The Best Bed in a Box For the Money (So Far)
Sale note: President’s Day (no idea why) is one of the best mattress sales of the year and it’s been extended for Jack’s Rec for the best bed in a box and my other five contenders. Click here to see the sale prices.
I’ve been trying to sleep better most of my adult life. A combination of back pain and not being able to turn my brain off at night have continually kept me awake long after I should have been asleep. I accepted a long time ago that I’d always be tired and adapted. It wasn’t until I learned about why sleep was so important for my infant son that I really started taking my problem with sleep seriously.
After learning about the importance of sleep for a baby’s brain development in parenting books, I read sleep researcher Matthew Walker’s book “Why We Sleep.” He wrote that “sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day.”
That one sentence just pages into the first chapter convinced me that I needed to do more to figure out how to sleep better. According to Walker, if I can sleep eight hours each night, I’ll be healthier, more productive and more likely to live longer—among many other benefits. Those seem like worthy goals, but I think figuring out how to sleep pain-free is the key for me and finding the right mattress seems like a good place to start.
Luckily, I’d been researching mattresses for a while. Fascinated by the bed-in-a-box industry, I knew my next bed would come from one of the dozens of online mattress companies. So when my wife and I bought a house in upstate New York in late 2019, we needed mattresses for three bedrooms and I’d finally be able to put that research to use.
After more than two years of reading best-of lists on mattress and review sites, combing through consumer reviews on retailer and manufacturer sites, watching videos, testing beds in stores and at home, talking with salespeople and comparing notes with my bed-obsessed sister, Jack’s Rec for the best bed in a box for the money (so far) is the Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid.
However, because I liked the Signature Hybrid so much, I kept it and haven’t yet tried three of the six mattresses my research helped me identify, which is why I’ve said it’s the best so far. The contenders are the Allswell Luxe Hybrid, Casper Element, Leesa Hybrid, Saatva Classic and Winkbed, in addition to the Signature Hybrid. I’ve already tried and eliminated the Allswell and Casper as my top pick. The Signature Hybrid may eventually keep hold of the top spot but until I try the others, I’m reserving final judgment. Until then, I’m comfortable recommending it as Jack’s Rec for the best bed in a box.
The Best Bed in a Box For the Money
Jack’s Rec: Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid
Best for: Those looking for the bounce and support of an innerspring from a bed in a box at a great price, especially when it’s on sale.
Why I love it: It comes in three firmness levels (soft, medium and firm). I’ve preferred a firmer mattress for most of the past decade (more about my changing mattress preferences below) so I opted for Brooklyn’s firm version. The mattress is perfectly springy, supportive and comfortable. It’s firm enough for me, but not too firm for my wife. After sleeping on it for the past six months, I can easily say it’s the most comfortable bed in a box that I’ve slept on. It’s also always on sale, making it that much more affordable.
Not ideal: Brooklyn Bedding doesn’t have any stores outside Arizona but does sell its mattresses from partner showrooms in a handful of cities across the country, including Austin, Chicago and New York. If you’re outside Arizona, visit the Showrooms page on Brooklyn Bedding’s website to see if one is located near you.
Key Specs
Queen price (President’s Day price): $999 ($749.25)
Coil count: 961 pocketed coils
Thickness: 11.5 inches
Firmness Options: soft, medium and firm
Trial Period: 120 nights (with a 30-day minimum)
Returns: Free
Warranty: 10 years
After trying memory foam mattresses in stores and at Airbnbs, I mostly eliminated ones made entirely from foam, except for the Casper Element—more on that and my other picks below. I’m a combo side and back sleeper so I move around a lot during the night, which is harder to do on a memory foam bed. And I don’t like the slow sink and hug that some like about foam, instead preferring to sleep on my mattress. I also sleep hot, which many memory foam beds exacerbate. So I concentrated my search on hybrids, which include memory foam and coils typical of more traditional innerspring mattresses. And my sister Kendra recommended I take a closer look at Brooklyn Bedding after buying their Bowery mattress.
I was immediately impressed with what I was reading about the Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid and knew I wanted to try it. I liked that it came in different firmness options. From the video review on mattress review site The Slumber Yard (formerly myslumberyard.com), it looked springier than most beds in a box. And the full price was right at $999.
“For the money, we think it’s one of the best online mattresses out there,” The Slumber Yard’s JD Christison said in his video review of the Signature Hybrid. “It actually ends up on our best beds for the money list all the time.”
The Slumber Yard also called it the best value among hybrids and innersprings. Even Wirecutter, which just had a short writeup about the Signature Hybrid in the competition section of its online mattress guide, said that it was “a nicely priced hybrid that checks a lot of boxes”—noting it had good motion isolation and was supportive but not too firm while looking substantial at 11 inches thick. The Slumber Yard and Wirecutter both reviewed the medium firmness option.
I tried the Signature Hybrid medium and firm at the Sleepare in New York in February 2020 and preferred the firm. It felt more like an innerspring than even the plushy Winkbed, which was the only other mattress among my contenders on display. Even after lying on it for a few minutes, I was convinced it was worth an extended try at home.
Because the Signature Hybrid is so springy, it’s easy to go from side to back and back to side when I’m trying to find the perfect sleeping position. And doing so on the Signature Hybrid’s pocketed coils doesn’t typically wake my light-sleeping wife. It has great edge support for a bed in a box, at least in the firm option, which isn’t something I typically look for, but when it’s bad, is noticeable and annoying. The mattress also sleeps cool.
The mattress has a 1-inch high-density foam base that supports 961 individually-wrapped, or pocketed, six-inch coils. Pocketed coils, unlike interconnected springs, can limit motion transfer because they don’t all move together making position changes less likely to disturb a sleep partner. Coils also allow for more air flow, which makes hybrids and innerspring beds cooler than memory foam mattresses. (Here’s a good breakdown of the difference between pocketed coil and innerspring mattresses.) On top of the pocketed coils are two layers of proprietary foam, a 2-inch layer of firm transitional foam and a 2-inch top layer of foam that Brooklyn Bedding says “combines all the contouring properties of memory foam with the responsiveness of latex.” A quilted cover tops the layers below.
Comfort is obviously subjective so if firm isn’t what you’re looking for, the soft or medium options might be a better fit. According to Brooklyn Bedding, the firm is an 8 on its 1-10 comfort scale. It says the soft is a 4 and the medium is a 6.
The Slumber Yard, which uses soft, medium, firm scale rates the Signature Hybrid firm as medium firm, squarely between medium and firm. The Slumber Yard rates the soft between soft and medium soft and the medium between medium soft and medium. To compare, Sleepopolis, another mattress review site that I like, rated the medium version of the Signature Hybrid as a 7 on its 1-10 scale. It didn’t rate the firmness of the soft and firm options.
Brooklyn Bedding has frequent sales making its already reasonable prices even better. I got the 25% discount during a President’s Day sale, making the $999 queen a fantastic value at $749.25. *The Signature Hybrid is currently 25% off through Feb. 23.
In addition to reasonable prices, Brooklyn Bedding boasts a 120-night trial period (with a minimum of 30 nights), free shipping and returns and a 10-year warranty. There’s no language on Brooklyn Bedding’s website to suggest that the trial period or return policy has changed because of Covid-19.
My Research
Me and sleep
I exhaustively research everything I buy. I’m obsessed with finding the best deal, but I also want to make sure whatever I’m buying fits my needs. That means I spend a lot of time reading reviews and combing through lists to put together notes and spreadsheets to compare my options. I start with review sites and also read consumer reviews.
I’ve always been a crappy sleeper and worked to fix that for as long as I can remember, starting with sleep position before concentrating on mattresses.
In high school, I started having lower back and leg pain that was later diagnosed as sciatica—nerve pain in my lower back that radiated down the back of my legs. At the time, I forced myself over months to learn to sleep on my side with a thin pillow between my knees, which helped. The pain wasn’t constant but bothered me for weeks or months at a time then went away before coming back at some point in the future.
In college, I once woke up unable to move. It took me about a half hour to slide out of bed, get dressed and slowly inch toward my car. I drove to the ER where doctors gave me an epidural steroid injection, which provided temporary relief but wasn’t something I wanted to get into the habit of doing. That was also the time of my life I had the most trouble falling asleep. I thought I was an insomniac. I’d be up half the night, and I was still having lower back pain. That periodic pain didn’t really go away until I started sleeping on an extra firm mattress years later, and hasn’t really bothered me since. In that time, I’ve also become a combo sleeper and wake up most mornings on my back.
There was a five or so year period where I probably got the best sleep of my life and woke up almost exclusively pain-free, though I did wake up at least once most nights to use the bathroom or get a drink of water. When I started writing this, I’d been waking up with back pain in the morning consistently for the first time in years. A few months later and the pain was gone. I think I hurt my back without knowing and it took a while to heal.
Since I discovered Matthew Walker’s book, I’ve been reading more about sleep health, sleep tech and wearables—devices being created that claim to help people sleep better. Some are wild and it seems like the science is still catching up. Though Walker writes in “Why We Sleep” that smart home tech like automated lights and thermostats can better help prepare our bodies for sleep and they’re being more widely adopted. I’m seeing more and more tips about how even going to bed at the same time each night, eliminating all light and noise (tough with an infant) and avoiding caffeine late in the day can make falling asleep and staying asleep easier. I’ve also started meditating, and when I’ve done it consistently, seems to help me sleep through the night better than I have in years.
Even before I decided to get serious about figuring out how to sleep better, I’d been interested in the bed-in-a-box industry for years. I was fascinated by the idea that beds could be compressed, rolled up, stuffed into boxes and delivered directly to your door so I started learning about them. Even though I didn’t need a new bed at the time, I knew my next one would come from one of these companies. In that time, I had casually read about mattresses, new brands and improved technology, which gave me a head start when I decided to start buying and testing mattresses.
How I identified options
There’s a lot of information out there about which bed in a box to buy, including a few decent mattress review sites and a handful of product review sites that write about beds. Of those mattress review sites, each one has something that I like and helped me identify my six contenders. For instance, The Slumber Yard has videos of the mattresses it reviews with members of its team jumping on, rolling around and lying on them in multiple positions so you can kind of get an idea of how well they respond to those activities. Sleepopolis does pressure mapping so you can see where the reviewer’s body exerts the most pressure on each mattress in different sleeping positions. I like that but it could be more helpful if those tests included info about the reviewer’s height and weight, or included pressure mapping for people of different weights.
Based on my preference for a firm mattress, my combination side and back sleeping style, not wanting to disturb my wife with position switching and the fact that I sleep hot, I narrowed my search to hybrids and innersprings. I initially also sought to keep the price down. When my search started, I was trying to keep the cost below $1,000 and I did find some options in that price range, but half are also in the $1,500 range so there’s that.
Using the above criteria, I spent weeks in addition to my years of reading about the bed in a box industry researching mattresses. I used bed and product review sites, visited mattress stores and tried sleeping on different mattresses at friends and families houses and Airbnbs to identify my six contenders: Allswell Luxe Hybrid, Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid (firm), Casper Element, Leesa Hybrid, Saatva Classic and Winkbed (firmer).
Contenders
| Bed | Full Price | President's Day Sale Price (deadline) | Firmness Options | Trial Period (minimum) | Returns | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Brooklyn Bedding Signaure Hybrid | $999 | $749.25 (Feb. 23) | soft, medium, firm | 120 nights (30) | Free | 10 years |
| Allswell Luxe Hybrid | $645 | $548.25 (no expiration) | None | 100 nights (21) | Free | 10 years |
| Casper Element | $595 | $516 (Feb. 21) | None | 100 nights (30) | Free | 10 years |
| Leesa Hybrid | $1,699 | $1,449 (Feb. 18) | None | 100 nights (30) | Free | 10 years |
| Saatva Classic | $1,399 | $1,199 (Feb. 22) | plush soft, luxury firm, firm | 180 nights | $99 | 15 years |
| Winkbed | $1,599 | $1,299 (Feb. 21) | softer, luxury firm, firmer, plus | 120 nights (30) | Free (or $49 to exchange for a different firmness) | Lifetime |
*Jack’s Rec for the best bed in a box for the money.
Allswell Luxe Hybrid: It was the first mattress I tried after reading enthusiastic reviews about it first on Wirecutter, which nearly made it a pick because “many of our testers remarked that this model felt like a higher-end mattress.” At $645 for a queen, it’s among the more affordable hybrid mattresses out there and I had to give it a try. I was also excited to learn that other sites like The Slumber Yard were equally as enthusiastic: “At this price point, we think it’s darn near impossible to find a nicer, more comfortable, better constructed bed.”
Walmart owns Allswell but hasn’t made the mattresses for sale in stores yet. For the price, it was a top contender and I knew I wanted to try it at home. While it did have the bounce that I’d hoped for, it was too soft. Allswell’s “Very Unscientific Firmness Scale” rated it as a 4.5-6.5 out of 10. That should’ve been my first clue. The Slumber Yard gave it a medium. I just really wanted a hybrid that cost less than $600 (with 15% off) to work for us. And it didn’t. *Allswell is currently offering 15% off the Luxe Hybrid on your first order.
After returning the Allswell after about two months of sleeping on it—a process that was super easy and straightforward—I turned to the Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid, mostly because it was the last of my contenders under $1,000. And while it took several weeks for me to appreciate, I decided in the end it was worth keeping.
Casper Element: Softness was also my issue with the Casper Element (formerly the Casper Essential), which was also praised by Wirecutter for its comfort and price, $595 for a queen—the least expensive among contenders. At the time, Wirecutter described the 11-inch mattress like the foam used in a couch cushion and I thought that was accurate. The Essential is supportive with some give, but doesn’t have the slow sink and huggy feeling I associate with memory foam. It’s made of three open cell foams, including a top comfort layer, memory foam transition layer and a base layer, all beneath a removable and washable cover.
The new Element is an updated version of the Essential. The 10-inch Element is now two polyfoam layers, a 2-inch layer of breathable perforated foam to promote airflow and an 8-inch layer of durable base foam. A cover made in part from recycled plastic bottles protects both layers.
I can’t speak to the comfort of the new version, but found the Essential to be the only all-foam bed that I didn’t actively dislike. My wife and I slept on it for a week after we returned the Allswell and before the Signature Hybrid arrived. We bought it for one of the guest rooms so I never intended to sleep on it full time. It’s not quite supportive enough for me and did sleep a bit hot, but two sets of friends liked it so much they asked what it was and said they might buy one for themselves.
The only thing I really disliked about the mattress was its lack of edge support, which again isn’t usually a factor for me, but when it’s bad—and this was pretty bad—you notice it. With that said, I still think it’s a good budget option. *The Casper Element is currently 10% off through Feb. 21.
So I haven’t slept on the Winkbed (firmer), Saatva Classic (firm), and Leesa Hybrid—which I’d try in that order.
Winkbed: It was one of the few beds I was able to try in a store as part of my research process, but only the luxury firm was on display. Winkbed is the only contender with four firmness options: softer, luxury firm, firmer and plus. The luxury firm was firm and supportive with a plushy top that didn’t have the memory foam slow sink and huggy feel. I wrote “comfy but too soft” in my notes and would opt for the firmer if I give it a shot. The luxury firm felt so close to firm enough, looks well constructed and built to last so it’s tops among my remaining contenders.
Winkbed is a Wirecutter top pick among innersprings and hybrids, even though its construction puts it in the hybrid category. Sleepopolis called it the best mattress for side sleepers in its best innerspring list and the best pillow top in its best online mattress list. The Slumber Yard named the Winkbed as the best plush hybrid mattresses. At 13 ½ inches, it’s one of the thicker mattresses among the contenders.
If you decide during the 120-night trial period that the firmness option you picked isn’t right, you can pay $49 to replace it with another. Or you can exchange it for a different firmness for half price after the trial period. Winkbed also offers a lifetime warranty, which isn’t available among any of the other contenders. *And the Winkbed is currently $300 off through Feb. 21.
Saatva Classic: The Saatva Classic was the only innerspring mattress among my contenders. It’s also the only contender not actually shipped in a box, but as an online brand and one that cropped up often in my research, it became a contender even though it’s not technically a bed in a box.
Saatva provides by far the most info about the construction of its mattresses than any other company I’ve reviewed. Visit its specs page to find out more about the Classic’s construction (two coil layers beneath an organic pillow top) and coil count (1,300). You can also learn more about each coil layer—the bottom support layer has connected coils shaped like an hourglass and the comfort layer’s coils are individually wrapped. Unlike other brands, Saatva also shares the gauge of those coils. The lower the number, the thicker and firmer the coil. The Classic’s support coils are 13 gauge while the comfort coils are a 14.5 gauge.
The Classic is the only mattress among the contenders that comes in multiple heights, 11 ½ and 14 ½ inches. It provides the longest trial period of the contenders at 180 days, though charge $99 for returns, and has a longer than most 15-year warranty. *The Classic is currently $200 off through Feb. 22.
The Saatva Classic has long been a favorite of mattress and review sites, earning top marks from The Strategist, Business Insider, Wirecutter, Apartment Therapy, The Slumber Yard, Sleepopolis and Tuck Sleep.
Leesa Hybrid: Leesa mattresses are for sale in West Elm, Pottery Barn, Macy’s, Sit ‘n Sleep and other mattress stores, making them among the most accessible bed in box brands for you to try before you buy. With that said, I haven’t tried one yet. I admit, the Leesa Hybrid was a late contender, in part because of its price. At $1,699 for a queen, it’s the most expensive. But it continues to be named on best-of lists for online and hybrid mattresses so I couldn’t exclude it any longer.
“With its balance of cuddly, durable foam and just-springy-enough coils, the Leesa Hybrid has consistently pleased our testers since 2018,” Wirecutter wrote recently in its best hybrid review. You can also find it among top picks in Reviewed, Business Insider, Apartment Therapy, Sleepopolis and Tuck Sleep.
The Leesa Hybrid doesn’t offer different firmness levels, but considers itself medium firm in the 5-7 range on a 10-point scale. It also makes its beds to order, so expect a delivery time of up to two weeks, according to its website. That doesn’t seem unreasonable—my Brooklyn Bedding shipment took 10 days.
Even though it’s the most expensive contender, I frequently see it on sale. *The Lessa Hybrid is currently $250 off through Feb. 18.
A note about sleep science, beds, pillows and comfort
According to a 2015 review of 30 sleep clinical trials, 75% percent of Americans experience sleep problems throughout the week and the average adult only sleeps 6.8 hours per night. The study authors, physical therapy doctoral students, attributed this in part to pain, noting that 58% to 84% of adults will experience some type of back pain in their lives. They reviewed whether mattresses and pillows reduced back pain and promoted sleep quality and spinal alignment.
The authors concluded that “medium-firm mattresses provide the best outcome for increased sleep quality and for reducing pain.” They didn’t mention in the abstract what type of beds and what sleeping positions the subjects used. In the abstract, the study authors also wrote that latex pillows can enhance sleep and adjustable pillows can reduce pain.
There may not be much available science about what bed type and firmness level is best for different sleeping positions and sleepers of different shapes and sizes.
“Little scientific research exists on which mattress is best for back pain or for maintaining a healthy back,” according to the University of Rochester Medical Center. “The mattress that's right for you lets you wake up feeling rested and free of pain or soreness.”
But the University’s Health Encyclopedia does note that spine alignment is important for pain-free restful sleep. It recommends different pillow placement, in addition to one under your head for different sleeping positions:
Side: between the knees to prevent the upper leg from pulling the spine out of alignment and reducing stress on the hips and lower back
Back: under the knees to reduce stress on the spine and support the natural curve of the lower back
Stomach: under the stomach and pelvis and using a flat pillow under the head or lying directly on the mattress
Generally, mattress companies recommend softer mattresses for side sleepers and firmer options for back and stomach sleepers to promote spine alignment. Some in between option is typically recommended for combination sleepers. There’s no consensus about foam vs. hybrid vs. springs, which seems to be entirely personal preference. And when it comes to weight, the heavier you are, the firmer the mattress, according to manufacturers. In addition to a spine alignment, firmer mattresses for heavier people may break down slower, last longer and result in fewer warranty claims.
If you need a bed and you’re not sure where to start, here are how-to guides from Sleepopolis and Wirecutter. I’ll keep looking to see what science I can dig up.
My favorite mattress accessories
Mattress protector
I think beds should come with mattress covers to protect them from, well everything. Seriously, it’s gross. Just get a mattress cover and wash it a couple of times per year. Even if it’s just you or you and a partner using the bed, you need one. This Utopia Bedding mattress encasement is waterproof, protects against bed bugs and dust mites, doesn’t make any noise, fits mattresses up to 15 inches thick and comes in packages of one, two or 10.
My favorite pillows for the money
Like with beds, I have a tough time with pillows. So I’ve tried a bunch. I’ll write them up someday, but for now, these Utopia Bedding pillows are the my favorite for money. I’ve been sleeping on one now for eight months and it’s held up really well for a pillow that costs $22 for a set. They’re soft yet supportive and just the right height for my combo back and side sleeping.
According to the review of sleep studies, adjustable pillows were recommended for their ability to conform to all people. I haven’t tried enough to recommend one, in part because I love my Utopia Bedding pillow so much, but Wirecutter has.
My favorite pillow cover
Same with mattress covers, just get pillow covers, but wash these when you wash your sheets. These Niagara Sleep Solution cotton pillow covers are hypoallergenic and come in packs of four.
My favorite bed frame for the money
I have a lot of opinions about bed frames and will definitely write more about them, but for now, I think the KD Frames Nomad Platform Bed is the best for the money. At $250, it’s a great value for a sturdy, solid wood frame. It sits 15 inches off the ground, which gives most mattresses adequate height while also providing some room for storage.
It does require assembly, but most do and it’s not difficult. It took me about an hour by myself with an allen wrench screwdriver attachment. It’s also unfinished poplar so if you’re a DIYer, you can stain or paint it to match the rest of your bedroom furniture. Or leave it alone for a light natural wood look. We used (and still use) another frame from KD that I like but not as much as this one to test the Allswell Luxe Hybrid and Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid. Our Casper Essential is on this frame.
Sources
“The Happy Sleeper” by Heather Turgeon, Julie Wright and Dr. Daniel J. Siegel (one of the parenting books I reference but don’t name in the second paragraph)
“Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker
Video review of the Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid on Youtube by JD Christison of The Slumber Yard
Best Mattress For The Money by Jeff Rizzo in The Slumber Yard
Best Hybrid & Innerspring Mattress by Jeff Rizzo in The Slumber Yard
The Best Memory Foam Mattresses You Can Buy Online by Joanne Chen in Wirecutter
What are the Differences Between Pocket-Coil and Innerspring Mattresses? by Paul Traficanti in Bear Mattress
Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid review by Matt Ross in The Slumber Yard
Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid review by Logan Block in Sleepopolis
The future of sleep health: a data-driven revolution in sleep science and medicine by Ignacio Perez-Pozuelo, Bing Zhai, Joao Palotti, Raghvendra Mall, Michaël Aupetit, Juan M. Garcia-Gomez, Shahrad Taheri, Yu Guan and Luis Fernandez-Luque in Nature
The Best Innerspring Mattresses by Joanne Chen in Wirecutter
The Best Hybrid Mattresses by Joanne Chen in Wirecutter
Best Innerspring Mattress by Logan Block in Sleepopolis
Best Online Mattress Logan Block in Sleepopolis
Best Hybrid & Innerspring Mattress by Jeff Rizzo in The Slumber Yard
The Best Mattresses You Can Buy Online by The Strategist editors
The best mattresses in 2020 by James Brains in Business Insider
The Best Mattresses You Can Buy Now by Nicole Lund in Apartment Therapy
Best Innerspring Mattresses – 2020 Reviews and Buyer’s Guide by Keith Cushner in Tuck Sleep
The Best Mattress in a Box of 2020 by Lindsey Vickers in Reviewed
Best Hybrid Mattresses by Logan Block in Sleepopolis
Effect of mattresses and pillow designs on promoting sleep quality, spinal alignment and pain reduction in adults: Systematic reviews of controlled trials by Darcy James, Joseph Myers, John Murphy, Michelle Rooney and Jason Taylor
Good Sleeping Posture Helps Your Back, University of Rochester Medical Center Health Encyclopedia
How To Choose A Mattress (2020) – Complete Buying Guide Logan Block in Sleepopolis
Mattress Buying Guide by Joanne Chen in Wirecutter
A microbiologist explains why he hasn't slept without this on his bed in 25 years by Erin Brodwin in Business Insider
16 Disgusting Home Items You’re Not Cleaning Enough by Wirecutter staff