It took about a day for it to fully relax to its natural state, but once it did it was exactly what I was looking for. I actually opened it and an hour later slept on it for the night. I noticed a drastic difference between the first night and second night. I’m no pro when it comes to mattresses, so comparing it’s firmness is something I cannot do reliably. I will say this is noticeably firmer than my last mattress and it is exactly what I wanted. I learned that I prefer memory foam over springs, another feature I couldn’t distinguish before this mattress. I’ve had pillow tops before, but the memory foam is very different in the best way. I would definitely recommend this mattress.