While the life of a videographer or photographer isn’t as demanding as, say, a cowboy’s daily grind, the body still goes through a lot. When I look back at all the camera setups for sporting events, lugging equipment on airplanes, days of 12 back-to-back Zoom meetings, nature photography hikes, and standing at trade shows, it’s easy to see why a good night of sleep is few and far between.
And it’s not for lack of trying. I bought the Cadillac of mattresses, shelling out way too much for a firmer sleep that my back just never got accustomed to. Then, I put more money into a softer foam topper, a quilted topper, various shapes of between-the-leg pillows…you get the point. My back and I never felt super refreshed after sleep, so I chalked it up to being older.
Then, I realized my daily office habits weren’t helping, so I worked to correct that. My FlexiSpot standing desk allowed me to stand for part of my day, and my FlexiSpot chair kept my posture better while sitting. But still, waking up from sleep never felt as good as it should.
That’s when I found out FlexiSpot made adjustable beds. It may sound odd, but adjustable desks and adjustable beds both have similar motors, so why not? And then FlexiSpot sent me the Split King S6 Adjustable Bed Base to try.
I’d like to tell you about it, because I know the world of adjustable beds can be confusing (in fact, I had 8 different bed ads appear on Facebook while just writing this article). If it helps a few folks in the industry rest easy, then its worth it!
FlexiSpot Split King S6 Adjustable Bed Base — Getting the bed
FedEx dropped off four boxes at my door (two TwinXL adjustable beds that combine for the king size, and two TwinXL 10” copper gel mattresses), but these beds go together much faster than you may initially think. The packaging is great, and I’ve been reviewing products long enough to know that a company that spends time protecting their products for shipping is worth doing business with.
One TwinXL frame box weighed in at almost 100 pounds with the packing materials and accessories, but it was surprisingly easy to maneuver the bed itself for setup. Also, the bed has a slim profile considering it can support up to 750 lbs.
FlexiSpot Split King S6 Adjustable Bed Base — Bed setup
There are only a few steps between getting the beds out of the box and having a good night’s sleep. Basically, you fold open the bed frame to find the components zip-tied inside for protection. These boxes include the legs, retainer bars, and accessories.
Then, you simply connect two plugs from the motors to the central hub and connect the power cables.
The bed comes with six adjustable legs and felt bottoms to install. But if you already have a platform bed, you can remove the platform and set the bed with legs inside the frame. Or you can place the bed without legs right on top of your platform bed, which is what I did. The bed has zero clearance on the platform, which is visually appealing. I recommend having two people to place the bed on the platform, as it just makes it easier and ensures you protect the furniture grade upholstery fabric of the bed top.
Since I had two TwinXL to make the split king, there was equipment included to sync the beds. This would allow me to use one remote to control the adjustability of both beds simultaneously. However, I opted not to do that so that my wife could adjust her bed independently to her needs. But it’s good to know there’s the option.
FlexiSpot Split King S6 Adjustable Bed Base — What about the mattress?
A bed frame is great and all, but of course not comfortable by itself. The EGO Copper mattress expanded very quickly after removing from their packaging. In fact, it reached its full height within minutes.
Consisting of a copper gel memory foam, its ventilated design regulates moisture and odor. It’s also made without harmful substances. Specifically, the 10” mattress consists of 3” Copper Gel AeroFusion Memory Foam, 2” Liquid Gel Flex Foam, and 5” Flex Support Base Foam. There is also a 14” mattress option if more support is desired.
The Graphene cover material states that it promotes blood circulation and metabolism. While I’m unable to determine that, it’s a nice-looking, cool feeling, comfortable mattress with a medium feel. At first, I wished it was slightly firmer. But then I remember I just complained about a harder latex mattress, so perhaps this one is just right. After a few nights, I certainly feel it is doing a great job. I am waking up without back pain for the first time in a long time.
FlexiSpot Split King S6 Adjustable Bed Base — Awesome features
This bed is feature laden. First, and most importantly, you have adjustability. The top or head portion can move upwards from flat to a 60-degree angle. At the upper angle, I was able to read or work on the laptop with ease. This is important, because doing so on my old non-adjustable bed usually meant poor posture. The bottom section offers a foot incline of up to 35-degrees.
The bed also has subtle lighting underneath, which you can turn on to act as a nightlight if you must get up to sketch a creative idea that comes into your head or fix yourself a late-night snack.
There are three retainer bars on the bed, one on each side and at the bottom. These keep the mattress in place. One side retainer has a handy pocket to hold the remote.
The bed also has a massage functionality. There is a massage node in both the head and foot section. You can choose from three modes of vibration (pulse, wave, and wave+) and various intensity levels. There is also a timer to shut off the massage.
If I had to think of one small negative about the bed frame, it’s that the massage function really is more of a vibration than a massage. You can feel it through the mattress, but it is subtle. Even with proper padding, the massage motor is quite audible. So, with limited benefit and some noise, I have used it more as a feature to try before ready to sleep than a feature to help me get to sleep.
FlexiSpot Split King S6 Adjustable Bed Base — Settings you definitely need
There are two settings on this bed that I wish I had in my life years ago. First is the Zero Gravity setting, which raises the head and foot portions accordingly to promote weightlessness. While obviously not actually zero gravity, it is a concept that minimizes the force of gravity due to a more even distribution of your body weight. Since your legs are elevated slightly about your heart, it is supposed to promote better circulation. In addition, since your spine has more of a neutral alignment and less pressure applied to it, there should be less strain on your lower back and hip.
All that science aside, I found it difficult to sleep in that position the first few nights. But I didn’t expect to change 40 years of sleeping habits overnight. Even just maintaining the position for a few hours before adjusting the bed position for my usual side sleeping, I woke up with less back pain and notably less hip joint pain. After a few nights, I was sleeping longer in this position and never woke up with back pain. While I need more nights to ensure this continues, so far, the results are quite positive. And I’m sleeping with many less interruptions throughout the night.
There is also an Anti-Snore mode, which raises the head to help reduce snoring. Your partner will thank you. So far, it seems to work – based on the unscientific study of me and my wife not hitting each other with a pillow to stop the snoring during the night.
FlexiSpot Split King S6 Adjustable Bed Base — Handy remote
The remote is well-designed. First, it lights up when you press a button, which of course is extremely useful in the dark. It also has a flashlight feature, so you can point the remote to light up things nearby. This is aside from the button to control the under-bed lighting.
With one touch, you can adjust to the Zero Gravity, Anti-Snore, or Flat settings. You also have individual up/down controls and head/foot massage vibration modes, intensity settings, and timer settings. Finally, you can store three position memory settings.