Air mattresses have become progressively more popular due to the interesting concept of being able to change the feel of your mattress with a control. With many air mattresses like the leading Select Comfort Sleep Number brand, you can change both sides of the bed to a different firmness. Unfortunately, an air mattress will have many parts that can and often do break. For this reason, you will find the fine print of the warranties to contain less coverage.
Also, you will not get the same contouring of the body that you can get with memory foam, as air beds will not make an imprint of your body. In fact, it is more similar to a spring bed in that it will cause a trampoline effect and bend inward when pressure is applied without conforming to the specific bumps and curves of the body. This is because air displaces to the sides of the body, leaving the middle with less support.
Memory foam and latex foam are the only substances that can accomplish a contouring of the body without losing support. There are newer technologies in airbeds that offer memory foam in the top layer system, but without the ability to change the pressure of the middle region independently of the shoulder and leg sections of the mattress, a loss of middle support will occur with any reduction in air pressure. Also, many airbeds will not blend well with the memory foam due to a non-flexible chamber system.
