Best mattress for 2023 tried and tested, including pocket-sprung, memory foam and hybrid mattresses
We've consulted experts to compile this handy guide to finding the best mattress for a restful night's sleep, from Simba to Emma and Nectar
Be honest: when was the last time you bought a new mattress? You may well have heard that a mattress needs replacing every seven years, but experts say this is an urban myth. Even the best mattress is due an upgrade as soon as you begin to notice aches and pains, or wake up feeling less rested than before.
Quality of sleep is vital for our overall health and well being – so it’s surprising that so many of us will put up with a mattress that’s lumpy, creaky or sagging in the middle. “We spend a third of our lives asleep, so a mattress is actually the product you probably spend the most time with,” says sleep expert James Wilson (also known as 'The Sleep Geek').
“Sleep forms the foundation for rest of our health. During sleep, your body recovers – both physically (during deep sleep) and emotionally (during the REM stage of sleep). Sleep is where we process the memories and what we have learnt for the day. If we are sleeping well, we are more emotionally resilient, we find it easier to eat healthily and are more motivated to exercise and socialise.”
Wilson himself has an individually customised mattress from UnikBed, which manufactures each mattress based on an individualised assessment with the assistance of physiotherapist. However, such a custom-made mattress comes at a cost.
Thankfully there are such a variety of mattress available online that you can still find one to suit individual needs, and below we've sampled hybrid, memory foam and pocket sprung mattresses from Simba, Brooke + Wilde, Emma, Silentnight, and good old Ikea.
How I tested the best mattresses
As well as sourcing opinions from experts in the field, I visited department stores to lie on the mattresses featured on this list, gaining more insight from people who work on the shop floor and so have the best working knowledge of what makes a mattress popular. As a writer for the Telegraph's lifestyle sections, I've also researched the best mattresses for back pain and the best sofa beds, duvets, electric blankets and duvet covers.
At a glance: the best mattresses for 2023
- Best mattress overall – Simba Hybrid Pro
- Best hybrid mattress – Brook + Wilde Lux
- Best bed-in-a-box mattress – Emma Premium hybrid
- Best pocket-sprung mattress – Silentnight Genius 1200 Pocket Memory
- Best memory foam mattress – Nectar Memory Foam
Read on for our full reviews
The best mattresses
1. Simba Hybrid Pro Mattress
Best overall, 10/10
- Sizes – Single, Small Double, Double, EU Double, EU Queen, King, Super King
- Type – hybrid
- Free trial – 1 year
- Guarantee – 10 years
- Firmness – medium
It doesn’t come cheap, but this consistently top-rated hybrid mattress is worth every penny should you choose to invest, thanks to its winning combination of cloud-like lightness, temperature regulation and unparalleled support - and you get a free mattress protector thrown in.
It has seven engineered layers which show a near-obsessive attention to detail: a super soft surface followed by wool (which regulates temperature better than foam), Simba’s “open-cell” foam, two layers of springs, and then two more layers of foam. The mattress is 28cm deep and contains 5,000 "Aerocoil" springs.
Given the number of mattresses that end up in landfill at the end of their lifespan, Simba’s dedication to sustainability is also admirable; the foam used in their mattresses is CertiPUR certified free of toxic dyes and heavy metals. Simba only offers one firmness option, but the Hybrid mattress is available in a wide range of sizes: single, small double, queen, double, king and super-king. You can rest easy knowing that each mattress also comes with a 10-year guarantee and a 200 night no-strings-attached trial.
Simba Hybrid Pro also available at Very (£1,499 for a double)
2. Silentnight Genius 1200 Pocket Memory mattress
Best pocket-sprung mattress, 9/10
- Sizes – Single, Double, King, Super King
- Type – pocket sprung
- Free trial – No
- Guarantee – 5 years
- Firmness – medium
This ‘pocket memory mattress’ is Silentnight’s answer to a hybrid design (and it rings in at a lower price than the bed-in-a-box models above, at £549 for a double). It has the perfect soft-medium firmness for if you like a bed to sink into, but still need ample support. With a layer of extra-comfortable memory foam followed by “Zoned Mirapocket®” pocket springs, you get the best of both worlds.
It’s especially recommended for side sleepers who need a little extra softness, and it’s a great choice for allergy sufferers, too, as it’s made with a specially designed Purotex which reduces moisture and dust-mite allergens. It’s single-sided, so doesn’t need flipping, although it is recommended that you rotate the mattress from head to toe regularly for best performance.
For a more premium model, try the Silentnight Sleep Genius 2000 Pocket Comfort Mattress (£659) – it has more springs, for extra bounce, and is made from recycled plastic bottles (it’s also fully recyclable at the end of its life).
- Sizes – Single, Double, King, Super King
- Type – hybrid
- Free trial – 100 nights
- Guarantee – 10 years
- Firmness – medium
Another hybrid model worth considering is the Brook + Wilde Lux mattress. It sits in the middle of the price spectrum for bed-in-a-box brands – it’s cheaper than the Simba Hybrid above but is still a significant outlay. However, you get a similarly well-thought-out structure and premium technology.
It’s also the only hybrid mattress to include two separate layers of pocket springs plus memory foam. It has six layers: a breathable cover; cooling memory foam; 2,000 mini pocket springs; ‘wave technology’ foam that is engineered to offer higher-density support for your neck and shoulders; another layer of 1,000 pocket springs; and finally a supportive base. Although it’s made from CertiPur certified foam, there is an initial chemical smell on opening.
Unlike most other bed-in-a-box companies, Brook + Wilde also offer three different firmness options to choose from (and you can swap it if it’s not right thanks to the 100 night trial period). It comes in four sizes: single, double, king and super-king.
- Sizes – Single, Small Double, Double, King, Super King
- Type – hybrid
- Free trial – 200 nights
- Guarantee – 10 years
- Firmness – medium
This leading bed-in-a-box mattress brand has been overrun with awards for their comfortable, supportive memory foam. The original Emma foam mattress is still a popular choice, but even better is their new premium hybrid model, which couples foam with the support of pocket springs.
It’s a bit of a jump up from the original Emma mattress price-wise, but you do get tangibly more support from the inclusion of springs. The mattress comprises five layers: the first is breathable ‘open-pored’ memory foam, followed by slightly firmer pressure-relieving memory foam, a second layer of the breathable foam, a layer of extra-tall 12.5cm pocket springs and then a firm base layer of foam.
Emma’s other big selling point is the ease of their (free) delivery service: the mattresses in a box with a generous 200 night trial and money back guarantee, so there’s no risk if you decide the mattress isn’t for you. The Premium mattress is also ready to sleep on within an hour of unboxing it – although it doesn’t lose that slightly chemical ‘new mattress’ smell for a couple of days. It's slightly thinner than the mattresses above, at 25cm, and comes in four standard sizes (single, double, king and super-king).
- Sizes – Single, Small Double, Double, King, Super King
- Type – memory foam
- Free trial – 1 year
- Guarantee – forever
- Firmness – medium
This medium-firm memory foam mattress is one of the most affordable bed-in-a-box options out there, and it's a good midway point for those who want the soft, sinking feeling of memory foam but still need a fair amount of support. It’s the only mattress to offer a 365 night trial, so you have an entire year to decide if it’s right for you.
But how does it feel? Although it says it consists of five layers, two of those are just covers – the core of the mattress is actually two layers of memory foam and then a firmer memory foam base. It is excellent at minimising motion transfer between you and a partner, and has a pleasing stability that’s soft yet supportive. It's available in five sizes: single, small double, double, king and super-king.
6. Simba GO (green organic) hybrid mattress
Best environmentally friendly mattress, 8/10
- Sizes: single, double, king, superking
- Type: hybrid
- Free trial: 200 nights
- Guarantee: 10 years
- Firmness: medium firm
Reviewed by Simon Lewis
Simba have always recycled or refurbished old mattresses, rather than sending them to landfill, and their deliveries are all carbon neutral. So it makes you wonder what the target market is for an even-more environmentally friendly mattress, especially when it costs £700 more than the Hybrid Pro at the top of this list. Normally, the more you pay, the more layers you get - their Hybrid Luxe has 10 layers - but this has six. That’s one less than the Pro.
So, on the face of it, to be kinder to the planet you're asked not just to pay more money but to sacrifice on comfort. However, I’ve slept on the Pro and the GO, and I’d say they’re equally comfortable. It’s just achieved in a different way.
The GO has one layer of recycled steel aerocoil springs versus the Hybrid Pro’s two. The outer cover is organic cotton and beneath that, instead of Simbatex foam for comfort it uses organic, sustainably sourced latex. It has five zones of support compared to the Hybrid Pro’s nine and it lacks the Pro’s breathable wool layer, instead using a recycled synthetic cushioning material called Simba Renew for airflow, which also discourages dust mites and is hypoallergenic.
What does all this mean in practice? The GO is definitely on the firm side, which I like (it’s good for my middle-aged back). Compared to a soft mattress, it takes very little effort to turn over in the night, so I can pretty much roll over without waking up. I certainly wake my wife less. When drifting off, the memory foam top layer is nicely cosseting.
To test bed springs, I always press down with my full bodyweight on both fists. I could feel that the GO has proper, deep springs with a good amount of give, but also a tight recoil. I repeated the press-test up and down the length of the bed and the amount of give changes: it’s firmer under the lower back, where you want more support, while there’s a bit more give under the shoulders.
My mum has slept on this mattress too and she says the same thing as my wife and I: you sleep better, without really knowing why. There’s no doubt it’s a great product, but we come back to the original question: who is it for? My hunch is that hotels, who love to trumpet their green credentials, will go mad for it. The rest of us, much as we’d like to be green, may prefer to buy the Hybrid Pro and pocket the 700 quid. Don’t tell Greta Thunberg, will you?
FAQ
How to choose a mattress
There are a wide range of mattresses out there that all make very similar promises. How are you supposed to know which will help you sleep better?
As with your pillow, the best mattress for you will largely depend on personal preference and factors such as your sleeping position – whether you sleep on your front, back or side. However, the best regarded and most popular mattresses (regardless of what type of sleeper you are) fall under three broad categories:
- Pocket sprung: These, the most popular type of mattresses, are made from individually woven pockets of springs. They tend to feel bouncy and supportive; they’re also excellent if you share a bed as they provide individual support that means you’re unlikely to find you both roll into the middle.
- Memory foam: Some think that memory foam is now falling out of favour, since basic memory foam mattresses tend to trap heat. However, new formulations of foam are specifically designed for better temperature regulation, so a memory foam mattress is still well worth considering. They consist of a base layer of supportive foam, usually topped with a second (and in some cases third) layer of softer foam which moulds to your body shape for comfort.
- Hybrid: hybrid mattresses contain both a layer of pocket springs and a layer of memory foam to provide improved comfort, support and temperature regulation.
There are other, more niche types of mattress out there – such as latex mattresses, which tend to be very expensive – and open-coil mattresses, which tend to be cheap and uncomfortable.
How often should you change your mattress?
According to sleep consultant Dr Neil Stanley, "you should buy a new bed when you start noticing your old one." This could mean noticing discomfort, waking up with aches and pains or not feeling rested. Worn fabric or squeaky springs are also a tell-tale sign that it’s time to upgrade (or else add a mattress topper as a temporary fix). Also, a word of warning: “remember that each night you sweat a significant amount of moisture and shed a good amount of dead skin into your mattress,” Stanley says, “So for hygiene reasons it would be good to change your bed regularly." Safe to say if your mattress starts to smell, it’s high time you found a replacement.
How to look after your mattress?
Wash your bed linen every two weeks, use a mattress protector to prevent stains, pull your duvet back to allow it to air everyday, and turn it regularly to avoid sagging, according to Dreams. In the case of spills, use warm soapy water and a cloth as soon as possible.
In the case of smells, including the new mattress odour (which is caused by concentrated chemicals in a small area, from being packed up), air it by an open window for at least a couple of hours.
How much should I spend on a mattress?
Mattresses cost on average between £350 and £3,000, so you can basically pay what you can afford, with excellent options at each end of the scale.
"The best way to make your money go further is to do the research," says Penny Albright, founder of Easy Sleep Guide. Most people assume that the less you pay, the less you get but that isn’t true with modern mattresses. You can find memory foam for £500 and under. There are many affordable options out there when you look."
"Going up a scale, you can spend just under £1,000 on something like the Emma mattress, with three layers of foam for those that need spinal support. Products around this price range also have temperature regulating technologies and are highly breathable. At the top end of the scale, you can get a Simba Hybrid mattress that has seven layers, including one made of pure wool," she explains.
Penny also warns that catering for back pain might come with a greater price tag. "If you time things just right you can usually get a great deal from some of the top award-winners around January, so being thrifty will really pay off," she says.
View the latest Simba Sleep and Emma Mattress deals