Best air beds – the top inflatable and blow-up mattresses

Investing in one of the best air beds means that as long as you have enough floor space for your guests to stretch out on, you have an impromptu guest bedroom. And with hosting season fast approaching, finding a fast and affordable way to make overnight visitors comfortable is particularly relevant.

While an inflatable mattress might not be able to compete with one of the best mattresses – or the best sofa beds – in terms of sleep comfort, an air bed is a practical, affordable, and space-saving solution for accommodating occasional visitors.

An air bed is also a versatile option, ready and waiting to be inflated when friends and family descend, increasing comfort on camping trips and providing an instant solution to last-minute kid’s sleepovers.

As Ideal Home’s Sleep Editor, I’ve scoured the stores to find the inflatable matttresses with the top specifications and most impressive customer reviews. The Active Era Air Bed with Built-In Electric Pump would be my top choice due to its double-height design, but I've also included a range of budget-friendly and multifunctional air beds in this round-up.

Best air beds

Whether you're looking for the most affordable blow up bed, one that comes with a built-in foot pump or electric pump, or a deluxe model that will keep your guests raised up higher from the floor, these are the best inflatable mattresses I've found.

Best air beds

Where to buy an air bed

Amazon: wide selection with Next-Day delivery for Prime members
Argos: good range of single, double and king-size inflatable beds
John Lewis: Vango and Outwell inflatable mattresses
Decathlon: aimed more at camping but work just as well indoors
Go Outdoors: aimed at the outdoors but also suitable indoors
Millets: budget to high-end air beds and blow up mattresses
Wayfair: a huge range of air beds for all budgets

How to choose the best air bed

What should you look for when choosing an air bed? I've rounded up my top tips for getting this purchase right.

Size

Air beds tend to come in single, double, and king-size options. However, whichever size you opt for an air bed will rarely be as big as a standard mattress, and dimensions of a 'single', 'double', or 'king' can differ between manufacturers.

For this reason, it pays to check the small print for the exact dimensions of any air bed before you buy. Just like when you're considering which size mattress to buy, it's generally best to go as big as you can for increased comfort but check the floorspace you have available first to make sure your air bed will fit once it's inflated. Ideally, you want to leave enough space on either side of the bed for your guest(s) to be able to get out of bed and walk around the air bed easily.

Of course, if you’re buying an air bed for a camping trip, you should always measure your tent to make sure the inflatable bed you choose is going to fit. Remember to consider the air bed's height too as most tents have sloping walls and you want to avoid the air bed touching them.

Height

Although the height of any air bed will differ slightly between manufacturers there are two main types – single-height air beds that tend to be between 22 and 28cm high and double-height air beds that tend to measure somewhere between 40-50cm high.

A double-height air bed tends to be a bit nicer to sleep on as you're lifted further from the floor. This makes it feel more like a 'real' bed and is easier to get up from (especially if you have any mobility issues). It can also make the air bed a little warmer if you're camping outdoors as there's more insulation between your body and the ground. However, a double-height air bed will be the more expensive option.

Inflation method

Some air beds come with a foot pump that you step on repeatedly to push air into the mattress, others use a mains pump that connects to an electrical socket to take some of the legwork out of the process. A mains pump is generally the most expensive option, but is generally the easiest to use. However, if you're taking your air bed camping and won't be close to an electricity point, a manual pump is the better option.

Comfort

Whilst most air beds are pretty basic, there are some little details that can make bedding down on an inflatable mattress a little more enjoyable.

I would recommend choosing an option that has a flocked surface. These generally feel a little nicer to sleep on than one that simply has a plastic top layer. The flocking gives things a bit more grip so you don't slide around at night and usually makes the air bed quieter to turn over on in the night.

You might also want to consider whether you want an air bed that comes with a built-in pillow. These can be useful if you're going camping and want to travel light as it could save you packing a pillow, but in my experience, a built-in pillow tends to be more of an annoyance than a feature, especially if you're using the air bed to host guests at home.

That's because, unless your guests like a very firm pillow, they're likely to find an inflatable pillow a pretty hard and uncomfortable experience. I've always ended up using a normal pillow on top anyway at which point the raised section becomes a bit of an annoyance as it can lift your head too high for comfort.

As such, I prefer to opt for an air bed without a built-in headrest and to offer guests one of my best pillows instead to make their floor-camping experience as comfortable as possible. (And don't forget one of the best duvets whilst you're at it – they're far more comfortable than a sleeping bag in my experience!).

FAQs

How much do I need to spend on an air bed?

A basic air bed can cost as little as £10 for a single mattress size. However, that will tend to be without any form of pump. An inflatable mattress with a built-in pump usually starts from around £25 for a single mattress. The more comfort you want to add, the more the price will increase. For instance, most double-height air beds start from around £60 for a single. A double or king-size blow-up mattress requires more materials in its manufacture, so costs more.

Is there a better alternative to an air mattress?

If you don't have a dedicated guest room but want an option that's a little more stylish or permanent than a blow-up mattress, then a sofa bed is the next best thing to a real bed.

However, a sofa bed will take up more space than an air bed, and you can't deflate it and store it away in a cupboard when your guests go home! If you're short on space, one of the best chair beds could be a more compact solution for a single overnight guest.

Not sure which to invest in? Our guide to air beds vs sofa beds can help you to decide which is right for you and your home.

What are the disadvantages of an air bed?

According to Nick Langdon, Head of Exclusive Brands for Outdoor Living at GO Outdoors, the biggest disadvantage of sleeping on an air mattress is its fragile nature, as, of course, an inflatable mattress is susceptible to puncture. But that’s not all, ‘additionally, some airbeds are prone to motion transfer when two people are using them,’ he explains. So it may be best to opt for two single air beds rather than a double or king-size.

An air bed can also deflate over time, which means it may require regular pumping up. Plus, as blow-up beds are so low to the ground, less mobile sleepers can struggle to get in and out of bed. A double-height air mattress can help here.

Why does my air bed keep deflating?

Nick Langdon at Go Outdoors explains, ‘Some airbeds are more prone to temperature change than others. When your mattress is exposed to cold temperatures during the night, it can lose some pressure, meaning you need to keep topping up/re-inflating.’

Most of the brands I asked said that some deflation overnight is normal, so we might just need to accept that topping up an airbed before bed each night is part of the floor-camping experience!

So there we go, everything you need to know to work out whether a blow-up mattress is the right solution for your hosting needs.