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Finding the best mattress for your sleep style can make a huge difference to the quality of your sleep.
Whether you’re predominantly a front, side, or back sleeper, your weight, body temperature, and any pre-existing aches and pains, plus whether you sleep alone or with a partner can all affect which mattress is best for you.
That’s where the Ideal Home team’s sleep experts are here to help. We’ve tried, tested, and reviewed bestselling mattresses from the biggest brand names in the sleep field – including Simba, Emma, Brook + Wilde, Tempur, Hypnos, Nectar, Silentnight, Woolroom, Panda, Sealy, and many more – to find the best mattresses for all types of sleeper.
Our reviews put each mattress through its paces to compare comfort, motion transfer, temperature regulation, and edge support, as well as ease of delivery and after care. We also take into account any manufacturer sleep trials, and, of course, price, when rating each mattress.
You’ll find in-depth mattress buying advice at the bottom of this page, including the pros and cons of memory foam, hybrid, and pocket spring construction, along with our top mattress recommendations – gleaned from hours of comfortable, and not-so-comfortable snoozing – just below.
And, if you want to ensure you have all of the ingredients for a good night's sleep, then make sure to read our guide to the best pillows next.
The quick list
Short on time? This quick list is an overview of the very best mattresses. You'll find more information on each mattress and a full mattress review detailing why our testers recommend it if you keep on scrolling.
Best mattress overall
Our reviewers describe the Simba Hybrid Original mattress as the 'Goldilocks' of the mattress world – a sleep surface that's not too soft or too firm. A hybrid mattress that employs pocket springs for support with a cushioned memory foam top layer, this mattress is particularly comfortable for side and back sleeping, and it's hybrid construction means it's a good all-rounder for sleepers of various weights. A crowd-pleaser that's often on sale at a hefty discount means it gets our vote for best mattress overall.
Best hybrid alternative
Emma and Simba are two of the UK's best-known mattress manufacturers, and the Ideal Home team has put both brands through their paces. Emma's latest launch, the Luxe Cooling mattress, solves a common niggle with owners of the now discontinued Emma Premium mattress by delivering a more breathable sleep. Which brand to invest in often comes down to which has the biggest discounts running at the time of your purchase, with both manufacturers regularly offering up to 50% off RRP.
Best luxury mattress
The Brook + Wilde Ultima mattress is a true all-rounder; comfortable, supportive, cool to sleep on, and available in three firmness levels, so there's an option for you whatever your sleep style or tension preference. Our reviewer couldn’t fault it. The only real downside is its price tag. However, if you have the budget to invest in a good night's sleep, then regular sitewide discounts mean you could snap up this luxury mattress for up to 50% off if you time your purchase right.
Best affordable mattress
The affordable entry-level Emma Original is an all-foam mattress topped with a layer of cushioning memory foam. Our reviewers found it a super comfortable sleep surface, although its soft foam construction and lack of pocket springs can mean it's not the best option for heavier sleepers or back and front sleepers who may need more support. Our hot sleepers also found its memory foam 'hug' a little too warm, but, its affordable price tag is hard to beat if you're looking for a budget buy.
Best mattress for hot sleepers
Hypnos makes its mattresses from predominantly natural materials which makes them more eco-friendly than most, and is great news for those of us who struggle to sleep on synthetic all-foam or memory foam mattresses without overheating. Temperature-regulating materials plus an airflow-enhancing pocket spring system mean the Hypnos range always proves highly breathable in our sleep tests, delivering a comfortable and cool night's sleep.
Best memory foam mattress
Tempur is widely accredited with creating the very first memory foam mattress, and unlike most memory foam mattresses which take a one-size-fits-all approach to softness, its memory foam mattresses come in three different firmness options which enable you to find just the right fit for your sleep preferences. They're an investment, but worth it if you love a memory foam sleep surface that cushions aching joints and dampens any movement from a sleep partner.
Best mattresses 2024 – tried and tested
Why you can trust Ideal Home Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Best mattress overall
If you're looking for a mattress with good support and bounce but which still has plenty of cushioning, then you'll want to opt for a hybrid mattress. A hybrid mattress generally combines the support of pocket springs with the comfort of a memory foam upper. You'll usually pay more for the addition of those springs, but it can mean your mattress has more longevity and is a particularly good option if you're a heavier sleeper who needs a firmer base layer for support.
The Simba Hybrid Original mattress is a popular hybrid option that combines up to 2500 springs with a top layer of the brand's Simbatex® foam – the brand describes this as ‘open cell’ memory foam, which allows thirty times the airflow of memory foam to prevent overheating during the night.
While some of our heavier reviewers found it on the softer side, most of our testers described this as the Goldilocks of mattresses – i.e. not too soft or too firm. They also found it particularly comfortable when side-sleeping, with the soft memory foam surface providing sink-in support for the shoulders. Back sleepers were also impressed, although the memory foam top was less suitable for front sleepers.
Simba offers mattress-in-box delivery, which makes for easy transportation to the room of your choice, and also offers a generous 200-night sleep trial if you buy direct from the brand. If you time your purchase to coincide with one of the Simba's regular up to 50% off sales you can also get this great all-rounder mattress at a great price.
Our full Simba Hybrid Original mattress review has more detail.
Best hybrid mattress alternative
The Emma Luxe Cooling Mattress is one of the brand's latest launches, designed to offer – as you might expect from the name – a cooler sleep experience than the otherwise highly-rated Emma Premium mattress, which, despite its plus points, we found could sleep warm when our testers put it through its paces for our Emma Premium mattress review.
Our review of the Emma Luxe Cooling Mattress found it does exactly what its name promises, with its extra graphite-infused foam layer offering a more breathable sleep surface than its predecessor, the Premium, or Emma's Original mattress. That's why we think this is the best Emma mattress to invest in out of all the designs in the Emma range.
Similarly to the now-discontinued Premium mattress, the Emma Luxe Cooling Mattress is a hybrid mattress that combines a memory foam upper with pocket-spring support. This is in contrast to the brand's entry-level mattress – the budget Emma Original mattress at number #3 in this guide – that is foam only.
Our reviewer instantly noticed the difference between the softer Emma Original mattress and the Medium-Firm Emma Luxe Cooling mattresses in our sleep tests, noting that the Luxe felt 'supportive and cushioning'. Heavier weight sleepers will definitely appreciate the extra support the pocket springs add, and those springs are also likely to give the hybrid mattress more longevity compared to its all-foam counterpart. The only downside is the price, with Emma's Luxe Cooling mattress currently selling at an RRP of nearly four times the price of the Emma Original mattress!
Emma mattresses are often looked at in comparison to Simba's mattress range, and having now put both of the brand's hybrid bestsellers to the test we have to say they're pretty much neck and neck in design. Especially now Emma has made efforts to improve breathability and deliver a cooler sleep with the Luxe Cooling mattress' new construction.
As such, the determining factor in which brand to shop often comes down to price. Currently the Emma Luxe Cooling mattress retails for significantly more than the Simba Hybrid. That said, both brands offer regular discounts that can see discounts of over 50% off both mattresses. Your best bet is usually to opt for the brand with the heftiest discount at the time of your purchase.
Our full Emma Luxe Cooling mattress review has more detail.
Best luxury mattress
The Brook + Wilde Ultima mattress is a true all-rounder; comfortable, supportive, and cool to sleep on, our reviewers couldn’t fault it. However, it is an investment, so what makes it worth the extra spend?
Firstly, with this mattress, you can choose from a range of firmness levels, so there's an option for you whatever your sleep style or tension preference. That said, our reviewer tested the Ultima in a medium firmness level and thought this was the perfect tension for both side, back, and front sleepers.
Secondly, this hybrid mattress offers a lot of bang for your buck, with a construction that includes ten layers of comfort and support. There are two memory foam layers, crafted from 'open cell' foam that allows 4 times the airflow of regular memory foam. Plus a 'twin blanket of 2000 nano-springs, ergonomically designed to evenly distribute your weight', and another layer of 4000 taller pocket springs, that the brand states 'provides the perfect level of push-back and bounce'.
Our reviewer certainly agreed, finding after a few nights on the Ultima her lower back pain was a thing of the past, and also praising the lack of motion transfer when her partner tossed and turned nearby. The removable and machine-washable thermic cover also kept our testers cool as they slept through two heatwaves.
All those layers do mean this mattress is heavy, and at 30cm deep it's well worth checking the height of your bed frame to make sure the sleep surface won't end up too high. That said, our testers found it hard to find other faults – other than the price. However, Brook + Wilde does tend to run fairly regular sitewide discounts that can see up to 50% knocked off the mattress' normal retail price, so, time your purchase right and you could be able to snap up this luxury mattress for a lot less.
Our full Brook + Wilde Ultima mattress review has more detail.
Most affordable mattress
The Emma Original is an affordable foam-only mattress constructed from a base layer of high-density foam with top layers of memory foam designed to 'hug' the body and cushion pressure points.
Our reviewers have universally found this mattress extremely comfortable on initial testing, agreeing that on a scale of firmness from 1 to 10, they rate the Original at a 5 (medium) which makes it a soft and cushioning surface to sleep on, even going so far as to call it 'dreamy' and 'unbelievably comfy'. The memory foam surface also makes for very little motion transfer thanks to its movement-dampening effect – a big bonus if you sleep with a fidgety partner.
The boxed delivery packaging is super useful for homes with awkward access, there's a generous 200-night sleep trial to allow you to fully test it before committing, and the brand regularly slashes prices meaning you can often pick up the Original at 50% off.
The compromise for the affordable price point is the lack of springs. That means you don't get the bounce that you'd get from a hybrid or pocket-spring mattress, and, without that additional spring support, over time some reviewers have noted indentations in the foam if the mattress isn't regularly rotated. Those of us on the heavier side of the weight spectrum, or who are front sleepers, may also be likely to find the all-foam construction too soft – a pocket-spring or hybrid mattress will offer more support. And, several reviewers have noted some overheating due to the memory foam's lack of breathability, so it may not be the best buy for a hot sleeper.
However, if you're after a soft, cushioning, and affordable mattress, that offers a generous sleep trial and hassle-free delivery, then we think you'll find the Emma Original is a bestseller for good reason.
Our full Emma Original mattress review has more detail.
Best mattress for hot sleepers
If you're looking for a mattress that's more sustainable than most – and still scores highly on comfort – then the Hypnos Pillow Top Select mattress is our top choice.
This mattress is made predominantly from natural materials, which makes it far more eco-friendly than most synthetic mattresses, and that's also great news for those of us who struggle to sleep on a foam or memory foam mattress without overheating. The natural materials used in the Hypnos Pillow Top Select's fill, plus its airflow-enhancing pocket spring system and ventilation features, mean it proved highly breathable in our tests.
As such, we think this is the best mattress for hot sleepers, as that breathable sleep surface means body temperature is regulated throughout the night leading to a deeper and more restful sleep – without any 3 am wake-ups where you're kicking off the sheets.
Even better, this breathability is achieved without any compromise on comfort. The clever pillow top design means that unlike the usual hybrid mattresses that feature a memory foam layer over a pocket spring base, this mattress instead uses a sewn-on 'pillow top' layer – packed with British wool and responsibly sourced natural plant-based fibres, Himalayan allo, kapok, and cotton – to add luxurious comfort to its pocket spring base.
The only downside is, the price, and a little less motion isolation than a pure foam mattress like the Emma Original or a memory foam hybrid like the Simba Hybrid and Emma Premium mattress can provide.
However, if you're after a natural sleep that might well be a sacrifice worth making. Alongside its foam-free inner, the Hypnos Pillow Top doesn't use chemical fire retardants like most synthetic mattresses, comes in eco-friendly packaging, and can be fully recycled at the end of its lifespan.
Our reviewer says, 'This mattress will particularly suit hot sleepers who need breathability, those looking for a comfortable and cooler alternative to memory foam, eco-conscious consumers searching for a more sustainable mattress choice, and tricky customers who need a mattress that's comfortable whether you sleep on your side, front, or back. The Hypnos Pillow Top mattress delivers on all counts.
Our full Hypnos Pillow Top mattress review has more detail.