Simba Hybrid Original mattress review – we put this bestselling mattress to the test

The Ideal Home team's Simba Hybrid mattress review puts the brand's bestselling mattress to the test, pitting this popular mattress against the likes of Emma, REM-fit, and Eve to see how it performs in terms of delivering a good night's sleep.

The Simba Hybrid mattress is the sleep brand's original mattress design, with Simba claiming 'it took us 70 prototypes and the body data of 10 million sleepers' to create the hybrid pocket spring, foam, and memory foam model. 

Simba has since extended its range to include two Simba Hybrid mattress upgrades – the Simba Hybrid Pro which offers 5000 pocket springs in comparison to the original Hybrid's 2500, and the Simba Hybrid Luxe with its 6000 pocket springs and additional layers of wool and bamboo. The brand also offers two non-hybrid all-foam options, the Simbatex Essential Foam and Simbatex Foam, but the Simba Hybrid remains the brand's bestselling mattress. 

How would it fare compared to the best mattresses on the Ideal Home team's radar? We tasked our mattress tester Linda Clayton with finding out. 

Simba Hybrid Original mattress review

Specifications

• Type: Hybrid
• Construction materials: Memory foam, foam, and pocket springs
• Number of springs: up to 2500
• Memory foam: Yes
• Sizes: Kids / Single / Small double / Double / King / Super King
• Comfort level: Medium-Firm
• Height: 25cm
• Side handles: Yes
• Flip or rotate?: Rotate
• Manufacturer sleep trial: 200 nights

How I tested

Linda Clayton

Sleep position: side and back
Tension preference: medium-firm
Sleep problems: overheating
Height & weight: I enlisted a team of testers ranging from 10 to 17 stone
Average sleep time: 8 hours

I'm Linda, a freelance reviewer who helps the Ideal Home team put all manner of products through their paces to find the top recommendations for our readers. For this review, I tested the Simba Hybrid Original mattress in a king size on a wooden slatted bed base. 

As a combination sleeper, its comfort levels have been put through their paces in various different sleep positions, and – thanks to sharing a bed with my husband – we were able to test out its motion isolation if one of us had a restless night. As a hot sleeper who tends to struggle with overheating in the night, I was also able to test out the mattresses breathability claims to see if it delivered a cool night's sleep.

Construction

Simba has a lot to say about this mattress, with plenty of jargon to bust through before you get to the basics. Like most mattress manufacturers, the brand puts a big emphasis on the mattress' layers, so here’s the lowdown on what you find under the cover. 

First up, there's the mattress cover that's both breathable and hypoallergenic (although sadly, not machine-washable as it can't be removed). Next, is what the brand calls Simbatex® foam – to the uninformed sleeper it feels a lot like memory foam, but the brand describes it as ‘open cell’ foam, which allows thirty times the airflow of memory foam to prevent overheating during the night. 

Next up comes the springs, made from titanium, there are 2500 micro springs in a king-size mattress. They're deliberately small and fine – 25mm high with a thickness gauge of 0.9mm, which is the size of a very thin paperclip – which Simba says gives you the support you need, whilst ensuring you won’t feel a single one.

Then there’s a multi-zoned foam base designed to 'keep your body in perfect, sleep-inducing alignment'. Plus edge support to ensure there's no dipping at the mattress sides and to reduce 'roll off'.

Delivery

Like all bed-in-a-box mattresses, the Simba Hybrid is squashed, folded, and vacuum-packed for easy delivery. 

Delivery from Simba is free and, as of writing, should you wish to return your mattress within the 200-night trial period, they won’t charge for the return. You can also opt to have your old mattress removed and recycled for a charge of £50.

Despite the fact I was testing a king size mattress, the box was a very manageable 107cm x 50cm x 50cm, and the springs in the Simba Hybrid mattress mean it recovers from compression far faster than a spring-free foam mattress.

The mattress also comes with a super useful cutting tool to open the mattress plastic without causing any damage – always a brilliant addition.

The official line from Simba is the mattress will be sleep-ready within three-to-six hours after unboxing, but our test mattress felt fully inflated within an hour or two, which is especially useful if your only other option is the floor or sofa!

Comfort

This hybrid mattress combines layers of foam with conical springs. The memory foam (or Simbatex® foam) upper sculpts to your body shape, offering good support on key pressure points, and as such it has scored multiple good reviews from side sleepers and people who suffer from back pain.

The conical springs aren’t full-size, so you won't get the luxurious height of a traditional pocket sprung mattress, but on testing it definitely feels bouncier than an all-foam option. 

The brand's official firmness rating is Medium-Firm (Simba’s score is 6.5/10), and our testers concurred that it is indeed the Goldilocks of mattresses – i.e. not too soft, nor too hard. They also found it extremely comfortable, especially when side-sleeping when the softer, memory foam surface provides sink-in support.

One of the biggest factors on how you experience firmness comes down to body weight. Lightweight sleepers will find it much firmer than heavyweight sleepers. Putting it as delicately as possible, if you are solidly built there’s a reasonable chance you will find the Simba Hybrid too soft and not supportive enough, but, if you're within a fairly average weight range it should be ‘just right’.

Temperature regulation

Simba has swapped out the usual memory foam upper for Simbatex® foam, an ‘open cell’ foam that the brand says allows thirty times the airflow of memory foam. This is designed to prevent any of the sweatiness and overnight overheating that can be a downside of a memory foam mattress. 

On testing, we can confirm that although the mattress upper feels pleasantly cushioning and enveloping, we didn't feel overwhelmed by the foam top, and although I'm prone to being warm in bed, I didn't notice any particular overheating whilst sleeping on this mattress.

Motion isolation

Naturally the bounciness of the Simba Hybrid does have an impact on motion transfer – whereby one partner’s movements are felt by the other. However, the two layers of foam sandwiching the springs have a dampening effect. Although movement was more obvious than on some firmer mattresses we’ve tested, especially full-on memory foams, it didn’t actually disturb our sleep during the night.

Edge support

The Simba Hybrid definitely felt supportive around the edges, offering a good surface to sit on, and preventing any 'roll off' if you're prone to sleeping near the mattress edge.

Additional features

One final point, the Simba Hybrid is by far the least smelly mattress we have reviewed. Most new foam mattresses suffer from a touch of off-gassing in the first few weeks. It doesn't bother everyone, but sensitive souls can find it extremely obnoxious and hard to bear. Happily, the Simba Hybrid barely smelt at all. The very slight odour after unboxing was completely gone within a record-breaking 24 hours.

Simba mattress deals

If you're keen to invest in the Simba Hybrid Original then the good news is that Simba regularly runs sales throughout the year, meaning you'll never have to wait long to bagsy a discount. 

That said, there are a few key times of year when Simba discounts tend to be bigger than usual, including Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and the Boxing Day and January sales.

After keeping track of discounts for several years, in our experience, Black Friday tends to be when Simba offers the biggest savings of the year, with up to 60% off selected lines in 2022, and up to 55% off selected lines in 2023.

Throughout the rest of the year, your best bet for a lower price is to keep track of our round up of the best mattress deals each month, or use one of Ideal Home's exclusive Simba discount codes.

How does it compare?

Now this is a million-dollar question and, ironically, according to Google search data it’s one that many people lose sleep over! We have tested both and can offer a few helpful take-homes. 

The main differences are that the Simba Hybrid has one more layer than the Emma Hybrid, plus more springs in its spring layer, although it’s worth noting that they are both 25cm thick overall.

In Emma’s favour, the cover is machine-washable and we found motion transfer less obvious – in fact the Emma Hybrid felt stabler all round. The Simba Hybrid requires rotating more frequently in the first three months but it has really decent grip points and is a little lighter than the Emma Hybrid, so this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. We found the Emma Hybrid firmer and less bouncy than the Simba Hybrid but they are both very supportive and contour the body well – hugging without suffocating.

They both come with 200-night sleep trials and 10-year warranties. Pricewise, it’s a close call, especially since both brands are generous with special offers and mattress sale events. 

In a nutshell, we’d probably recommend the Simba Hybrid mattress to side-sleepers who prefer a softer mattress and cosier feel, while the Emma Hybrid mattress is likely to be better for back sleepers who benefit from a bit more stability.

Verdict

While the Simba Hybrid isn’t ideal if you’re a front sleeper or want properly firm support, it is undoubtedly a decent all-rounder and will feel super comfortable for the majority of people. There are no wildly luxurious touches, but nor does it feel cheap, and we think it represents good value for money.

The memory foam upper is cushioning and especially good for side sleepers or those who need a little more support on pressure points, and the hybrid design with 2500 springs means it offers a good amount of bounce.

In our experience, delivery was fast and free, and the UK-based customer service department is very friendly and knowledgeable. There's also an excellent 200-night sleep trial available if you purchase the mattress direct from the manufacturer.

If you're looking for the best of both worlds when it comes to cushioning and bounce, along with the ease of mattress-in-a-box delivery, then this bestselling mattress gets our seal of approval.