Our Simba Hybrid Original mattress review puts the brand's bestselling hybrid mattress through its paces to see how it compares to the best mattresses Ideal Home has tested so far.
Quick review
All in all, the Simba Hybrid Original mattress offers a good night's sleep at a good price point, which is why, after years of testing alternative mattresses, we still rate it number one in our guide to the best mattresses you can buy.
There are no wildly luxurious touches to this mattress perhaps, I'd say the Simba Hybrid Pro offers a little more in that regard, but nor does it feel cheap, and we think it represents great value for money.
For the average person, its medium-firm hybrid design is a crowdpleaser comfort-wise, with a great mix of cushioning memory foam and spring support. Those of us who are heavier or lighter than average may find it falls too soft or too firm, in which case it could be worth paying more for Brook + Wilde's Ultima mattress that comes in four tension options, but for many, especially the side and back sleepers amongst us, we think this mattress will be the 'Goldilocks' of the mattress world – not too soft or too firm.
It also offers better temperature regulation than most memory foam mattresses, and decent responsiveness, motion isolation, and edge support. Plus, a 200-night sleep trial gives plenty of opportunity to test if it's the right fit for you, Simba's delivery options are top notch, and the brand's commitment to constantly improving and lowering its environmental footprint is admirable, with the brand leading the way in making synthetic mattresses more sustainable.
If you're looking for a mattress that ticks all the boxes, then this bestselling mattress has Ideal Home's seal of approval.
Simba Hybrid Original mattress review
Specifications
Type: Hybrid
Materials: Foam, memory foam, pocket springs
Sizes: Kids / Single / Small Double / Double / King / Super King
Comfort level: Medium-Firm
Height: 25cm
Flip or rotate: Rotate
Side handles: Yes
Manufacturer sleep trial: 200 nights
1. Comfort
This is a hybrid mattress that combines layers of foam and memory foam with spring support. The brand officially rate the Hybrid Original a medium-firm tension, and after enlisting the help of several co-testers all of varying bodyweights to test out this mattress, we unanimously agreed. This mattress is the Goldilocks of sleep surfaces – i.e. not too soft, nor too hard.
That said, bodyweight will still play a big factor in how this (or any) mattress feels for you. Lightweight sleepers will generally find any mattress firmer than a heavier weight sleeper, so the more solidly built you are, the softer you're likely to find the Hybrid Original. However, this mattress is a crowdpleaser, so if you're within a fairly average weight range the experience of myself and my co-tester suggests it should be ‘just right’.
As a memory foam hybrid the Simba Original is also a great option for side sleepers. The upper memory foam layer sculpts to your body shape, offering good cushioning around key pressure points like the hips and shoulders, whilst the springs still offer good support.
I found the Hybrid Original offered enough support when laying on my back too. However, it may be less suitable for front sleepers as the memory foam can allow hips to dip a little too low in this position. All in all though, I think this mattress is a great all-rounder in terms of comfort, it may not feel wildly luxurious, but it offers everything you need for a good night's sleep.
2. Responsiveness
Because this is a hybrid mattress that has springs under its memory foam top layer, it definitely feels more responsive and has more bounce to it than an all-foam mattress.
I didn't find the memory foam layer hugged me too much, so it was still easy enough to change position in the night, something that was more of an issue when testing the all-foam Tempur Sensation and Emma Original mattresses.
3. Motion isolation
On the flip side, increased responsiveness does naturally have an impact on motion isolation. Motion isolation, or motion transfer, relates to how much one person's movements can be felt by another when there are two people sharing a bed.
The two layers of foam sandwiching the Hybrid Original's springs certainly have a dampening effect and help to isolate movement, but, my husband and I did notice there was a little motion transfer if one of us tossed and turned dramatically.
However, it definitely wasn't enough of an issue to disturb our sleep, and personally I welcomed that extra bit of bounce as I can find an all-foam mattress (usually the best option if you want to eliminate all vibrations) feels a bit 'dead'.
4. Temperature regulation
Like many people, I can tend to overheat on standard memory foam mattress. Good air circulation is what allows body heat and humidity to dissipate so that our body can regulate its temperature whilst we're asleep. The dense structure of traditional memory can lack breathability, which in turn traps heat and leads to us waking up feeling hot and sticky.
The Simba Hybrid Original mattress aims to combat this in two ways, first Simba uses ‘open cell’ foam that the brand says allows thirty times the airflow of standard memory foam. This is also infused with graphite, a highly conductive material that is included in order to draw heat away from the body.
Although I'm prone to being warm in bed, on testing I didn't notice any particular overheating whilst sleeping on this mattress which suggests Simba's sleep technologies are doing their job.
5. Edge support
The Simba Hybrid Original definitely feels 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.
When you're choosing the right mattress size I'd always opt for the largest mattress possible to avoid anyone sleeping on the edge, but if you co-sleep and are limited to a double mattress by budget or room size – or you're a parent with kids who regularly climb into the bed – then good edge support is a must.
Similarly, if you lack mobility then good edge support provides a better surface to push off to stand upright in the mornings, so this is another tick in the Simba mattress's favour.
6. Ease of care
As a hybrid mattress, the Simba Original is one-sided, which means you can only sleep on the side with the memory foam comfort layer. That means it can't be flipped but should still be rotated regularly to ensure even wear and tear. Four side handles make that rotation easier to do.
Another nice feature is that the top cover of the Simba Hybrid Original is removable, so you can simply unzip it and pop it in the washing machine to freshen it up. I still added a mattress protector over the top, but it's great to have an additional layer of protection to save having to figure out how to clean a mattress should accidents happen.
It's perhaps worth mentioning that compared to a traditional two-sided mattress, a one-sided mattress could perhaps lack some longevity. After all, that's 50% less mattress surface to sleep on, all in all. My first impressions are that the mattress seems durable and of good quality, but I also delved into third-party customer reviews to see how those who had owned it for longer than me were getting on.
All in all, the brand's mattresses seem to get very positive feedback. Simba's Trustpilot score is 4.4 out of 5, which is a fantastic average considering as of writing the brand has over 50,000 reviews, and I couldn't find many negatives regarding this mattress. The brand's customer service is also largely praised.
7. Sleep trial
It can be difficult to tell if a mattress is the right one for you, even if you can test it out in store. Sleeping on a mattress night after night is a different kettle of fish than a quick lie down in a showroom, and in Simba's case, the brand doesn't have bricks-and-mortar showrooms, so to an extent you're buying 'blind' online. This is where a sleep trial is a brilliant solution.
A sleep trial generally means that you can buy a mattress, sleep on it in your own home and on your own bed base for a specified number of nights, and return it for a refund if it isn't the right fit for you.
Terms and conditions differ between brands, but as an online-only retailer, Simba was one of the first brands to begin offering sleep trials on its mattresses and, as of writing, you can take advantage of a generous 200 nights to test out the Hybrid Original mattress.
This is one of the most generous trial periods in the business, matched by the likes of Emma and Brook + Wilde, and only beaten by Nectar and its whopping 365 night testing period.
8. Delivery
The Simba Hybrid Original mattress is delivered vacuum-packed, rolled and boxed, which can be particularly useful if you have awkward delivery access to negotiate.
As of writing, the brand offers free Next Day Delivery to most postcodes, which involves a two-person delivery to the room of your choice. This is a great service compared to some of the brand's competitors, like Emma, that only offers doorstep delivery. Plus, for an extra £50 you can opt for the VIP Delivery which means the mattress will be unpackaged, installed onto your bed, and all packaging removed.
The latter is a great option if you don't have the strength, mobility, or time, to heft a mattress upstairs and into your bedroom. Despite the fact I was testing a king size mattress, the box was a very manageable 107cm x 50cm x 50cm, but that doesn't mean it isn't heavy.
You can also opt to have your old mattress removed and recycled for a charge of £50.
The mattress also comes with a super useful cutting tool to open the mattress plastic without causing any damage – always a brilliant addition.
Once unboxed the official line from Simba is that the mattress will reinflate and be sleep-ready within three-to-six hours after unboxing. However, I found its springs meant the mattress recovered from compression far faster than a spring-free foam mattress and my test mattress felt fully inflated within an hour or two – especially useful if your only other option to sleep on is the floor or sofa!
One final point on unboxing; the Simba Hybrid is by far the least smelly mattress I've 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.
9. Environmental impact
Just like many other products, mattresses can pose significant environmental problems, especially when it comes to how to get rid of a mattress at the end of its lifespan. Industry body the National Bed Federation estimates that between 2017 and 2021 over 6.4 million mattresses were disposed of and only 14% of these were recycled. That means millions of mattresses going to landfill and causing further harm to the environment.
Buying a mattress with a lower environmental impact can do a lot to help. A mattress made predominantly from natural materials – like the Hypnos Pillow Top Select mattress or Woolroom Hebridean 3000 mattress – is often the best bet as natural materials are renewable, usually easier to recycle, and if they can't be recycled will naturally biodegrade.
In contrast, synthetic mattresses – which are those that use manmade foams such as memory foam – can have a higher environmental toll. Not only are these foams made from non-renewable petrochemicals, but at the end of their lifespan they're far harder to recycle or repurpose.
However, synthetic mattresses are usually more affordable and lots of us love the cushioning of manmade memory foam. In this case choosing a manufacturer that's consciously trying to lower its environmental impact can make a big difference, and in recent years Simba has begun to lead the way in making its manufacturing processes more sustainable.
The brand has recently become a B Corp and regularly publishes an environmental impact report detailing the measures it's taking to make its production processes circular. That means less waste, lower energy use, more recycling and aims to get to Net Zero by 2030. It also offers a recycling service – both for its own mattresses and other makes – and ensures any mattresses returned during its sleep trial are refurbished or repurposed.
This is a lot more transparency and postive action than most mattress maufacturers are delivering, and means Simba is one of the brands leading the way in terms of taking responsibility for, and reducing, its environmental impact.
10. Value for money
All in all, the Simba Hybrid Original mattress nails a lot of important components in the mattress search, and it does so at a relatively reasonable price point.
As of writing, a double Hybrid Original mattress costs £799 at full price. Whilst this isn't cheap, it is good value considering how many boxes the mattress ticks.
For comparison, the Emma NextGen Premium mattress costs £659, but has less temperature regulating technologies, is only delivered to your doorstep rather than the room of your choice, and the brand lacks the same investment in sustainable manufacture that Simba demonstrates.
The REM-Fit 600 Lux Elite Hybrid mattress could be another contender. This mattress retails at £1299, but is often on sale with up to 50% off making it cheaper than the Simba Hybrid Original at times. But, again, it has less temperature regulating tech, there's no 'white glove' delivery service (although REM-fit do deliver to the room of your choice), and REM-fit doesn't appear to be as hot on lowering its environmental impact as Simba is.
Plus, although Simba now runs far fewer sales than it used to, there are still a few key times of year when the Hybrid Original may also be discounted. 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. Your best bet for a lower price is to keep track of our round up of the best mattress deals each month.
How I tested
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
In putting the Simba Hybrid Original through Ideal Home's mattress testing process I assessed ten factors that we deem vital to any mattress purchase.
My husband and I tested the mattress for comfort, responsiveness, motion isolation, and edge support. This means that we slept on the mattress for a minimum of two weeks before I wrote my review. As a combination sleeper, its comfort levels have been put through their paces in various different sleep positions, and, as a hot sleeper who tends to struggle with overheating in the night, I was also able to test out the Hybrid Original's temperature regulation to see if it delivered a cool night's sleep.
I also took into consideration ease of care and durability, any sleep trials available, the delivery process, the mattress's environmental impact, its value for money, and, where possible, any third-party customer reviews – to see if they aligned or were at odds with my own experience – before writing my own review and giving this mattress a star rating.
