go, you can’t do much better than the Helix Dawn. It tested great in spine alignment, motion transfer, and edge support, and at $999 for a queen size it is quite affordable.
If you are a side sleeper, or you simply want something a bit softer, then this probably isn;t going to be the right mattress for you. Check out our article on the best soft mattresses for some inspiration.
The Dawn is one of the firmest and most durable hybrid mattresses around. Its feel and longevity are thanks to the high-density foams utilized in the top comfort layers as well as the bottom support layer. It’s also more affordable than the average hybrid.
The standard Helix mattress line contains 6 hybrid mattresses built with different types of sleepers in mind. Various types of memory foam and polyfoam are paired with pocketed coils in a way that supports sleepers no matter their sleeping position, weight, or firmness preference. Let’s take a look at how the Dawn compares to the other Helix mattresses.
Not sure which of these beds is the right fit for you? Take Helix’s sleep quiz to find out.
The Dawn is one of the 6 standard Helix mattress models. The Helix LUXE mattresses are simply the standard beds, but more luxurious. For instance, the Helix Dawn LUXE is also a firm mattress designed for back and stomach sleepers. Here’s what sets the LUXE models apart.
The Helix Plus mattress had a medium feel and is designed specifically for heavy people. It’s incredibly durable and offers a balanced feel that’s preferred by the average sleeper. In comparison, the Dawn is much firmer and designed for firm mattress lovers of every body type.
The Helix Birch is an eco-friendly medium-firm mattress. It’s made from cotton, wool, latex, and innerspring coils for a bed that’s supportive, contouring, responsive, and cool. The Dawn is firmer than the Birch and made with largely synthetic materials, such as memory foam and polyurethane foam. While the Dawn is more supportive, the Birch is cooler and better for side sleepers. Head over to our Birch mattress review for more information.
We recommend using a waterproof mattress protector with every mattress. It’s impossible to fully clean a mattress, and damage can void the sleep trial and warranty.
It takes time to get used to a new mattress. The foams inside can take a few weeks to reach their final feel, and the body also needs time to adjust to a new sleeping surface. This is why Helix, as well as most other bed-in–a-box mattress brands, require shoppers to keep their new bed for 30 days before initiating a return.
No, none of the standard Helix or Helix LUXE mattresses contain latex. They do have a layer of foam called the Helix Dynamic Foam that is engineered to offer some of the same benefits as latex, but this layer doesn’t actually contain latex.
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