If you're looking for a mattress for under £500, I think Emma's latest launch could be 'the one' – here's what happened when my husband and I put it to the test

My Emma Hybrid Original mattress review puts the brand's most budget-friendly mattress through its paces to see how it performs compared to the best mattresses on the market.

In a nutshell

Following the discontinuation of the Emma Original, the Emma Hybrid Original mattress is now the brand's most affordable mattress and its under £500 price point makes it likely to become another bestseller.

I tested it for a month, and overall I was impressed. Unlike the all-foam Emma Original mattress which lacked spring support, this new hybrid design is constructed with foam and memory foam top layers and pocket spring support underneath, and I found its medium tension a great fit for my sleeping preferences.

Despite its fairly basic appearance, it was cushioning when I slept on my side, yet firm enough to give me good support when I laid on my back. Unlike the all-foam Emma Original which left many of our reviewers overheating at night, I also never woke up too hot on the Hybrid Original.

My husband also thought it was comfortable and supportive, although he did note it felt more bouncy than similar mattresses, which he didn’t like. But, overall I thought the Hybrid's motion isolation was decent, although I felt its edge support and overall build quality could have been better.

All in all, for under £500, this mattress is a decent all-rounder. It feels and looks fairly basic, but its main downside is the no-frills customer service and delivery process – although its mattress-in-a-box delivery is convenient for those with awkward access, delivery is to the doorstep only, so you'll need to get it into your bedroom yourself.

Emma Hybrid Original Mattress review

Specifications

• Type: hybrid
• Construction materials: pocket springs with foam and memory foam top layers
• Sizes: single, small double, double, king, super king, EU single, EU double, EU king
• Tensions available: on a scale from 1 (firm) to 10 (soft), the Hybrid Original is a 7 (medium) mattress
• Height: 22cm
• Side handles: yes, two on each side
• Flip or rotate: rotate
• Manufacturer sleep trial: 200 night

1. Comfort

Before I popped my bedsheets on the Hybrid Original, I unzipped the cover to peek inside and I have to admit I was pretty dubious about how comfortable this mattress was going to be when I laid on it.

It's a hybrid mattress with pocket spring support and a foam and memory foam comfort layer, but with the cover off that foam layer looked pretty minimal, and its build quality looked a little... basic... compared to the (admittedly more expensive) mattresses I'd just been testing.

However, my first impressions of laying on this mattress were good. Emma states the Hybrid Original is a 'medium' tension and as my preference is always for a firmer mattress I was slightly concerned I would find it too soft. However, in practice, I found it comfortable but still firm enough to offer good support.

Usually, I sleep on my side or back, and I tend to find a medium-firm mattress suits me best as I need cushioning to allow my hip and shoulder to sink into the mattress so that my spine stays aligned when I'm laid on my side, but enough support for when I'm laid on my back.

The Emma Hybrid Original Mattress has a foam top layer that cushioned my shoulder and hip really well when I slept on my side and I felt it allowed the perfect sinkage so that my spine was kept aligned. After the first week of sleeping on my side on this mattress I didn’t have any hip or shoulder pain and my lower back wasn’t aching like it sometimes does, which suggests my spine was in good alignment.

The top foam layer offered more cushioning than the similarly budget-friendly IKEA Valevag mattress I recently tested and I definitely appreciated this around my shoulder and hip.

When I slept on my back on this mattress I also slept really well. Back sleepers usually need a slightly firmer mattress to support the hips and lower back to ensure they don’t dip too low, but also enough cushioning to support the lower back.

This mattress offered a perfect combination of support and cushioning. The memory foam top layer felt lovely to lay on – a bit like I was sleeping on a mattress with a mattress topper on the top! But at the same time, I didn’t feel I was sinking into it too much; the mattress was supportive so that my back and hips didn’t dip too low, and my posture stayed aligned. My husband agreed that it felt nicely firm.

2. Motion isolation

I felt the Hybrid Original's motion isolation was pretty good. However, my husband thought that this mattress felt more ‘bouncy’ than some that I’ve tested, and was less keen.

Memory foam mattresses are known for reducing motion transfer from one side of the bed to the other as the cushioning foam dampens and absorbs movement and vibrations, and this worked in the Hybrid Original's favour.

When my husband was moving around next to me the vibrations didn’t bother me half as much as they normally do on other mattresses. And when my youngest son who weighs about 35kg and moves around a lot in his sleep, slept on it next to me I didn’t feel his movements at all.

I noticed how good the motion isolation was when I was sitting in bed reading my book one Sunday morning and both of my boys jumped in next to me, the movement didn’t throw me around as much as usual!

3. Responsiveness

Although this mattress features a memory foam layer, I found its responsiveness really good. I didn't ever feel I was sinking into its surface too deeply, and when I got up or changed sleeping position it quickly bounced back into shape. Consequently, rolling over wasn’t difficult, and nor was getting out of the bed.

4. Temperature regulation

One of the problems I've found with some memory foam mattresses, is that they can lack breathability and cause me to overheat at night, even though I'm usually a cold sleeper.

However, when I slept on this mattress for a month I didn’t wake up feeling hot and sweaty as I often do and I didn't ever wake up to find my bedsheet feeling damp with sweat like I have done previously on other mattresses.

Probably that's because that foam layer is quite minimal, so there's plenty of space for air to flow through the pocket springs beneath.

5. Edge support

The Emma Hybrid Original Mattress doesn't claim to have reinforced edge support, so considering its price tag I was expecting this to be an area where it did a little less well in our testing process. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

The edges of this mattress are deceptive! At first glance, they didn’t look overly supportive as the fabric around the edges looked slightly creased and a bit baggy even after the mattress had fully inflated. Plus, when I felt the sides of the mattress with my hand I could feel the springs through the fabric.

However, I weigh about 9.5 stones and when I sat on the edge there was a bit of sinkage but my bottom didn’t sink right down to feel the bed frame like it has on other mattresses I've tested at this price point. Laying on the mattress and rolling close to the edge, I didn't find the edge dipped down as much as some other mattresses in this price bracket. It wasn't the best edge support, but it also wasn't the worst.

Overall, I felt the edges were more supportive than both the IKEA Valevag mattress and the Simba Hybrid Essential mattress I've recently tested. However, your weight will have an impact on edge support.

My husband, who weighs just over twelve stones, commented that the edge support wasn’t as good as the more expensive mattresses we've tested – in particular the Sealy Newton Posturepedic mattress which has exceptional edge support – but I thought it was definitely better than most mattresses I've slept on at the budget end of the price scale.

6. Sleep trial

There aren't many places you can test out an Emma mattress in store, but the good news is that the brand offers mattress sleep trials on all of its range.

This means that you can buy the mattress, sleep on it at home, and return it if you don't find it the right sleep surface for you. This is important as experts say it can take up to 30 nights to adjust to a new mattress.

As of writing, Emma offers a 200 night sleep trial on the Hybrid Original, so that's plenty of time to sleep on it (literally) and decide whether it's the right option for you.

7. Ease of care

The memory foam top layer means that you can’t flip this mattress. Instead, Emma recommends rotating it monthly for the first six months to prevent body impressions, then switching to rotation every three months. The four vertical side handles on two sides of the mattress make this easy to do.

This mattress also comes with a removable cover that's easily unzipped and can be machine-washed to freshen up the mattress. Whilst you can add one of the best mattress protectors to any mattress, this is still a nice added extra for peace of mind.

Removing the mattress cover was easy. I machine-washed it at 40 degrees as per the instructions and let it dry on an airer by the radiator. It dried quickly and although it was a bit of a fiddle to put back on, and I needed another pair of hands to help me position it into place, it washed well and fitted back onto the mattress well.

8. Delivery

Arranging mattress delivery was easy with clear communication from the start. I received a text message the evening before our delivery day telling me that delivery was due tomorrow via UPS. The following day I got another text message telling me that my mattress was due to arrive that day.

The Hybrid Original is a mattress-in-a-box delivery, which means it arrives rolled and packaged into a compact cardboard box - useful for people like me who have awkward access to negotiate.

The downside is that Emma only offers doorstep delivery as standard, so you'll need to have the ability to heft this mattress into your room of choice yourself. The brand also doesn’t offer removal of your old mattress like most mattress companies do.

Emma says the Hybrid Original should take 24 hours to fully inflate after it’s unboxed. Although the brand does also mention that ‘it is not entirely uncommon for the mattress to not inflate to its full size immediately,' stating it 'should reach 90%-95% of the desired depth within 48 hours,' but 'it may take an extra couple of days to reach the optimal height.’

I did notice that the sides of the mattress looked initially quite creased and baggy, but this did improve over time as inflation happened.

9. Third-party reviews

This mattress is a fairly new launch for Emma so reviews are somewhat limited so far. However, as of writing, the reviews I found for the Emma Hybrid Original mattress on Argos score the mattress an average of 3.9 stars out of 5.

A lot of these reviews describe the mattress as ‘great’ and ‘very comfy', whilst some mention the detail I noticed with the springs not having much protection at the sides of the mattress.

One reviewer says, 'Top side memory foam is very comfy but... you can feel the coil springs very clearly at the sides of the mattress, obviously you're not sleeping on them but I am more aware of them than I would like.'

Emma's Trustpilot reviews are also mixed, with the brand currently scoring an average of 2.8 out of 5 from reviewers.

10. Value for money

As of writing, the Emma Hybrid Original mattress costs £418 for a double and £468 for a king-size mattress.

For comparison, Simba's most affordable mattress, the Simba Hybrid Essential Mattress costs £599 for a double at full price, so the Emma Hybrid Original potentially offers a considerable saving.

All in all, I found the Simba mattress a little more comfortable during my tests, and Simba's delivery process offers room of choice and white glove delivery options for those who don't want to (or can't) do heavy lifting.

Simba will also collect your old mattress on delivery day to ensure it's responsibly recycled, the brand uses CertiPUR® foam in all of its mattresses (which is verified free from heavy metals like mercury or lead) and Simba's Trustpilot score is higher, averaging 4.3 out of 5 stars. So if my budget stretched to the Simba Hybrid Essential Mattress, that would be my top choice for the best affordable mattress.

However, if you're after a mattress for under £500, I was impressed by the Emma Hybrid Original. For me, this mattress is neck and neck with the Origin Hybrid mattress in terms of performance. Although, the Origin model is currently cheaper, priced at £341 for a double.

I found it more comfortable than the (admittedly much cheaper) IKEA VALEVÅG pocket sprung mattress, which is £219 for a double, and a big step up in comfort compared to the Dreams Workshop Follows Traditional Spring Mattress which is currently just £179 for a double and the Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress which is usually on sale for under £200.

How I tested

Rachel Tompkins

I’m Rachel, a 44-year-old mother and freelance reviewer who helps the Ideal Home team put mattresses through their paces to find our top recommendations. For this review, I tested the Emma Hybrid Original Mattress on a slatted bed base.

My sleep stats:

Sleep position: back or side
Tension preference: firm
Sleep problems: lower back pain and/or neck pain and occasional overheating
Height & weight: 5"5 and 9.5 stones

In putting the Emma Hybrid Original Mattress through Ideal Home's mattress testing process I assessed ten factors that we deem vital to any mattress purchase.

I tested the mattress for comfort, motion isolation, responsiveness, temperature regulation, and edge support. This means that myself (and my husband) slept on the mattress for a minimum of two weeks before I wrote my review.

I also took into consideration ease of care, any sleep trials available, the delivery process, its value for money, and, where possible, researched third-party customer reviews – to see if they aligned or were at odds with my own experience – before writing my own review and giving this mattress a star rating.