This site uses cookies - see our privacy policy. Ads & links in bold may give us a small payment from the seller, at no cost to the buyer. However, this never affects our views - if we like it, we recommend it.
5 Best Metal Bed Frames 2020 and 2021
Metal beds are one of the cheapest bedframe options and a good one can cope with considerable weight. They're stylish and they don't need cleaning like a divan base. On the downside, some cheap metal beds tend to squeak a bit and move around.
The jury is still out on whether it's more painful to walk into a metal bed or a wooden bed at 2am on the way to the toilet.
I reckon there are two main things to look out for when you're buying a metal bed:
We've picked out five of the best metal beds on the market in the UK. We've picked a range of prices including some very cheap metal beds, since I get irritated by buying guides which assume you want to re-mortgage the house to pay for a new bed.
We looked at customer reviews, awards, specification and anything else relevant for our top 5. Prices are for double metal beds and are correct at the time of writing.
The jury is still out on whether it's more painful to walk into a metal bed or a wooden bed at 2am on the way to the toilet.
I reckon there are two main things to look out for when you're buying a metal bed:
- Cheap metal beds have thin metal rungs for the mattress to sit on. They'll do the job but your mattress will get better support from the solid wooden slats or sprung wooden slats you get on posher metal beds. Whichever you choose, it's important the slats/rungs aren't too far apart. Most guides suggest a maximum of about 7cm between wooden slats is best. If all else fails, you could try putting a thin wooden board over the rungs to spread the weight out (even a piece of thick cardboard will be better than nothing).
- Cheaper metal beds tend to be a bit lightweight and might blow away with a gentle breeze. Take a look at the maximum weight limit to get an idea of how sturdy it is. If the maximum weight isn't listed, take a look at the actual weight of the bed - lighter beds won't usually be as solid. Most metal beds are made from steel but a few very posh ones are made from heavier materials like wrought iron.
We've picked out five of the best metal beds on the market in the UK. We've picked a range of prices including some very cheap metal beds, since I get irritated by buying guides which assume you want to re-mortgage the house to pay for a new bed.
We looked at customer reviews, awards, specification and anything else relevant for our top 5. Prices are for double metal beds and are correct at the time of writing.
1. Birlea Atlas Metal Bed frame - £165
|
This Birlea Atlas metal bed is only available as a metal single bed, small double bed or double bed but it has a few key advantages over similarly priced one.
Most significantly, it comes with a 5 year guarantee (that's if you buy it from Happy Beds, it is only 1 year from some other places). It's got a sprung slatted base to support the mattress, whereas most metal beds around this price have thinner metal rungs. It's also got a higher weight limit than some of the cheap metal beds we've found. The double bed version can cope with 250kg, whilst the Aingoo metal bed (see #4 below) is much less. To avoid you getting out a calculator, that means that the limit is two people weighing about 15-18 stone each (the exact figure varies depending on how much your mattress weighs). It's only available as a single metal bed or a double metal bed but you can pick between white and cream. This model was scoring close to 5/5 on Happy Beds when we checked, although that is only based on about a dozen reviews. On Amazon, it was scoring 4.2/5 at the time of typing. Overall, the Birlea brand was scoring 3.6/5 on TrustPilot or 4.7/5 on Google Reviews when we checked in January 2021. |
This Birlea metal bed has a long warranty and a good specification for the price.
|
2. Dreams Westbrook Metal Bed Frame - £249
|
This Dreams metal bed is a good option if you want a simple design from a respected bed company. It only comes as a single or double metal bed unfortunately.
The main advantage it has over some of the cheaper metal beds on the market is that it has a choice of sprung or solid wooden slats. Sprung slats give you a slightly softer and comfier feel than you get with solid slats and they're certainly preferable to thin metal rungs for supporting your mattress. According to the Q&A, it doesn't have a weight limit and the gaps between the slats are 8cm on the solid slats version or just under 5cm on the upgraded sprung slats version. It only comes in black but has decent customer reviews, with an average of 4.7/5 from about 500 ratings. If you're after a white bed frame for around this price then have a look at the Ava metal bed frame from Dreams. |
This metal bed from Dreams has more than 500 reviews and a choice of sprung or solid slats
|
3. Dreams Hugo Metal bed frame - £699
|
This Hugo metal bed from Dreams isn't the cheapest but it is much more substantial than most metal beds and it gets terrific reviews.
As with some other Dreams bedsteads, it has the big advantage of allowing you to choose from sprung slats or solid slats. Sprung slats offer a bit of a softer feel whilst solid slats don't have as much flexibility so they feel firmer. This one weighs in at more than 50kg in a double size, almost three times as much as the Aingoo Metal Bed Frame below (admittedly the Hugo has a more complicated design which will add to the weight). According to the online Q&A, there is no weight limit to this metal bed which is a sign that it's well built. Please don't test it out by sharing a bed with an elephant. Customers rave about this one with a near perfect average of 4.8/5 from 300+ reviews. This metal bed is available in double, king size or super king size. Most metal beds don't seem to go up to super king size. On the downside, it only comes in one colour and it only has a one year guarantee. |
It costs more than most metal beds, but the Hugo bed has 'no weight limit'...
..and it comes in double, king size or super king size.
|
4. Aingoo metal bed frame - £79
|
This Aingoo metal bed is definitely in the cheap and cheerful metal bed category, but let's not write it off. It's got 2000+ customer reviews with an average score of 4.3/5 which is a considerable number of satisfied customers.
So what's the difference between this metal bed and one which costs ten times as much? Firstly, it is light, with the double metal bed frame weighing about 20kg whilst some metal beds weigh about three times that. It's made from steel, which is the same material used in most other metal beds (you'll sometimes see iron and other materials, but not very often). One part of the listing says that the weight limit is 150kg whilst another says 200kg. Assuming the higher figure is accurate, that means it could cope with 23-28 stone once you've allowed for the weight of a double mattress. So, if you're sharing this bed then that would be a weight limit of about 11 - 14 stone each (well, that's my calculations anyway - please do your own sums before testing it to the limit). Another difference is that the mattress is supported by metal rungs rather than flat wooden slats. Plenty of people use metal rungs without any problem but some guides I've read suggest that your mattress will be better supported by slats. If you're looking for something similar but don't want metal rungs, try this Westbrook Metal Bed Frame from Dreams which is mentioned earlier in this guide. It comes with a choice of solid slats (firmer) or sprung slats (softer and comfier). |
The Aingoo metal bed is cheap and lighter than most, but reviews are good.
|
5. Wrought Iron And Brass Bed Co. Sophie Iron metal Bed Frame - £795
|
The more financially astute amongst you will have noticed that this metal bed from the Wrought Iron and Brass Bed Company is about 10 times the price of the cheapest bed on this metal beds guide.
The main difference is that it's made in the UK from solid wrought iron. As a result it is really heavy. The double version weighs 55kg, which is nearly treble the weight of the John Lewis & Partners Alpha metal bed which is made from steel (admittedly it has a more complicated design which will contribute to the weight). It uses wooden slats instead of metal rungs to support the mattress, which means there's less chance of your pocket sprung mattress getting lumpy because some of the springs don't have anything underneath them. The slats are solid slats so they'll give a firmer feel than sprung flats would. If you really want to splash out, they also sell more expensive versions which are even heavier. It comes in black or ivory/white. |
This luxury metal bed isn't cheap but it is very solid
|
