A coil mattress uses steel springs as its support core. Here is how Bonnell, offset, continuous and pocketed coils differ, what coil count and gauge really mean, and who each type suits.
A coil mattress, also called an innerspring, uses a layer of steel springs as its support core. Comfort layers of foam, fiber or padding sit on top, but the coils are what hold your weight and set the basic character of the bed. It is the oldest mattress design still in mass production, and despite two decades of foam-in-a-box marketing it remains the most common construction sold in the United States.
The important thing to understand is that "coil mattress" describes a family, not a single product. A cheap unit with linked hourglass springs and a modern pocketed-coil hybrid are both coil mattresses, and they feel almost nothing alike. Knowing which spring system you are looking at tells you most of what you need to know about how the bed will perform.
Hourglass-shaped springs, thinner in the middle and wider at each end, laced together with helical wire. This is the original innerspring design and the cheapest to produce. It gives firm, bouncy support and excellent airflow, but because every spring is tied to its neighbors, the whole surface moves as one unit. That means noticeable motion transfer and a surface that flattens rather than contours. Our guide to Bonnell springs covers the construction in more detail.
Similar hourglass shape, but the top and bottom of each coil are flattened and hinged to the springs beside them. The hinge lets the coils flex more independently than Bonnell units, so the surface conforms a little better to body shape while keeping the durability of a linked system. Offset coils are common in higher-end traditional innersprings.
Rows of springs formed from a single long piece of steel. Very durable and very inexpensive to build, but the least conforming of all the designs, since an entire row responds together. You will mostly find these in budget mattresses and guest beds.
Each spring is wrapped in its own fabric sleeve and is not connected to its neighbors. This is the design that changed the category. Pocketed coils compress individually, so they follow the curve of your shoulder and hip, isolate movement from a partner, and stay quiet as they age. Nearly every modern hybrid mattress pairs a pocketed-coil core with foam or latex comfort layers. See our pocket spring guide and our comparison of pocket coil and traditional innerspring for the full breakdown.
Coil count is the number of springs in a queen-size unit. It is the specification retailers advertise most loudly and the one that tells you least on its own.
As a rough guide, a queen with fewer than about 400 coils is entry-level, 600 to 900 is the range most quality mattresses land in, and counts above roughly 1,000 deliver diminishing returns. Very high advertised counts sometimes come from micro-coil layers stacked on top of a main coil unit, which is a real feature but not comparable to the support core count.
Gauge matters more than most shoppers realize. It measures wire thickness, and the scale runs backward: a lower number means thicker, firmer wire. Around 12 to 13 gauge is firm and durable, 14 to 15 gauge is softer and more conforming. A mattress with 1,000 thin coils can easily feel less supportive than one with 700 thicker ones.
The practical takeaway: coil type and gauge tell you how a bed will feel, coil count mostly tells you how evenly that feel is distributed. None of the three replaces lying on the mattress.
A traditional innerspring is a good fit if you sleep on your back or stomach, run hot at night, want a firmer and more supportive surface, or are furnishing a guest room or rental on a budget. Browse our innerspring mattresses or the Spring Air Back Supporter collection to see the range.
A pocketed-coil hybrid is the better answer if you sleep on your side, share the bed with a light sleeper, or want cooling and pressure relief at the same time. Most people shopping for a coil bed today end up here, and it is where brands like Spring Air, Restonic and Stearns and Foster do their best work. Start with medium-firm if you are unsure.
An all-foam mattress is probably the right call if motion isolation is your top priority, you sleep on your side with pressure point pain, or you specifically want the contoured, held-in-place feel that only foam delivers.
Still weighing the options? Our comparison of hybrid and innerspring mattresses and our look at whether innersprings still make sense today both go deeper.
A mattress whose support core is made of steel springs, topped with comfort layers of foam, fiber or padding. It is also called an innerspring. The coils carry your weight and determine firmness, bounce and airflow, while the layers above determine how soft the surface feels.
For a queen, roughly 600 to 900 coils covers most good-quality mattresses. Below about 400 you are looking at an entry-level unit, and above about 1,000 the added benefit tapers off quickly. Coil type and wire gauge affect how the bed feels far more than the headline number does.
Not by themselves. More coils can mean more even support, but a high count built from thin wire may feel softer and wear out sooner than a lower count built from thicker wire. Look at the coil type first, gauge second, count third.
Neither is better in general, they are better at different things. Coils win on cooling, edge support, bounce and ease of movement. Foam wins on motion isolation and pressure relief. A pocketed-coil hybrid is the common compromise and is why the category has grown so quickly.
Open coil, meaning Bonnell or continuous designs, is fine for a guest room, a child's bed or a short-term rental. For a primary bed shared with a partner, the motion transfer and shorter useful life usually make a pocketed-coil hybrid the better investment. Our guide to open coil mattresses covers this in more depth.
Pocketed-coil mattresses generally can, since the individually wrapped springs flex with the base. Traditional linked-coil mattresses usually cannot, because the rigid connected spring unit resists bending and can be permanently damaged. Always check the manufacturer's guidance before pairing a spring mattress with an adjustable base.
Typically six to eight years for a traditional innerspring, and closer to eight to ten for a well-built pocketed-coil hybrid. Rotating it regularly and using a properly supportive foundation makes a measurable difference. See our guide to how long mattresses last.
Coil type is one of those specifications that is much easier to understand lying down than reading about. Two minutes on a Bonnell innerspring followed by two minutes on a pocketed-coil hybrid tells you more than any spec sheet. Take our sleep quiz to narrow down firmness and construction, then visit one of our five Los Angeles showrooms to compare them side by side. Every mattress we sell comes with a free 120-night comfort guarantee, and in-stock models are available for same-day delivery ($100 upgrade, order by 4pm).
Start with a mattress type that suits how you sleep, then compare the feel in person.
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