The best hybrid mattresses in the UK in 2025, tested by our sleep experts
What are the best hybrid mattresses to buy in the UK right now?
Mattresses are those tricky things, like a pair of glasses, a car or a pet, where choosing the right one can make an astonishing difference to your quality of life – indeed, a difference so significant that you can almost feel frozen when it comes to picking one. Mattresses can be expensive and unwieldy, inconvenient to return despite the best efforts of mattress companies to streamline the process, and are often subject to very specific demands by whomever is sleeping on them. Getting the right one for your bed is essential.
Part of the reason why there is such an appetite for testing and writing about mattresses, in general, is that they are, of course, quite difficult to distinguish between. First up, there’s the fact they pretty much all look the same, give or take a grey-versus-white divide which is nearly always hidden by sheets, mattress protectors and/or toppers anyway. Broadly speaking, your mattress is going to be a twenty-five- to thirty-five-centimetre wad of springs, memory foam and other soft layers.
Far more important is the feel of your mattress, and how it helps or hinders sleep on a nightly basis. With a hybrid mattress, the aim is to balance the supportive structure of a traditional sprung mattress with the softness of that more modern innovation, memory foam. Hybrids traditionally therefore have some sort of balance between these two layers.
You should replace your mattress every seven years, according to The Sleep Charity, or every five if you’re taking your tips from James Leinhardt, founder of UK sleep brand Levitex. “A good quality mattress should last at least five years,” says James, “so always make sure it comes with a warranty for peace of mind. That said, don’t just go by the years, if you notice sinking in the middle, find it difficult to move around easily, or you’re waking up uncomfortably or in pain, it’s probably time for a new one.” You can also take a look at our dedicated guide on how to clean a mattress, in order to keep yours in tip-top condition.
Below, we’ve taken a look at the very best hybrid mattresses on the market. They range in price and in firmness, and between our very knowledgeable team, we’ve slept on every single one for a good period of time each to ensure an in-depth and serious review.
What are the best hybrid mattress deals in the Black Friday mattress sales?
The Black Friday mattress sales are very much underway at most of our favourite brands. If you're looking to shop, we've included our top deals below…
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Simba Sleep
Simba Hybrid Ultra Mattress
- Very luxurious, you really do get what you pay for.
- Crafted with hi-tech materials.
- Highest number of springs in a Simba mattress, for more adaptive support.
- Quite heavy.
- Perhaps navigating a 35cm high mattress is not the most exciting prospect if your existing sheets don't fit it, or if you prefer a lower height bed.
- Very expensive.
- How House & Garden tests the best hybrid mattresses
- Our criteria
- Who we are and why you can trust us
- The best hybrid mattresses in the UK for 2025
- Comparing the top three
- Which hybrid mattress is the best in the UK?
- Do you really need a mattress topper or just a better mattress?
- Is a hybrid mattress better for back pain?
How House & Garden tests the best hybrid mattresses
On an aesthetic level, there's not much to distinguish one mattress from another. It's simply impossible to know whether one mattress is better than another from a photo on the internet. To that end, we've rigorously tried, tested and subsequently reviewed the mattresses in this guide to help you make an informed decision. In every case, the House & Garden mattress testers and reviewers have gone on to choose their tested mattress as their permanent sleeping pick. We've outlined our process below, from the criteria we use to assess each mattress to who the team are and where their expertise comes from.
When we send any of our team of mattress experts and sleep writers out to test a mattress, we arm them with a list of criteria to rate and review their mattress against. We're assessing everything from first experiences with the delivery process (was it quick and easy, did they help us recycle our old mattresses), to how our sleep fared night after night, the temperature regulation, how it felt to sleep on our own and as a couple on it, whether or not it had any sagging, and ultimately if it was in line with everything the brand promised about it online (was it really soft, medium or firm?). Only the mattresses that score top marks across all of these features are included in our guide, and we've also noted the pros and cons of each when diving into the details of each mattress below.
Our team at House & Garden is led by Commerce Editor Arabella Bowes, who's been writing about everything to do with sleep and interior design for the past five years. She's tried and tested countless mattresses, and oversees the testing process alongside Tilly Wheeler, assigning each mattress that requires testing to a writer who's right for it. They are joined by Daphne Bugler who's been writing about mattresses since 2021, regularly speaking to experts, interviewing sleep specialists and personally testing new and interesting mattress releases herself.
The best hybrid mattresses in the UK for 2025
A note on our pricing: All prices shown are for a standard double mattress, but you can find information about the price for each size mattress on the retailer websites. As we continue on our quest to find the very best mattress, we hope to test every single one in this guide. Rest assured, you're in safe hands.
Best overall hybrid mattress buy: Emma Hybrid Premium Mattress
| Reviewed by: | Ruth Sleightholme, Style Director |
|---|---|
| Firmness: | Medium firm |
| Type of mattress: | Hybrid (4 foam layers + 1 layer of extra tall springs) |
| Sizes available: | Single, small double, double, king, super king, EU double, EU queen |
| Guarantee: | 10 years |
| Trial period: | All Emma mattresses come with a 200-night sleep trial to ensure your mattress is right |
| Mattress depth: | 25cm |
| Care: | N/A |
| Delivery: | Free |
Emma’s Hybrid Premium has long been our go-to mattress recommendation for those with a penchant for a springs-and-foam combination. Here, it’s a case of one extra-tall layer of the former and four of the latter, for a depth of 25 centimetres and a medium-firm night’s sleep.
This mattress was once called the NextGen Premium before Emma rebranded it; that “next gen” construction referred to the mattress’s unusually high proportion of pocket springs (springs sewn into little pockets within the mattress structure to keep them spread apart and stop the mattress sagging) to memory foam. It is, in other words, a little more like a traditional and old-fashioned mattress. The mattress is zoned, meaning it has gentler support around the shoulder and hip areas to avoid aches or cricks, and it’s generally on the firmer side, making it a savvy option for back- and side-sleepers.
Mattresses have been the subject of scrutiny in recent years for their components and whether or not they are eco-friendly. The Emma Hybrid Premium is no different, with the company taking steps to reassure would-be sleepers of their green credentials: the springs are made from 51 per cent recycled steel and per Planetly by OneTrust, a tool for calculating carbon footprints, Emma says that this mattress has a 54 per cent lower footprint per kilo than a pure foam mattress.
Our tester Ruth Sleightholme felt that this mattress leaned towards the firm side, though it is advertised as medium-firm. If that’s a distinction that sounds like it would be important to you, make the most of Emma’s generous 200-night trial and see how you feel.
This is the ultimate all-rounder: a great hybrid mattress offering pretty good value for money and an easy delivery process.
For a more detailed overview, check out our Emma Hybrid Premium Mattress review.
Best hybrid mattress for back pain: REM-Fit 600 Lux Elite Hybrid Mattress
| Reviewed by: | Joy Archer, contributing writer |
|---|---|
| Mattress depth: | 25cm |
| Trial period: | 100 nights, or 200 nights when purchasing a mattress protector at the same time |
| Guarantee: | 15 years |
| Sizes available: | Single, small double, double, king and super king |
| Type of mattress: | Hybrid |
| Firmness: | Medium-firm |
| Material: | Removable, machine washable thermo-regulating hypoallergenic mattress cover, dual-layer spring system, open-cell memory foam |
| Country of manufacture: | UK |
| Care: | Rotate regularly to avoid wear and tear |
REM-Fit’s 600 Lux Elite is among the most premium of the brand’s range of mattresses, and it offers pretty hefty support: some 4,000 multi-zoned pocket springs with advanced foam layers which help spread the sleeper’s weight across the whole surface of the mattress easily. Our reviewer Joy Archer described the feeling of lying on it as “at once cloud-like and firm – an unusual combination that I quickly came to recognise as indulgent comfort.”
REM-Fit’s mattresses are handmade in the UK, and arrive vacuum-packed very quickly after being ordered. There’s no hint of the chemical smell that some newly unpacked mattresses emit for a few hours after deployment, and the brand also offers the option of help installing the mattress and recycling your old one. Buyers benefit from one of the most generous trials on the market: 100 nights as standard, or 200 if you buy it along with a mattress protector.
“The bounce was immediate and unfamiliar – supportive yet responsive – and frankly, delightful,” Joy noted in her review. That’s to be expected – the mattress’s medium-firm feel particularly suits side sleepers and those who are prone to experiencing back pain, balancing contouring softness with reassuring structure. Sitting somewhere between the two extremes of price, the 600 Lux Elite is a clever investment for long-term and comfortable sleep.
Nothing major, but disposal of your old mattress isn’t included in the free delivery service and adds an additional fee. That can add a slight sting if you’re already paying £900ish for your new mattress.
This mattress is particularly celebrated for its medium-firm support for side sleepers.
For a more detailed review, check out our REM-Fit 600 Lux Elite Hybrid review.
- Very luxurious, you really do get what you pay for.
- Crafted with hi-tech materials.
- Highest number of springs in a Simba mattress, for more adaptive support.
- Quite heavy.
- Perhaps navigating a 35cm high mattress is not the most exciting prospect if your existing sheets don't fit it, or if you prefer a lower height bed.
- Very expensive.
| Reviewed by: | Charlotte McCaughan-Hawes, Deputy Digital Editor |
|---|---|
| Care: | No flipping needed, but it rotate it 180 degrees once a month for the first three months, then every three months for the rest of its life |
| Mattress depth: | 34cm |
| Trial period: | All Simba mattresses come with a 200 night sleep trial, to ensure your mattress is right |
| Guarantee: | 10 years |
| Sizes available: | Single, double, king and super king |
| Type of mattress: | Hybrid (13 layers of foam and springs) |
| Firmness: | Medium firm |
This is pretty much the top of the line for Simba, which has itself become one of the best-known and established contemporary mattress brands since its founding a decade ago in 2015. The Hybrid Ultra contains several extremely comfortable layers, meaning it’s big: at 35ish centimetres deep, you’ll need deep-fitting sheets for it. That depth also ensures that it’s one of the brand’s most supportive and tech-packed mattresses, with nine different layers, ranging from a removable cool-touch top cover of the brand’s proprietary “Stratos” material, through to the high-density foam base layer. In between are two layers of titanium-alloy springs, plus layers of stabilising foam, cooling graphite-infused material and a base that is meant to stop you rolling off the bed. In all, this is a technical marvel of a high-end mattress.
And how high-end it is; the king-sized version will set you back two-and-a-half-grand. Is it worth it? Our reviewer Charlotte McCaughan-Hawes certainly thought so, noting that “a year into my love affair with my Simba Hybrid Ultra mattress and I have to confess, my love of it has not waned in the slightest. It has been the best investment in my sleep and continues to be as supportive as it was brand new.”
This is a particularly deep mattress. At 34cm, it's a few centimetres higher than what you might be used to, and therefore could well require deeper fitted sheets, which you may need to invest in if your current ones are standard-fitting.
Better than most similar mattress brands, very comfortable. And great for someone who is particularly tall.
For a more detailed review, check out our Simba Hybrid Ultra Mattress review.
Best hybrid mattress for value: Origin Hybrid Pro
| Reviewed by: | Daphne Bugler, Senior Commerce Writer |
|---|---|
| Firmness: | Medium firm |
| Type of mattress: | Hybrid |
| Sizes available: | Single, Double, King, Super King |
| Guarantee: | 15 years |
| Trial period: | 200 nights |
| Mattress depth: | 31cm |
| Other features: | Old mattress disposal can be added in, current deal includes two free pillows |
| Delivery: | Free next day delivery |
Origin is something of a newcomer to the bed-in-a-box industry in the UK, a challenger brand compared to the incumbents Simba and Emma (although even these two still feel like disruptors, such is the pace of change in mattressworld). The stand-out here is, of course, the price, as anyone will notice who has been browsing mattresses for even a short while. The Origin Hybrid Pro is an excellent sleeper, and our reviewers have loved it – more than one of our testers has tested this mattress – while highlighting the fact it offers much of what you’d want from a more expensive competitor at under £1,000.
What that means in practice is a highly innovative design. The HexAdapt pillowtop which comprises the top layer of the mattress is plush and enveloping, while Origin’s HexaGrid foam underneath contours the body according to however you choose to lie, relieving pressure and reducing aches and pains. When testing the mattress for our sister magazing GQ, our sleep specialist Daphne Bugler highlighted the firmness of the mattress, noting that it was “significantly firmer than anything I’ve tried before”, and was further impressed by the recovery it aided after HIIT classes (Olympians Eve Muirhead and Tyler Panton are among the endorsers of the Origin Hybrid Pro).
Some 5,700 TitaniumCoil springs in the layer below are what make this a hybrid number, further helping spread the weight of your sleeping body out over the entirety of the mattress. To reduce heat, a further layer of graphite and latex has been incorporated into the design, cooling and wicking away moisture during the night.
Only the off-gassing smell. This can be relatively strong, but is very normal for a pre-boxed mattress and will dissipate within a few hours. Just bear it in mind if you plan to sleep on it immediately.
With overwhelmingly positive reviews, Origin customers love everything from the fast delivery (it's literally next day) to the comfort of the mattress. Some do flag that it does come under the firmer side of medium-firm, so do keep this front of mind when you order.
Best bamboo hybrid mattress: Panda Hybrid Bamboo Mattress
| Reviewed by: | Tal Dekel-Daks, Senior Audience Development Manager |
|---|---|
| Firmness: | Medium firm |
| Type of mattress: | Hybrid |
| Sizes available: | UK single, EU single, UK small double, UK double, EU double, UK king, EU king, UK super king and emperor |
| Guarantee: | 10 years |
| Trial period: | 100 nights |
| Mattress depth: | 27cm |
| Care: | The zip off bamboo mattress cover can be removed easily and cleaned in the washing machine or by hand. |
| Other features: | Free old mattress removal and recycling service |
| Delivery: | Free |
Why sleep on bamboo? It might seem counterintuitive, but the fast-growing perennial’s fibres and pulp can be spun into a yarn that is extremely breathable and comfortable. More importantly, perhaps, it’s also generally more eco-friendly than cotton, because it takes a lot less water to grow in regions that are traditionally arid.
Enter the cleverly named Panda, the bedding brand who have helped popularise bamboo sheets in Britain and whose first mattress is a cooling hybrid made from the stuff which impressed our reviewer, Senior Audience Development Manager Tal Dekel-Daks. Over a year, Tal slept on it through heatwaves, dreary London winters, and even the first two trimesters of pregnancy (at the time of writing her review). Neither a dog with a penchant for sleeping at the end of the bed nor a partner waking up at the crack of dawn to go to the gym could detract from the mattress’s performance, with Tal highlighting the breathability of the thing as a particular highlight.
Support-wise, this is a medium-firm mattress, with six layers of airflow and orthopaedic-grade support which is meant to help reduce pressure on specific parts of the body susceptible to it. Apart from the bamboo, though, the mattress’s best feature may well be its multi-zonal springs, which isolate movement and make sure you stay unrocked even as the person – or dog! – beside you in the bed is tossing and turning.
This mattress is marginally on the firmer side – something our reviewer Tal rated highly – but it may not suit everyone. At 27 centimetres deep, you may also prefer something deeper. But we’re clutching at straws here, really.
Very comfortable and supportive, and good at relieving pressure. Perfect for the environmentally minded, as indeed we all ought to be.
For a more detailed review, check out our Panda Hybrid Bamboo Mattress review.
Best mattress for couples: Nectar Premier Hybrid Mattress
| Reviewed by: | Christabel Chubb, Acting Deputy Digital Editor |
|---|---|
| Care: | No need to flip |
| Mattress depth: | 28cm |
| Trial period: | 1 year |
| Guarantee: | Forever |
| Sizes available: | Single, double, king and super king |
| Type of mattress: | Foam hybrid |
| Firmness: | Medium |
“What a delight,” wrote Acting Deputy Digital Editor Christabel Chubb in her April review of Nectar’s Premier Hybrid mattress. “You never know how much you need a new mattress until you get one, and this was certainly a good choice.”
So what was it that so charmed Christabel? The eight layers of the mattress, to begin with – featuring breathable foam, micro-springs, memory foam and a support base that combine to place this in the very middle of the pack when it comes to firmness. This is comfortable and soft, a supportive slab of bed that would even please Goldilocks: not too hard, not too soft. There’s no need to flip it, and it works for side- and back-sleepers alike. It’s also an ideal pick for couples, as the responsive “encapsulated springs” mean if one person wriggles, the other won’t be disturbed.
All of Nectar’s mattresses are made in Derbyshire – a win for House & Garden, considering how much we love hearing about local businesses and workers, and low carbon footprints. What little carbon is produced by the company they say is offset, and all their mattresses are made with ultra-clean foam: there are no heavy metals or poisonous dyes sitting in it ready to leech into your local river when you (eventually!) take this to the tip. And any returned mattresses are either refurbished, re-sold or donated to the British Heart Foundation.
It’s the middle-of-the-road choice, essentially: this is a medium-firmness mattress. Plus, because of the arrangement of the foam and spring layers, you can’t flip it to prolong its longevity.
A very quick and easy delivery process, which will lead to considerably better nights’ sleep once you’ve popped it on your bed frame.
For a more detailed review, check out our Nectar Premier Hybrid Mattress review.
Comparing the top three
| Mattress: | Emma Hybrid Premium Mattress | Simba Hybrid Pro Mattress | REM-Fit 600 Lux Elite Hybrid Mattress |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price range: | £330.65-£628.15 | £799-£1,399 | £729.99-£1,049.99 |
| Layers: | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| Materials: | Synthetic Emma UltraDry™ breathable cover, synthetic foam | Natural wool top layer, synthetic cover made with 'cool-touch' Stratos® tech, synthetic foam | Open-cell memory foam, 5,000 pocket springs |
| Sleep trial: | 200 nights | 200 nights | 200 nights |
| Old mattress removal: | Yes, for a fee | Yes, for a fee | Yes, for a fee |
| Firmness: | Medium firm | Medium firm | Medium-firm (for 50-95kg weight) or medium (95kg+) |
Which hybrid mattress is the best in the UK?
As we’ve seen in this veru guide, there’s no single “best hybrid mattress” to choose, because each will depend on your needs and your budget. However, for an overall top recommendation, we think that the Emma Hybrid Premium is probably the most well rounded. It’s affordable for a mattress, has a medium-firm feel to sleep on, and five layers that make it a robust but comfortable choice. You can certainly upgrade from it if you want to spend more, and you can find cheaper mattresses, too, but Emma’s trademark hybrid is a very good place to start.
Do you really need a mattress topper or just a better mattress?
This is a very good question, and the answer is that it depends on why you need to change the surface on which you sleep. If you’re getting back pains or rolling into the middle of your bed in the night, then a mattress topper is unlikely to fix that – you’re in need of better structural support under your body, to help spread your weight out across the full surface of the mattress. Only a new mattress, ideally one with springs and foam in this case, will help with that.
But if you find your mattress is slightly too firm, or it’s still too hot in the night, you might want to try a topper before buying a whole new mattress, certainly. They can often be found for around £100 and are a good middle ground for those who might have less money to spend immediately. Keep in mind that the topper will make your “mattress” taller, and so your fitted sheets might not fit all the way down the sides any more; do some measuring before you order!
Is a hybrid mattress better for back pain?
Possibly, depending on your sleeping habits and back problems. A hybrid mattress, as we’ve mentioned above, uses a combination of memory foam layers and springs. The former makes the surface you sleep on feel soft, while the latter is what helps you spread your weight out evenly over that surface as a whole.
Hybrids should offer good support and ought also to relieve pressure on the sleeper’s back as a result. More important than the build of a mattress, though, is to ensure you get the right firmness for your weight – look at the brand’s guidelines and make sure you adjust accordingly. And, if you have persistent back pain, it’s better to see a medical professional than to rely on a new mattress to sort it out for you.
