Panda Hybrid Bamboo Mattress review – we tested it for breathability and support

The Panda brand is perhaps best known for its bamboo-infused bedding, but the launch of the Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress sees it introduce its bamboo-focused formula into the world of mattresses.

Whilst you'd be forgiven for thinking they were best reserved for the realms of herbal teas and gin cocktails, infusions are big in the world of mattresses right now. From charcoal and green tea to Panda's bamboo-infused foam, all manner of on-trend ingredients that have for the past few years been packed into health supplements and skincare products have now been picked up by mattress manufacturers and blended into mattress foam alongside promises they will provide better sleep.

In the case of the Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress, the brand states that a top layer of bamboo-infused open cell foam will 'increase airflow and prevent the natural heat retention of visco foam'. Below this infused layer is a layer of cushioning memory foam and a layer of pocket spring support. Together, Panda promises this will deliver both breathability and motion isolation. 

As someone who suffers from bouts of insomnia, and whose biggest sleep challenges are overheating or being disturbed by the movement of my husband sleeping next to me, breathability and motion isolation sound right up my street. As such, I was eager to put the Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress to the test to see how it performed against the best mattresses on the market. Keep reading to see how I got on.

Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress review

Specifications

• Type: Hybrid (memory foam and pocket springs)
• Construction materials: Open cell foam, memory foam, pocket springs
• Memory foam: Yes
• Sizes: Single, Small Double, Double, King, Super King, Emperor
• Comfort level: Medium Firm 
• Height: 27cm
• Side handles: Yes
• Manufacturer sleep trial: 100 nights 

How I tested

Heather Young

Sleep position: side
Tension preference: medium-firm
Sleep problems: overheating, restlessness, insomnia
Height & weight: 5ft 7 & 70kg (myself) 5ft 11 & 90kg (my husband)
Average sleep time: 8 hours

I'm Heather, Ideal Home's Editor In Chief. In order to write this review, I put the Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress to the test over the course of 6 months. 

I suffer from bouts of insomnia, so I'm on a mission to ensure every aspect of my sleep routine, including the mattress I sleep on, is the best it can possibly be. My ultimate aim is to maximise my chances of the eight hours of sleep a night that I need and crave. I'm a side-sleeper, and my biggest sleep challenges are overheating, and being disturbed by the movement of my husband sleeping next to me.

My husband is naturally a back sleeper, but often snores so has to be moved onto his side during the night! He can be restless in his sleep and has a tendency to fidget, which disturbs me when I'm trying to sleep next to him. 

Delivery

Arranging delivery of the Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress was quick and easy, with regular updates confirming details via email and text. 

I also opted for the courier to collect my old mattress at the same time as delivering the new one. Most mattress manufacturers charge a fee for this service, ranging from between £50 to £100, but Panda is currently offering this service for free which makes for a good saving and saved me the hassle of having to dispose of the old mattress myself. 

The mattress arrived rolled in plastic. Panda specify that this is for hygiene reasons, and the plastic used is LDPE (low-density polyethylene), which can be recycled, although I didn't receive any instructions about how I should go about recycling it. 

The mattress was heavy (it was King Size, which weighs 44.2kg), but I managed to lift it upstairs to the bedroom myself, where I could unpack it. The delivery team would have taken it upstairs for me for free as part of the service, but we were having building work done at the time so I chose to wait until the way upstairs was clear! 

The mattress doesn't come with any paperwork, instead, any documentation required is sent by email to reduce the company's environmental impact. 

Unboxing

Once the mattress was upstairs I lifted it onto the bed and removed the plastic packaging. 

The mattress is vacuum-packed inside, and Panda recommends you leave the mattress for a few hours to fully breathe and expand before dressing the bed. I slept on it after about eight hours, but the company advises that it can take 12-18 hours to fully expand for maximum comfort.

Once expanded, the mattress is 27cm tall, which feels nice and luxurious. Because of its memory foam upper, you can only sleep on one side of the mattress, so the Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress doesn't need to be flipped regularly.

Comfort

Comfort: My previous mattress was nearly ten years old, and really sagged in the middle, so sleeping on Panda's Hybrid Mattress was a dream in comparison! The combination of pocket springs and ultra-supportive foams gives the mattress a soft-firm feel – Panda states that the Hybrid Bamboo mattress offers a firmness level of around 7 which it describes as 'firm but not too firm', with 1 being ‘supremely soft’ and 10 being ‘incredibly firm’.

The mattress has a zip-off bamboo viscose cover, which has a soft, silky feel and adds an extra layer of comfort on top of a grand total of five other layers including three layers of foam and the pocket springs. 

Under the removable cover, the Panda Hybrid Mattress is comprised of a first layer of bamboo-infused 'BioCell' open-cell foam. A layer of 'OrthoAlign' memory foam is under that. This is high-density orthopaedic grade foam, designed to make sure your spine is correctly aligned. Beneath that are the pocket springs, with the largest mattress size (the Super King) offering up to 1500 premium pocket springs. Panda doesn't break down how many springs are in the smaller mattress sizes. There's then another memory foam layer and an anti-slip base.

Both my husband and I would score the Panda Hybrid Mattress very highly in terms of comfort. Our previous mattress was nearly ten years old, and really sagged in the middle, so sleeping on Panda's Hybrid Mattress was a dream in comparison! The combination of pocket springs and memory foam gives the mattress a soft-firm feel in my opinion. The sleep surface feels soft and comfortable, but I felt really well-supported at the same time.

Motion transfer: Under the top two layers of foam, sit seven zones of pocket springs, designed to isolate movement and ultimately reduce motion transfer. Then the bottom layer is Visco memory foam, which absorbs any excess movement. So do they work? In a word, yes. My husband is a restless sleeper, and his movement used to disturb my sleep. I also worried that when I was tossing and turning with my insomnia, I would in turn disturb him. The Panda Hybrid Mattress has definitely improved this, and any movement from the other side of the mattress is felt a lot less.

Temperature regulation: I really suffered with overheating on my old memory foam mattress, which often woke me and disturbed the quality of my rest even when I did manage to fall asleep. I had already switched to the best duvet for regulating temperature, and over the summer I swap the bed covers for linen, but this didn't fix the problem.

I've been sleeping on the Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress since November last year, so my testing has so far covered the winter months (obviously with the heating on), but also the recent heatwave in June. I have seen a marked improvement in my temperature regulation, and am looking forward to seeing how the mattress performs over the rest of the summer. 

I can't say definitively that the bamboo-infused top layer of foam is responsible for my improved sleep, but it's likely this upper layer of open-cell foam allows more airflow between myself and the denser memory foam layer, creating a more breathable sleep surface than my old pure memory foam mattress.

One of the things I really like about the Panda Hybrid Mattress is the removable top cover, which is machine washable. For a chronic overheater like me, it's really nice to have the option to wash not only my bed linen, but also to be able to pop the mattress cover in the wash regularly too. 

Panda says this bamboo viscose top layer is also inhospitable to microorganisms and parasites such as dust mites and bed bugs. And that it contains an antimicrobial enzyme that naturally repels harmful bacteria known to irritate sensitive skin and cause unpleasant odours.

Verdict

So would I recommend the Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress? In a word, yes. My husband and I both appreciated the mattress' comfort levels and found it delivered a soft yet supportive sleep experience.

As someone prone to overheating and sleep disturbance I was hoping the Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress would live up to its claims of breathability and motion isolation, and I'm pleased to report that it did. 

I found I slept cooler in comparison to my old memory foam mattress – likely thanks to that open-cell foam upper layer that allows for more airflow – and any tossing and turning from myself or my husband was dampened by the combination of two layers of memory foam and that pocket spring core, so our sleep was less disturbed.

That said, the Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress is an investment. Compared to the ever-popular Simba Hybrid mattress – which benefits from regular discounts that can often see it reduced to half price – the Panda mattress is significantly more expensive, both at full RRP and, from our observations, during sale periods. And, whilst the Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress' 100-night sleep trial is more than generous, it is still beaten by Simba's current 200-night trial. 

Thankfully those sleep trials offer a good way to test out which mattress is best for you, and if you too are looking for a good all-rounder mattress that offers comfort, support, breathability, and motion isolation, I can highly recommend giving the Panda Hybrid Bamboo mattress a go.