Intex Unisex Outdoor Queen Deluxe Pillow Rest Air Bed available in Grey/Blue - Size 152 cm X 203 cm X 42 cm

Product Information

It took around three minutes to inflate and deflate, making the Intex one of the faster-to-assemble air beds in this round up. The manual inflation port within the cord storage is also easy to find, which would come in useful if you’re camping and want to use your own standalone pump. A smooth-to-the-touch greige polyester fabric covers the PVC structure on this air bed. I was impressed: I think it would blend well into most modern and classic design schemes. With two drawstring pulls on either side, the bag that this air bed comes with is possibly the most practical of all the storage bags in this test. It’s also one of the lightest to carry. The built-in pump can be used for up to five minutes at a time to inflate and deflate, and I found that the bed was nicely blown up with a bit of squish at around the 4.5 minute mark. Comfortable sleep is an essential component of a healthy life, and you can’t function well for very long without it. Science has managed to conclusively determine the critical effects that it has on our overall well-being and on the quality of our everyday life that we lead. If you find it hard to get in and out of bed, look for a high raised air bed design. The self-inflating air beds we tried go up to 48cm in height at the pillow end, compared to thinner camping-focused designs that can be just 16cm in height. Do air beds feel cold to sleep on?

Most manufacturers advise that children under eight should not sleep on an air bed. Each design will also have a maximum weight capacity for the user. The Bestway Fortech design has a total weight capacity of 350kg (55 stone), for example. If you’re looking for a blow-up mattresses for the great outdoors, you can discover more in our feature on best air beds for camping. For this review, we’ve mainly focussed on large air beds with built-in electric pumps. There is some crossover: respected camping brands such as Vango, Bestway, Hi Gear and Intex also offer blow-up beds for home use that have the height of a standard bed and are roomy enough for two. Of course, there are quite a lot of other options which are readily available in the market. This is something that you ought to account for. There are specialized cheaper and high-end luxurious and highly expensive options that you can take advantage of, depending on whatever it is that you are looking for. Most air beds will come with specific instructions on how to deflate your air bed, so read the manual carefully. ‘For a design with a built-in pump, you’ll need to plug in the air bed and turn the dial to the deflate position for no longer than the recommended time, which is usually under five minutes,’ says Jessica Alexander from the National Bed Federation. How do you store an air bed? The choice of airbeds for occasional guest use has become a lot more sophisticated in recent years,’ says Jessica Alexander from the National Bed Federation. ‘While they are not intended as a replacement for a proper mattress – since they don’t provide the same support – they are increasingly impressive in terms of comfort.’Do you really have the time to go on for a few hours, looking for the sheer abundance of options on the market?

The top surface can be a soft, non-slip material, for example, brushed cotton. Some contain additional comfort materials such as a layer of memory foam. Sometimes the inside of the mattress is divided into chambers - either vertically or horizontally arranged - to ensure better support.’ When you’re looking for a great airbed, there are a few key things to account for, and the purpose of the mattress is amongst the most important ones. There are a few different uses that people commonly find about these types of mattresses, and they include: So the other brand bed was leaking. Think of a floatie for the pool. Does it go soft? Maybe just slightly from your weight, but in general the air stays inside. Don't believe the blogs that say your airbed will loose air because of temperature changes, etc. The only way an airtight container can lose air is if the air is coming out. Like most air beds with a built-in pump, the Bestway is noisy to inflate and deflate, so this is something to bear in mind if you’re putting it up late at night, but it only takes five minutes each way and the instructions are straighforward. A five-minute pump left the bed feeling too firm for my liking, so I used the dial to relieve the pressure a little and give the bed a bit of bounce. I slept comfortably on this bed overnight and didn’t need to inflate it in the morning. A two-minute bounce from Bethany and William soon changed this, but overall I was impressed at how well it retained its firmness. There was the odd squeak when I turned from side to side, but I managed to dampen this with an extra blanket on the bed.I may not have my priorities right, but the first thing I wanted to do when inflating the Intex was to give it a stroke. Its top layer of wonderfully smooth fabric feels good to touch. Team that with the vertical lines spanning the bed’s length, and the Intex looks and feels very enticing to sleep on. Air beds range from simple air-filled lilo to ones that look like beds in size and height. Look for built-in pillows and good edge support to stop you rolling out of bed. ‘The outer casing can be made from vinyl, PVC or rubber and the base should be tough,’ says Jessica Alexander.

However, we firmly believe that an air mattress is not something that should be very expensive as, for the most parts, it’s not a permanent sleeping solution. With this being said, Intex does cover the majority of the range that you might be interested in. The Touchxel seemed a little noisier than the average air bed I tested, but this may be down to the fact that at the time of inflation it was late and I was tired. It’s constructed with 42 air coils for comfort, but I found the grooves on the top layer a little less inviting than some of the more streamlined designs. These grooves do provide grip, however, and kept me securely in place during the night.

Customer reviews

With this in mind, it’s also important to note that these are portable solutions which allow you to conveniently locate wherever you need to. The raised sides, to stop you rolling out at night, are quite thin compared to other air beds I tried, but this does give you more surface area to sleep on – something my 6ft partner Daniel, who also tested the bed, appreciated. My tester friend Tina also pointed out that she liked the feel of ‘wave beam’ structure on the top, as it made her feel secure. Its firmness didn’t last through the first night however. As expected, I needed to top up in the morning. The instructions point out that like most PVC air beds, you will need to add air to the bed more frequently the first few times you use it as the fabric stretches to its natural shape. There are air valves conveniently located on the mattress – usually on the sides. Make sure to unscrew them and connect the air pump to them. Start the pump and wait for it to get the job done. It’s important to make sure that the mattress isn’t 100% pumped because this would pose the risk of it blowing up. On the other hand, if you are looking for an air/blow up which would last you for a significant amount of time and it’s going to deliver the necessary comfort and convenience, you may be looking for something a bit pricier. As obvious as it may sound, this is a category in which price is decisive and the more you spend, the more you’re likely to get in terms of quality. Intex Air Mattress Pros and Cons