We spend a significant portion of our lives asleep, but the quality of our sleep is important for brain performance, mood, and overall health. One way to help ensure you get the sleep you need is by practicing good sleep hygiene, which includes a supportive mattress.
So far, our Handbook Team has tested more than 30 mattress models, including the Nolah Evolution 15″, a hybrid mattress that combines the soft feel of memory foam with bouncy innersprings. After hundreds of hours of testing, our team concluded that the Evolution offers a solid mix of support and pressure relief to meet the needs of most sleepers.
Read on to find out more about what our testers thought about the Nolah Evolution 15″ and whether it’s a fit for your particular sleep style and preferences.
Our verdict
The Nolah Evolution 15″ is our top pick for side sleepers in the most comfortable mattresses, but our extensive testing also reveals that it’s a great fit for most sleeping positions and body types. A combination of pressure-relieving foam and responsive innersprings provides contouring support that our testers find suitable for a variety of people. Our testers rated it high for overall support, edge support, and pressure relief.
Side sleepers should like the targeted support and comfort that relieves tension on pressure points The parts of a sleeper’s body that have the hardest contact with the bed surface, such as the shoulder, hips, ribcage, and tailbone. , such as the shoulders and hips, and helps keep the spine in a neutral position.
Combination sleepers (people who change positions throughout the night) may also appreciate the bouncy feel, which makes it easy to switch positions. We also love that this mattress offers a good balance of motion isolation and bounce, making it a solid option for couples who need a responsive Good responsiveness means the mattress has a bouncier surface that responds to pressure or the sleeper’s movements, making it easier to move around and switch positions. mattress to aid in mobility but don’t want their movements to disturb their sleeping partner.
HelpGuide Handbook’s testing methodology and score breakdown
Our testing methodology includes a five-factor score breakdown that our hands-on product testing team uses to best rate these products. Here’s how the Nolah Evolution 15″ mattress fares:
Pressure relief: 4.75/5
The Nolah Evolution 15″ has multiple foam layers on top of its supportive coils, which help with pressure relief and provide comfortable body contouring. Our testers say they can feel themselves sinking in slightly without any pressure around the hips and shoulders.
However, some lighter-weight (under 130 pounds) side sleepers may find the Evolution doesn’t provide enough pressure relief and may prefer a softer mattress model.
Firmness: 7/10
What feels firm to you might feel soft to someone with a different body weight. We work with testers across the weight spectrum to determine our final score. The Nolah Evolution 15″ comes in three firmness levels: plush, luxury firm, and firm. We tested the luxury firm model and found it on the firmer side. But while it has a firm feel overall, the soft memory foam top layers help add a touch of plushness.
Motion isolation: 3.5/5
Motion isolation refers to how well a mattress prevents movement from spreading across the surface. Poor motion isolation can cause sleep disturbances to you or your sleeping partner when either of you moves around. Good motion isolation prevents you and your partner from feeling each other’s movements when you get out of bed or toss and turn.
If you sleep alone, motion isolation isn’t an important consideration. However, couples and people who share their bed with pets will likely want a mattress that can adequately limit how much movement you feel.
When testing motion isolation on the Nolah Evolution 15″, one tester crawls and then jumps around on one side of the mattress while the other one lies still. Our testers say they feel little movement during the crawling test but a bit more during the jumping tests, indicating this has above-average motion isolation. Bouncy coils are common among hybrid mattresses, but this one does a decent job of limiting motion transfer. However, if you or your partner are easily disturbed by each other’s movements, you may want to check out our picks for the best mattress for couples for additional options.
Cooling: 3/5
Hybrid mattresses tend to have better temperature regulation abilities than all-foam models. This is because the coils allow for better airflow. While the Nolah doesn’t actively cool you down, it’s made with breathable materials, including a moisture-wicking organic cotton cover and innersprings.
We used a temperature gun to measure how much the Nolah Evolution heated up after two testers laid on the mattress for five minutes.
The image on the right is the starting temperature—about 64 degrees. After two testers laid for five minutes, the bed heated up about 7 degrees. This indicates “good” cooling, or slightly above average.
Our testers say it provides above average cooling, but if you sleep extra hot, you may want to look for a mattress that offers better cooling technology, like the Leesa Sapira Chill, Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe, Saatva Classic, or The Nectar Memory Foam.
Edge support: 4.5/5
When you sit on or roll to the edge of a bed, a mattress with good edge support prevents you from slipping onto the floor. This feature is particularly important for people with mobility issues and those who sleep with a partner.
During testing, we sit on and lie near the edge of a mattress to evaluate edge support. Any dipping or sagging lowers the score. According to our testers, the Nolah Evolution 15″ delivers a high level of edge support. The well-reinforced edge has done a great job of keeping us stable and protecting us from falling off.
Bounce: 3.5/5
No, we don’t evaluate bounce to see how fun it is to jump on the bed. But bounce does play a few crucial roles in mattress performance. A bouncy mattress tends to do poorly in motion isolation but makes it easier to move around on and get up from the bed.
To test a mattress’s bounce factor, we drop a weighted object (usually a dumbbell or weighted ball) on the surface to see whether or not it bounces. The Nolah Evolution 15″ scores 3.5 out of 5 in this category, giving it an above-average score. The innersprings offer plenty of bounce, and while the memory foam layers dampen movement somewhat, the springy feel still comes through.
Family: 4.05/5
This score lets you know whether a mattress is comfortable for sleeping together as a family—whether you have kids or are a pet parent. We calculate this score based on a combination of cooling, overall support, edge support, and motion isolation.
To test this, several testers lie on a mattress simultaneously to determine how it will respond to the additional weight of multiple bodies.
While our testers have been able to detect movement lying on the Nolah Evolution 15″, they say the movement has been faint for a spring mattress. They also note that the edge support doesn’t suffer with multiple people in the bed at the same time.
Nolah Evolution mattress firmness and feel
The Nolah Evolution 15″ has a firm feel, which is why our testers scored it a 7 out of 10 on the firmness scale. Because it has top layers of memory foam, you should feel some body contouring when lying on it, adding a touch of plushness to the firm overall feel.
From our tester
“The mattress is firm but feels like a gentle hug.”
Nolah Evolution mattress performance
Now that we know how well the Nolah Evolution 15″ does regarding pressure relief, support, and other important categories, let’s discuss how the mattress might perform for different sleepers.
Sleeping position and body weight
In testing, the mattress performs well across sleep positions and body weights.
Zoned coils also help evenly distribute sleeper weight across the mattress, making it a good choice for sleepers of different body weights, including higher-weight sleepers (over 250 pounds).
For side sleeping, our testers appreciate the zoned support in the hip and shoulder areas and the comforting plushness due to the foam top layers. Most stomach sleepers may like the firm support and will likely appreciate the plush feel. Finally, back sleepers will probably find the mattress does a good job of keeping the spine in alignment without allowing the hips to dip.
Compare the Nolah Evolution 15″ mattress for different sleeper types
| Lower weight (less than 130 pounds) | Average weight (130–250 pounds) | Higher weight (more than 250 pounds) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Back sleepers | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal |
| Side sleepers | Good | Ideal | Ideal |
| Stomach sleepers | Ideal | Ideal | Good |
| Combination sleepers | Ideal | Ideal | Good |
According to our testers, the zoned support provides enough pressure relief, overall support, and responsiveness to accommodate most sleepers.
From our tester
“It might be a bit too soft for higher-weight stomach sleepers and too firm for some lighter-weight side sleepers, but the pressure relief and zoned support are so good I think it can still accommodate these sleepers.”
The foam layers in the Nolah Evolution 15″ may make this mattress more comfortable for those living with chronic pain. Memory foams help cradle the body and relieve pressure mapping A mat rolled across a mattress that uses color-coded thermal imaging to show how much pressure someone puts on the bed when they lie down on it. that can lead to pain and disrupt sleep. But make sure to talk to your doctor before purchasing a mattress for pain.
To determine a mattress’s pressure relief performance, we use pressure mapping to show whether there are any pressure points on the body. Spots that appear red, orange, and yellow indicate pressure buildup.
The pressure map for the Nolah Evolution 15″ shows almost entirely blue, indicating no pressure buildup.
Find other top mattresses for back pain relief in our guide to the best mattress for back pain.
Our overall thoughts about the Nolah Evolution 15″
Our team thinks the Nolah Evolution 15″ is a quality mattress that provides good support and pressure relief. But it’s slightly firmer than medium, so personal preference is important to consider.
Our favorite things about the Nolah Evolution 15″
The Nolah Evolution 15″ offers several benefits that may cater to a wide range of sleepers. Multiple memory foam layers provide pressure relief and comfortable support, and the responsive innersprings make it easy to switch sleeping positions. It also offers edge support that maximizes the usable sleep surface and helps prevent sagging.
Finally, the well-rounded, supportive sleep surface may work for all sleeper types, from higher-weight back sleepers to lighter-weight (under 130 pounds) stomach sleepers.
Our Nolah Evolution 15″ mattress complaints
One area where the Nolah Evolution 15″ could improve is in motion isolation. Although this mattress performs fairly decent in motion isolation, there’s room for improvement. The responsive coils promote some motion transfer, which may not suit all couples or people who share a bed with pets.
Additionally, because it’s on the firmer side, lighter-weight side sleepers may find the mattress too firm. However, some of our smaller testers still found the Evolution quite comfortable.
If the Evolution doesn’t sound like the right fit for you, you can find other top mattress picks in our list of the best mattresses or best mattresses for side sleepers.
Frequently asked questions
The Nolah Evolution 15″ comes in three firmness levels: plush, luxury firm, and firm. We tested the luxury firm version and rated it 7 out of 10, which places it in the firm category.
The Nolah mattress costs between $1,499–$3,198, depending on the size you choose. If budget is a top concern, consider checking out our list of the best affordable mattresses.
The Nolah Evolution 15″ mattress is a hybrid mattress that contains innerspring and foam layers.
- Good sleep for good health. (2024, June 18). NIH News in Health. Link