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Adjustable Bed Base Buying Guide

Find your most comfortable position easier than ever with an adjustable base!

What Is an Adjustable Base?

An adjustable base is a power-operated bed frame that allows you to change the positioning of your adjustable base-compatible mattress. Whether you want to prop up your feet, recline for sleep or sit back and watch TV – an adjustable bed base will let you do it all, all at the touch of a button.

Why Get an Adjustable Base?

While adjustable bases make it easier than ever to find your most comfortable position, their reclining, elevating and massaging functions are also designed to improve your sleep – and physical health. Below are just a few of the health-related reasons to consider an adjustable base.

Common Benefits of Adjustable Bases:

Improved blood circulation

Easier breathing and reduced snoring

Reduced joint pressure and swelling

Reduced acid reflux

‘Head Up’

If your adjustable base comes with ‘head up,’ that means the top half of the bed can be raised up to provide the back support you need to sit up in bed. With remote control tech, you can choose how far up you want the bed to be raised, for a truly customized feel.

Adjusting the head of the bed feels comfortable – but it can also bring a whole host of health benefits (see above).

'Head & Foot Up'

The ‘Head & Foot Up’ has the same functionalities of the ‘Head Up’ feature – along with the capacity to raise the foot of the bed. This allows for elevation of the upper body as well as elevation of the legs – providing more options for customized comfort and targeting all the major health benefits of an adjustable base specifically toward the lower half of the body.
A ‘Head & Foot Up’ Adjustable Base is, in other words, ideal for those who suffer from tired feet and/or swollen legs due to poor circulation – or just want a casual, comfy way to sit back and prop up their feet in bed!

What Is Zero Gravity?

Technically speaking, zero gravity is weightlessness, literally. As its name suggests, it’s the state in which no gravity is present.

So, what does this have to do with adjustable bases? Some bases come with a “Zero Gravity” position, designed to take off pressure from the legs and spine – mimicking a “zero gravity” feel.

In the zero gravity position, both the lower and upper halves of the bed are raised up. As a result, a sleeper’s legs will be resting above heart level, while the upper torso is raised slightly upright, in a reclining position. This encourages improved circulation and even weight distribution, helping the body to relax naturally.

— Popular Adjustable Base Features —

 Positioning Massage  Smart Controls  Other 
  • Adjustable Head Position
  • Adjustable Foot Position
  • Adjustable Neck Position
  • Programmable Positions
 
  • Three Massage Intensity Levels
  • 5 Vibration Modes
  • Programmable Massages
 
  • Wireless Remote Control
  • Mobile App Remote Control
  • One-Touch Button
 
  • LED Light
  • Wall-hugging Design
  • USB Ports

What Is Wall Hugging Tech?

Wall-hugging tech is a feature found in some adjustable bases that is designed to keep your adjustable base next to the wall – no matter how far forward or back you choose to recline.

 For example, say you want to bring the head of your bed forward to help you sit up in bed. As the top half of your mattress moves forward, the entire base of the bed moves back toward the wall.

As a result, the extra space that would normally have been left behind by moving your mattress forward is now “filled in,” keeping you exactly where you were – just in a more upright position!

Want to sit up to watch T.V.? Prefer to stretch out flat on your back?  

No matter your favorite positions, or how many times you switch between them, wall-hugging tech makes sure you stay as close as possible to your nightstand – so you can comfortably reach for the items on it without hassle.

Benefits of Massage

 Massage has long been touted as one of the best ways to combat physical stress – and help the body to enter into a peaceful, sleep-ready state. Here are some of its amazing benefits:

  • Induces relaxation
  • Increases circulation
  • Slows heartbeat
  • Helps you to fall asleep faster

Now, thanks to innovative tech, all these amazing benefits are built right into an adjustable base. With a remote control, users can select from a massages with intensity levels ranging from “high” to “low”– and a variety of techniques ranging from light tapping to deep kneading.

Remote Control Features

The operation of an adjustable base involves the use of a remote control. Depending on the type of base, the remote will be either wired or wireless.

Wired Remote

Wireless Remote

Key Features:

  • Most wired remotes come with built-in USB chargers
  • Attached wire (ensures you’ll never lose your remote!)

Key Features:

  • Allows you to  operate bed from anywhere in the room

What Is Neck Tilt?

 An adjustable base with ‘neck tilt’ is designed with an additional adjustable function: power-operated neck support. So, when the top of the bed comes up for when you want to sit and watch TV, the head of the bed can “tilt” forward, allowing you to sit back and watch the show – without straining.  

 Oftentimes, sitting up in bed can lead to a subconscious hunching of the shoulders and craning of the neck. And because sitting in bed is usually a leisurely, long-term activity (3+ hours of binge-watching, anyone?), this ‘hunching’ can lead to long-term strain and tension.   

 Exclusive to newer models of adjustable bases, the neck tilt feature adds more precise customization for bedtime comfort. This makes it easy to relax the neck and shoulders – encouraging a deeper, more restorative sleep for when you’re ready to start snoozin’.

 The best part? It’s all as easy as the touch of a button, thanks to an easy-to-use remote control.

Memory Settings

Smarter sleep means better memory – and if a smart adjustable base does anything, it remembers.

Designed with the capability to store your favorite positions, the more advanced adjustable bases make it easy to get comfortable, faster.

The first time you use an adjustable base, you’ll want to play around with the settings a bit to get a feel of how raised to you prefer to be. Change the angles a bit, raise the foot of the bed, lower the head, adjust the neck a little – until you find your position. (You’ll know your position when you feel it; it’s the position that’ll make you forget you’re even laying on a bed – and instead feel like you’re floating on a cloud.)

Once you’ve found it, select the “save” option on the remote control. This will allow you the freedom to adjust and re-adjust, play around with the remote a little more, and still be able to return to the floating on a cloud position you were in prior, exactly as it was before – with just the touch of a button.

 In other words, you won’t have to stress about how you’re going to find the same comfy position you were in the night before – because the remote will find it for you.

Thanks to innovative tech, adjustable bases with memory let you save multiple positions – for sitting up for watching TV to reclining a bit further back for reading to lying supine for sleep, and more.

Best Adjustable Bases for: The Best Value

These adjustable bases deliver the best of ergonomic positions, luxury massages and smart controls – all for unbeatable prices.

The Revive 1.0

Just $395 for a Queen size, the Revive 1.0 adjustable base comes with an unbeatable price tag. Boasting the Head Up setting for custom comfort while watching TV or sleeping, the first of the Revive series also features a wired remote with a USB charging port – packing a ton of value into a compact design.

The Revive 2.0

Next in the series of Revive adjustable bases is the Revive 2.0, which includes all of the features of the 1.0 along with a Foot Up setting, wireless remote, and breathable fabric cover for an even cooler sleep – and even more bang for your buck.

Best Adjustable Bases for: High-Intensity Massages

If, along with adjustable positioning, high-intensity, customizable massages are your idea of ultimate relaxation, then these adjustable bases are for you!

The Serta Motion Perfect III

The massage setting in the Serta Motion Perfect III is a lot like having a professional masseuse at your beck and call – right in your bedroom. For tight muscles, strains and more, the Motion Perfect III features multiple levels of intensity, for a heavenly way to unwind.

The Revive 3.0

Once you experience the massage setting in the Revive 3.0 adjustable base, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.  Choose the exact region of your bed you want the massage focused on for relaxation that’s 100% customized – and control every setting using the wireless remote for easy operation.

Best Adjustable Bases for: Comfortable Positions

While all adjustable bases are designed to let you customize your sleep position, when it comes to offering unlimited possibilities for angled comfort, these models rise above.

The Revive 4.0

Look up “comfort” in the dictionary, and you’re bound to find a picture of this stellar power base.

Featuring Neck Tilt, Zero Gravity, Head and Foot Up, and more, the Revive 4.0 makes relaxing before bedtime – and falling asleep! – easier than ever.

The Revive 5.0

A Wall-Hugging design that moves you right to your nightstand (no reaching required).

Three options for leg height – for easy in-and-out climbing.

Memory settings. Massage. Head, foot, and neck support. Bluetooth speakers.

The list goes on and on…and it’s all waiting for you in the next evolution of Revive’s revolutionary designs. Luxe comfort, reimagined!

Best Adjustable Bases for: Smart Features

The power of technology is growing fast – and so is its ability to give us better sleep. Here are our top picks for the smartest adjustable bases!

The Serta Motion Perfect

Not only does the Serta Motion Perfect come with a smart device app control, a wireless remote control, USB ports and pre-set positions, it also has an emergency backup power source – so you can keep enjoying customized comfort even through unplanned outages.

The Revive 5.0

Adjustable bases are now smarter than ever, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Revive 5.0 – which connects to a Bluetooth app and remembers your favorite positions. Plus, it’s all controllable from a wireless remote, which can be controlled from anywhere in the room – so you can prepare for bedtime comfort before you’ve settled into bed.

Popular Smart Feature: USB Port

An adjustable base with USB allows you to rest easy knowing your phone, tablet or laptop will be fully charged tomorrow. Often placed in an easy-to-reach position such as under the base or side of the headboard, USB ports have become one of the most in-demand features for smart bases. Choose this feature if you are at all tech-inclined – or just want an easier way to recharge, literally and figuratively.

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Editorial Disclaimer: Articles featuring tips and advice are intended for educational purposes and only as general recommendations. Always practice personal discretion when using and caring for furniture, decor and related items.