Mail order, bed-in-a-box mattresses like Simba are now everywhere you look. If you’ve ever searched for one on Google this is especially true because you will have been followed by Google ads for all its competitors thereafter.
Beyond the obvious advantages in terms of portability (at least until you unroll it) and its reasonable price, however, is Simba as good as its slick marketing suggests? And how does it stack up against a more traditional pocket-sprung mattress?
Like most of its rivals, Simba offers a 100-day money back guarantee, which means you can try one for yourself without any financial risk whatsoever. The effort involved in having a mattress delivered only to have it collected a few weeks later – not to mention storing your old mattress during this period – is not to be dismissed too lightly, though.
Simba Hybrid Mattress Review: What you need to know
Simba’s Hybrid mattress is described as a hybrid mattress. This is because, unlike most of its rivals, it combines memory foam with micro pocket springs. In fact, there are five different materials used in Simba’s mattress in total.
First is a hypoallergenic sleep surface designed to maximise air flow. Next is a 40mm “Simbatex” comfort layer that mimics latex and promotes cooling. Below this is a layer of 2,500 20mm conical springs (in the King Size mattress) that are designed to minimise movement transfer - which is where you feel it whenever someone rolls over next to you. Finally, there’s 35mm of memory foam above the support base that’s constructed from 155mm of firmer, more supportive foam.
Because of the order of the layers in the mattress, it goes without saying that you don’t need to flip it, but it’s recommended that you rotate it once a month at first to improve its lifespan. After it’s broken in, rotating every three to six months is sufficient. Unfortunately, there are no handles to help you do this, and the mattress weighs a hefty 37kg in king size, so make sure you’ve got several pairs of hands to help you before attempting this.
The Simba Hybrid is highly versatile in terms of the different bed bases you can use it on. It’ll work with divans, solid bases or slatted bases and Simba even sells its own adjustable bed for use with the mattress. It’s worth noting that the type of base you use will affect the feel of the mattress. Sprung slats, for example, make it feel slightly less firm than a solid base. Simba also recommends that if you use a slatted base that the slats are no more than 3in apart in order to give sufficient support.
Unlike many bed-in-a-box mattresses, which are sold exclusively online, you can try out the Simba Hybrid in some John Lewis and Furniture Village stores. The mattress comes with a ten-year guarantee from the date of delivery although you should probably be replacing it well before that expires anyway.
Simba Hybrid Mattress Review: Price and competition
Prices for the Simba Hybrid range from £399 for a single to £599 for a double and £699 for a king size. This is identical pricing model to foam mattress manufacturer Leesa, which uses three distinct layers of foam, but no conical springs. Other well-known names in the bed-in-a-box market include Eve, which also charges £599 for a double and £699 for a king, and Casper, whose mattresses are slightly cheaper at £550 and £600 respectively. All of the above manufacturers offer 100-day trials, after which they’ll collect the mattress for free if you’re not totally satisfied.
It’s often suggested that you get more for your money buying a bed-in-a-box mattress than a traditional pocket-sprung or a spring and memory foam mattress. You can, however, still buy a solid, reliable pocket-sprung mattress for around £700. John Lewis’ Natural Collection 4000 Hemp, whose fillings are ideal for those who find foam too warm, for example, costs £699 in king size.
Alternatively, if you have a budget closer to £1000, you can get Hypnos’ superb pillow-top pocket-sprung mattress. The disadvantage is that these mattresses cost more to manufacture than their memory foam rivals, so once you’ve taken them out of their wrapping there’s no option to return them unless they’re faulty.
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Simba Hybrid Mattress Review: Comfort and performance
After removing your Simba Hybrid from its vacuum packaging using the provided tool and laying it on your bed, it quickly rises and starts to take shape. Although it can take up to 24 hours to fully form, the good news is you can sleep on it only three hours after it’s been unpacked. This is great if you’re moving into a new flat and want to sleep on your new mattress the same day. At first, you’ll probably notice quite a strong plasticky smell. Rest assured that this disappears entirely over time and the more you air the mattress, the faster it’ll fade.
My impressions after sleeping on the Simba Hybrid for the first time were that it was very comfortable, albeit surprisingly firm – a seven out of ten, where 10 is the firmest. I should add at this point, that I weigh around 75kg, so if you’re lighter than this, you’ll likely find it firmer, and similarly, if you’re heavier then it could feel softer.
Depending on your preferences, the firmness definitely isn’t a bad thing. Having also tested the Casper mattress, I found the Simba Hybrid noticeably more supportive from the offset, despite it still offering a soft, comfortable top layer. Both mattresses became less firm within the first few weeks of being broken in, making the Casper much too soft for my liking, while the Simba Hybrid ended up spot on in terms of firmness and comfort.
There’s no doubt Simba’s synthetic latex sleeps hotter than a traditional pocket sprung mattress with natural fillings. For most months of the year you can probably control this by using suitable bedding, but if you know you’re the sort of person who gets too warm on memory foam, the Simba Hybrid is probably not the mattress for you.
Having said that, I found the Simba Hybrid’s properties at least didn’t change drastically when I did get warm. With other memory foam mattresses including Ikea’s medium-firm Morgedal and the Casper mattress, I have found firmness can change quite drastically throughout the night as the bed warms up and, by the morning, you can feel like you’ve sunk into a giant marshmallow. With the Simba Hybrid, this wasn’t a problem, and I felt adequately supported throughout the night, even when I did get hot.
I’m not sure to what extent the layer of conical springs contributes to this impressive levels of support, but you shouldn’t buy the Simba Hybrid expecting the feel of a sprung mattress. To put it simply, it’s just not very springy and although you don't sink in to it too far, it much more closely resembles the sensation of a foam mattress than a pocket sprung variety. That’s hardly surprising when the conical springs in the Simba are only 20mm deep.
Simba Hybrid Mattress Review: Verdict
If you’re in the market for a “bed-in-a-box” mattress, I can wholeheartedly endorse the Simba Hybrid. Unless you get very warm in bed – in which case you’re best off avoiding memory foam altogether – my only significant criticism is that it lets off a horrible plasticky smell for the first few days.
Finding the right level of firmness in a mattress is a very personal thing, but the Simba Hybrid strikes an excellent balance between comfort and support. Best of all, I found that it doesn’t lose these properties when it gets warm or after its initial break-in period.
The mattress could do with some handles to make manoeuvring it less irksome but that’s easier said than done with something that’s made up of four layers of foam. At £700 for the king-size version, it’s not exactly cheap but you’ll be hard pushed to find a more comfortable pocket sprung mattress for the same price.
