Zoma Memory Foam Mattress review in brief
Nearly five years after launching in the US, Zoma Sleep has arrived on UK shores with the Zoma Memory Foam Mattress and the Zoma Hybrid Mattress. Both focus on boosting restorative sleep for athletes, so how do they fare for everyday sleepers looking for a comfy yet affordable bed to reduce pressure points and ramp up support?
To find out, we reviewed a Zoma Memory Foam Mattress for four weeks, testing it in all key areas including temperature regulation, pressure relief and firmness to see if it can match up to the beds we recommend in our official best mattress guide.
The Zoma Mattress was designed by two sleep industry veterans with over 25 years of combined experience – both are well-versed in fitness too. Knowing first-hand how important sleep is for peak sporting performance, they wanted to create the a great bed for people with active lifestyles, although anyone can reap the benefits.
You can choose an all-foam version (which we tested) or a hybrid version that adds a layer of pocket springs. Either way, the Zoma Mattress is designed to relieve pain and keep you at a good temperature for sleeping through the night. We tested it over the course of a month and were impressed with how rested and relaxed we felt.
Type: Foam
Materials: Memory foam, other foam
Firmness: Medium-firm, 6/10 (our rating)
Depth: 30cm
Trial period: 100 days
Warranty: 10 year guarantee
RRP: From £659 for a single (but usually on sale from £399)
The Zoma Memory Foam Mattress has a nice bit of bounce to it, and it kept us feeling evenly balanced and comfortable while we slept. It kept us at an optimum temperature at night, too. While it may be a little on the softer side for those who like a very firm mattress (namely stomach sleepers), we think its responsive medium-surface makes it a great option for back, side and combination sleepers. Motion isolation is on par with the best memory foam mattresses as we were able to sleep next to our partner without noticing their every move throughout the night.
Design-wise, the Zoma Mattress has a simple, three-layer and a ventilated fabric cover. It's worth noting the while cover has a zip, it can be hard to get back on so Zoma recommends spot cleaning and using a mattress protector to ensure your mattress stays clean. The mattress doesn’t have any handles on the sides either, which makes it easier to move. (Zoma says that the mattress doesn’t need rotating, which is perhaps why it doesn’t come with handles.)
We also rate it for strong edge support, meaning it's easy to get in and out of and you won't slide off the edge when sitting down to get dressed. At 12" tall, it's slightly deeper than standard mattresses in a box too, giving it more a luxury feel despite its smaller price tag.
Zoma Memory Foam Mattress review: Price
- Available in all-foam or hybrid constructions
- Regularly £250 off, with a double starting at £499
- Comes with a 10-year guarantee and 100-night trial
Zoma Sleep has been selling mattresses in the US for five years, but the brand is relatively new to the UK, having launched here just over a year ago. The all-foam Zoma Mattress is the cheapest of the two models on offer and the one that we tested for four weeks.
As in the US, Zoma Sleep hosts monthly mattress sales so you'll seldom have to pay RRP. Here's the current pricing of the Zoma Memory Foam Mattress, plus what you can expect to pay when consistent sale prices are implemented:
- Single RRP: £949 (on sale for £699)
- Double RRP: £749 (on sale for £499)
- King RRP: £849 (on sale for £599)
- Super King RRP: £949 (on sale for £699)
Zoma offers a 100-night trial and a 10-year guarantee, which are standard extras in the wider mattress market. If you opt for the Zoma Hybrid, expect to pay £100 to £200 more. Either way, these are budget to mid-range prices that should help Zoma compete against mainstays in the UK like Emma and Nectar.
For comparison, the Emma Original, which we rate as an excellent memory foam bed for small budgets, costs £407 for a double size when on sale. That makes it over £80 cheaper than the Zoma Memory Foam and the sleep trial is twice as long at 200 nights. The warranty is the same though.
The Nectar Memory Foam Mattress UK is another big rival for the Zoma Mattress, costing £600 for a double and therefore the most expensive of the three. Nectar Sleep offer's a year's sleep trial and lifetime warranty, which are industry-leading benefits that add to its overall value for money in the long run.
Zoma Memory Foam Mattress: Design & materials
- A 30cm all-foam mattress with three layers
- AirCloth cover is ventilated to wick away heat
- CertiPUR-approved foams and no fibreglass
The best memory foam mattresses have been mindfully designed to cradle your body in comfort and give you good support. Zoma has done well to include materials in its sumptuously thick 30cm memory foam mattress that do this.
It has three layers. On top is breathable, perforated, and pressure-relieving gel memory foam to keep you cool and comfortable. Next, there’s Zoma's ‘Reactiv’ layer, which is made to bounce back quickly so you won’t feel stuck. At the bottom is a thick Support+ base built to give you stable and sturdy support, cushion your hips and shoulders, and align your spine. Everything is wrapped in ventilated ‘AirCloth’ to help wick away heat and moisture so you keep cool throughout the night.
Alternatively, you can purchase a Zoma Hybrid Mattress. The construction is otherwise the same, except the foam base core is replaced with a layer of pocket coils. Choose the hybrid if you need more support or are prone to sweating at night.
For peace of mind, Zoma uses CertiPUR-approved foam, is low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to off-gassing and doesn't contain fibreglass.
Zoma Memory Foam Mattress review: Support & comfort
- A medium-firm mattress (6 out of 10 on the firmness scale)
- Reactiv layer is responsive so we didn't feel stuck
- Comfortable for combi back/side sleepers
To get a good idea of how the Zoma Memory Foam Mattress feels for people of varying weights and heights, we asked a small group of testers (ranging from 5ft 2 in height to 6ft 1) to lay on the mattress and share their thoughts.
Zoma describes this mattress as medium-firm but doesn’t indicate how firm it is on a scale of 1-10, like some mattress companies do. Having slept on it for a month, we’d say it’s a 6 out of 10 in terms of firmness (or medium-firm). The general consensus among the testing group is that it didn’t feel too soft or too hard.
The tallest person said he liked how evenly his body was supported. The shortest person pointed out that they liked how easily they could curl up to the side of the mattress without feeling like the edges would collapse (more on that later).
While firmness is subjective, it’s important to have a mattress that feels like it can securely hold your body weight without collapsing. The Reactiv layer is specifically designed to bounce back quickly so you don’t feel stuck as you sleep. We definitely noticed the benefit of this layer, as it meant we could easily move from side to front and back without too much effort.
We're not overly keen on the spongey feel many memory foam mattresses seem to have, so we were pleasantly surprised with how much this mattress bounces back to shape and doesn’t make you feel like you’re sinking in.
It instantly made us feel safe and at ease lying on it, as it has nice, medium firmness. This is probably due to the layer of pressure-relieving gel memory foam at the top of the mattress, which gives the mattress a nice squishy feel but keeps your body well-supported and evenly balanced.
Our lead tester likes to sleep on their back and often moves to their side and found it equally comfortable in both positions. They were able to move around without feeling stuck or sinking into the mattress. Front sleeping felt a little less comfortable, and there's quite a bit of bounce, but that’s just personal preference.
The mattress has excellent contouring due to its ultra-responsive Reactiv layer and it felt very responsive to our every move as we lay on our back and turned from side to side.
In addition to lying on the bed ourselves, we also used an 8kg weight to simulate a person’s body weight for an objective measurement of the Zoma's pressure relief.
We placed the weight in the middle of the mattress and measured the sinkage at 1.3 inches (3.5cm), which seems in line with what you'd expect from a foam mattress on the firmer side of medium.
By comparison, the all-foam Levitex Gravity Defying Mattress has a 1.6cm (4cm) sinkage while the Simba Hybrid Ultra has a 1.5 inch (3.8 cm) sinkage based on the same test.
Zoma Memory Foam Mattress review: Performance
- Minimal motion transfer (good for couples)
- Should sleep cool for most people
- Excellent edge-to-edge support
To get a good idea of what it’s like to sleep on Zoma Mattress, we tested it out for four weeks over the early British spring. Our main tester slept on a king-size mattress with a partner as we were keen to know just how good the motion isolation technology is here. We also rated the mattress on its edge support, cooling qualities, and ease of setup. Here's how we got on...
Motion transfer
If you sleep with a particularly fidgety partner or if you find it hard to settle down at night, you’ll want to invest in a mattress with good motion isolation. This ensures you and your partner a better night’s sleep as you won’t feel their every move (and vice versa).
Memory foam beds are known for their ability to limit motion transfer, and we were very impressed at how soundly we slept on the Zoma Mattress. The mattress does have quite a bounce to it, similar to a hybrid with foam and springs, but it’s also very solid, and its materials are evenly distributed.
To objectively test the Zoma's motion isolation, we placed an empty wine glass in the centre of the mattress and dropped a 3kg weight at varying distances away: 4 inches away to simulate the feel of someone changing position next to us and at 10 inches and 25 inches from the glass to recreate the feel of someone getting out of bed.
The glass did well to stay standing, and we were very impressed that even at 4 inches, the glass didn’t fall over, which is a testament to how well the Zoma Mattress isolates motion. Thus, we strongly recommend it for couples and families who share a bed with their kids and/or pets.
Score: 4.5 out of 5
Temperature regulation
While sleep technology is constantly improving, memory foam mattresses are known to trap heat as you sleep at night. The Zoma's construction combats any potential issues with overheating. It has advanced memory foam with cooling channels for breathability and a ventilated fabric cover to wick away heat and moisture.
While sleeping on this bed, we used Egyptian cotton sheets, a quilt and a memory foam pillow. We tried the mattress in early spring when it was cold outside, but the bedroom temperature never went below 18 degrees C.
We will update our feature in the summer and report our findings, but for now, we can report that the mattress never once got too hot, and we remained comfortable throughout the night.
For one night in the test, we added a heated blanket to the mix. After we had switched off the heated blanket, we noticed that the mattress didn’t retain the heat of the blanket through the night like it did with our old mattress. This is a definite plus as we would previously often get a bit too hot at night because of this.
If you chronically overheat, you may benefit from a specialty cooling mattress. Alternatively, the Zoma Mattress is available as a hybrid with springs, which will yield better airflow (along with more support).
Score: 4 out of 5
Edge support
We’ve often been slightly disappointed when assessing edge support on some of the latest memory foam mattresses (and don’t even get us started on the corners!), but that's not the case here.
We’re giving the Zoma Memory Foam Mattress top marks for its excellent ability to retain its shape from edge to edge. Good edge support is key to a successful mattress design, as nobody wants to feel like they’re slipping out of bed in the morning or rolling off the side when they’re sleeping. Good edge support increases the size of your sleep surface and allows you to stretch out and relax without the mattress sagging around the edges. It's also beneficial for those with mobility issues who need to sit before standing up or lying down.
Impressive edge support is, in fact, one of the main things we noticed when trying out the Zoma Mattress for the first time. We think the Support+ base helps to create a secure surface. We could curl up to the edges of the mattress without feeling like we’d slip off. When someone sat on the other side of the mattress, we didn’t notice much difference, either. And while the corners weren’t quite as impressive as the edges, they held together reasonably when we sat on them and bounced nicely back to shape afterward.
We used our 8kg weight to objectively measure the sinkage of the edges, and at 1.3 inches (3.5cm), our results stayed in line with the sinkage measurement we took in the middle of the mattress. This is an indication of just how evenly balanced the mattress is from edge to edge.
Score: 5 out of 5
Delivery
Our king Zoma Memory Foam Mattress arrived swiftly after we ordered it. It's rolled up, vacuum-packed in plastic and housed in a cardboard box. The delivery team were polite and great at getting the box into the house and positioning it where we wanted it. They offered to carry it up the stairs and remove the packaging, but we decided to do this ourselves.
The king size is quite heavy, so it was a two-person job to haul it up the stairs, ready to open and roll out onto a wooden slatted bed frame. Zoma recommends that you place the mattress on one of its Zoma beds for optimum performance, but it can be used with any platform or slatted base as long as the slats aren't more than 3 inches (7.6cm) apart or 0.5 inches (1.27cm) thick to prevent sagging or damage.
Once positioned on the bedframe, unravelling the mattress was a one-person job. There’s no plastic cutter in the box so you’ll need a pair of scissors or a penknife to slice through the plastic (and there was quite a lot of it to recycle). The bed seemed to slip out of the plastic nicely and started to form straight away.
One thing we would have liked to see here is side handles. Without them, we found it inconvenient to move this mattress. While the weight of the king-size mattress was manageable for two people, without handles, we felt like we might tear or damage the cover when moving it off the bed and into another room. On the plus side, however, you won’t need to flip this mattress.
Zoma suggests leaving it a few hours before sleeping on it for it to fully expand, and it did so surprisingly quickly compared to other memory foam designs we’ve tested in the past. We gave it 72 hours before sleeping on it, and it comes up to a very generous 30cm thick, which we think adds a sense of hotel-style luxury.
How about off-gassing—that factory smell you sometimes get when opening a new foam mattress? It can be particularly pungent if it's vacuum-packed in plastic for a long time. We opened our Zoma Mattress in a room with the windows closed for 24 hours to assess the effects of off-gassing. While your experience may vary, we were very impressed with how little off-gassing we had to contend with. It was hardly noticeable, which we found surprising for a memory foam bed-in-a-box.
Score: 4.5 out of 5
Zoma Memory Foam Mattress review: User reviews
- Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars at Zoma (mostly from US shoppers)
- Lots of praise for its balance of comfort and support
- Some say it can be firmer (or softer)
As Zoma Mattress launched in the UK last year and you won’t find many independent reviews. As of April 2024, there aren’t any reviews on TrustPilot for the Zoma Mattress either. However, there are around 1,200 customer reviews on Zoma UK's website, but they're mainly from US shoppers. (The Zoma Memory Foam Mattress is known as the Zoma Start in the US.) It has a 4.8 out of 5-star rating.
The general consensus is that it is great quality and a comfortable bed, with excellent support. One customer has been so pleased with their Zoma Mattress that they bought three of them for each room in their home. The handful of critical feedback dealt with perceived firmness – either finding it too soft or not soft enough.
Should you buy the Zoma Memory Foam Mattress?
Having tested this mattress over the course of four weeks, we came to the conclusion that it has good pressure relief, excellent edge support and decent motion isolation. While we’re not athletes, we can see that all these qualities would be beneficial for someone sporty.
But we also think it’s a great buy for anyone who wants a medium-firm mattress and likes the feeling of memory foam. Its generously thick structure kept us well rested and aside from the absence of carry handles, we have very little to fault here.
It comes rolled up and vacuum packed that makes delivery and unravelling it relatively easy. We found setting it up and waiting for it to fully form swift and easy and it emitted very little off-gassing, which makes things that bit more pleasant and reassuring.
We like the way this mattress reacts to the body and it made us feel like we were well raised and supported. We found the most comfortable positions on our back and sides when sleeping here as the mattress did well to contour our bodies – particularly around the shoulders, back and hips so we felt well supported from head to toe. But while this mattress is a good all-rounder and works particularly well for side and back sleepers, if you like your mattress firm, it’s not one for you.
