Air beds are rarely beautiful things, even with attractive models sprawled out on top of them.
However, having a blow up mattress for camping or an emergency visitor is cheaper and more convenient than other guest bed options.
There are three types of air bed on the market in the UK:
- air beds which you pump up yourself with a foot pump or similar – £10 – £30ish (e.g. the Eurohike air bed at #2)
- air beds which can only be inflated with a built-in pump (which requires electricity) – £50 – £100ish (e.g. the Bestway air bed at #5)
- those air beds which have the option of either using a built-in pump or your own foot pump – £50 – £100ish (e.g. the Coleman air bed at #1)
If there’s any possibility that you might use an air bed when you go camping, I would avoid the electric-only air beds. You’ll be reliant on getting an electric hook-up at a campsite. If you’re just using it at home then an airbed which requires electricity is fine as long as the pump doesn’t fail.
‘Manual’ air beds (i.e. ones without a built in pump) are cheapest but they’re a bit of an effort if you’re using it regularly.
We’ve picked out five of the best air beds on the market in the UK by looking at specification, customer reviews and value for money. We’ve included some cheap air beds as well as more luxurious options.
1. Coleman SupportRest Raised Single or King Size Air Bed – £75/£99
This raised Coleman air bed ticks a lot of boxes for me and it’ll do the job for camping or for a guest bed.
Most importantly, it has the option of either using an electric pump or a manual pump. Several air beds that we’ve looked at – such as the Bestway air bed below at #5 -are great if you’ve got mains electricity but not so good if the pump breaks or if you’re at a campsite without an electric hook up.
The pump isn’t included with this Coleman air bed, but there are various options including manual pumps, or one which plugs into the mains, or into a car cigarette lighter socket or a rechargeable one.
Choice of sizes
You can choose from two sizes including a larger one which is 198cm x 152cm (king size) and another which is single sized. Some just come in one size which may be too big for your spare room or your one man tent.
It’s also deeper than many other inflatable beds that we’ve looked at around 50cm. Admittedly it’s only about 5cm deeper than the Bestway air bed (#5), but it might make it feel a bit more like a ‘proper’ bed rather than one which has been put on the floor.
Finally, it’s got good reviews and it’s made by a brand you’ve heard of. Thousands of customers give it an average of 4.5/5.
It can cope with up to 295kg, which is two people weighing 23 stone each. Not sure I’d test it out to the absolute max though…
Pros: multi pumping options, high weight limit, established camping brand, good height
Cons: no single version, colour may not be to everyone’s taste
The Sleep Guy’s value rating: ***** (out of five, see notes at foot of page)
2. BestWay Fortech King Size Airbed – £75
This Bestway air bed at Dreams gets very strong reviews with an average of 4.7/5 from more than 1000 customers.
It’s massively deep at 46cm so you won’t feel like you’re sleeping on the floor and it comes with a built in electric pump. It says the airbed is suitable for camping, but you would obviously need a 3-pin electric hook-up. According to the Q&A on the Dreams website, there isn’t a manual pumping alternative.
It only comes in one size – which is king size – and it inflates in five minutes according to the blurb (some reviews say it is less than five minutes).
The colour of this airbed used to be hearing-aid-beige but it’s been redesigned and is now a grey colour which I think looks a lot better.
Pros: electric pump, long-established bed seller, great customer reviews
Cons: no manual pump alternative, only one size choice
The Sleep Guy’s value rating: ****
3. Eurohike Flocked Airbed In Single or Double – £10/£15
This Eurohike air bed is what you’d call a cheap and cheerful option for the air bed shopper.
Does it come with a top of the range electric pump to make it inflate in seconds? Er, no, you have to pump it up yourself using your own pump.
Is it twice the depth of a normal mattress so you don’t feel like you’re sleeping on the floor? Er, no it’s not actually. It’s about 22cm deep which is similar to a mid-priced mattress.
Will it make camping slightly more tolerable for a few quid? Yes, almost certainly.
It also gets positive customer reviews with an average score of 4.3/5. It’s also made by a well-known camping brand. That provides some reassurance that you won’t wake up lying on a deflated piece of plastic.
Pros: very cheap, good reviews, well-known camping brand
Cons: manual pumping, pump not provided, no king-size version
The Sleep Guy’s value rating: ****
The Eurohike air bed has no frills but it gets good reviews
4. Active Era Single, Double or King Size Air Bed – £69-£97
The Active Era air bed from Amazon has got a vast number of positive reviews at the time of writing. In all, there are more than 10,000 reviews with an average score of 4.3/5 between the single, double and king size options.
It’s another air bed which cleverly offers the option of either pumping it up by plugging it in or using a manual pump. That means it is good for camping or at home.
It’s also one of the few single sized air beds we’ve found which comes in a double depth. Most of the deeper air beds tend to be doubles and king sizes.
The single version is apparently ready to go in a lightning-fast 90 seconds, although I’m not quite sure that having to wait another couple of minutes for a bed to inflate would be a deal-breaker for me.
Pros: quick electric inflating, multi pumping options, lots of positive reviews, single size available in double depth
Cons: less well known camping brand than Eurohike, Trespass or Colemans
The Sleep Guy’s value rating: ****
5. Intex Dura-Beam Series Single Air Bed – £19
If you’re looking for a cheap air bed then this Intex blow up mattress is worth considering.
Unfortunately there is only one size available and it doesn’t come with a pump, so you’ll either need to requisition one from the shed or buy one for about £8 extra. It’s actually slightly wider than a standard single mattress. The size is 191cm x 99cm whereas a standard single mattress is 190 x 90cm.
The Intex air bed is notably thinner than some of the pricier ones on this list. It’s more suited for a couple of nights camping rather than as a mattress for Aunt Maude’s annual visit (unless you don’t want her to stay too long).
It’s about 25cm deep which is about the same as a mid-priced mattress.
There have been thousands of reviews for the Intex Dura-Beam and it scores 4.3/5.
We’ve had a few Intex products over the years (beach balls, paddling pools etc.) and have found them to be well constructed.
Pros: very cheap, strong reviews
Cons: pumps not included, only one size available
Our value rating: ****
About ‘Our value rating’ – we give each air bed a score out of five based on how good value we think it is. We consider factors such as features, brand reputation, warranty length and reviews. A five star product is exceptionally good value. Four star products are very good value. Three star products are good value. Two star and one star products rarely make our recommended guides, but they are products which are reasonable value (**) and poor value (*).