Mlily Memory Gel 500 Review
An all-foam mattress whose model number looks like a spring count and is not.
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Verdict
An all-foam mattress whose model number looks like a spring count and is not. There are no springs in this at all, and that single fact is the most useful thing on this page because the rest of Mlily's range numbers its models by spring count.
Buy it if
You want a cheap gel foam mattress for a spare room and you understand there are no springs in it.
Avoid it if
You assumed the 500 meant springs, or heat is the problem you are trying to solve.
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| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | All foam with gel |
| Springs | None |
| What the 500 means | A tier marker, not a spring count |
| Foam density | Not published, which is the norm at this price |
| The trap | Every other Mlily collection numbers by spring count |
The scores
Ordinary budget gel foam, in a range where the numbering invites a wrong assumption.
Cheap, and so is every all-foam mattress at this level.
No spring core and no published density.
Gel conducts heat a few centimetres into foam, where it stays.
No perimeter reinforcement.
Foam does this well, and it is the genuine strength.
Varies by seller. Check before ordering.
Decoding the range
The number is the spring count, except in the foam ranges
In Mlily's Gel, Deluxe, Premier, Supreme and Haluna collections, the number in the model name is the spring count in a king size. A double has fewer and a single fewer still, because spring density stays roughly constant while the area shrinks.
In the Memory and Memory Gel collections there are no springs at all and the number is a tier marker. That is the one place buyers get caught out.
There are no springs in this
The 500 is not a spring count
The Memory and Memory Gel collections contain no springs. The number is a tier marker.
In Mlily's Gel, Deluxe, Premier, Supreme and Haluna collections the number genuinely is the spring count in a king. That inconsistency is exactly where a buyer gets caught out, because a Memory Gel 500 next to a Gel 1000 looks like a choice between 500 and 1,000 springs and is actually a choice between none and a thousand.
The number that is never printed
With no springs to compare, the way to judge a foam mattress is density, and essentially nobody publishes it.
Density is measured in kilograms per cubic metre. Standard memory foam runs from around 16 to 80, with decent comfort layers between 48 and 72. It is the best available predictor of how long a foam mattress holds its shape: low density foam develops body impressions within three to five years, high density holds considerably longer.
Foam cost is dominated by density, which is exactly why brands competing on price stay quiet about it. At the cheap end, silence is informative rather than neutral.
Ergoflex publishes that its comfort layer is high density and has traded since 2006. That is the comparison to make if you specifically want foam.
A correction worth making
Commonly repeated, and wrong
Model numbers across mattress ranges are widely assumed to mean spring count, and in Mlily's foam collections they do not. The Memory and Memory Gel models contain no springs at all and the number is a tier marker, while every other Mlily collection numbers by spring count in a king size. That inconsistency within one brand is the most likely place for a buyer to be caught out.
Should you buy it?
Only as a cheap foam mattress for a spare room, judged on its own terms.
If you want springs, the Gel 1000 has a thousand of them. If you want foam done properly, Ergoflex publishes its density and has traded since 2006.
Questions people ask
Does the Mlily Memory Gel 500 have springs?
None. The Memory and Memory Gel collections contain no springs and the number is a tier marker, while every other Mlily collection numbers by spring count in a king size. That inconsistency is where buyers get caught out.
How do I judge a foam mattress?
By density, measured in kilograms per cubic metre, which almost nobody publishes. Standard memory foam runs from around 16 to 80, with decent comfort layers between 48 and 72. Foam cost is dominated by density, which is why cheap brands stay quiet about it.