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The Guardian
4 days ago
- Science
- The Guardian
Tempur Pro Plus SmartCool mattress review: a dream for your joints or too soft for comfort?
Let's get the Nasa thing out of the way first. Memory foam, so the internet tells me, repeatedly, was developed by the US space agency in the 60s to cushion astronauts during flights. Nice story, but there's no extreme G-force in my bed, just a pair of middle-aged people wanting to sleep. Do we really need Nasa's pricey wonder material for that? The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. It does help, in small doses. I've found that a layer or two of memory foam can turn a good mattress into a great one. This soft, cosy material moulds to your body and does a brilliant job of tempering the solidity of springs in hybrid mattresses, such as the Simba Hybrid Pro and Otty Original Hybrid. It also absorbs bounce so well that it's helped me and my husband sleep in peace despite each other's fidgeting. A mattress made entirely from memory foam, though? I wasn't sure I'd enjoy lying on 25cm of chewy marshmallow. Mercifully, Tempur uses foam of many different firmness levels, including high-density base layers designed to provide support as strong as springs. I set out to discover how well it works by testing one of Tempur's most popular mattresses, the Pro Plus SmartCool. Tempur sent me a double-size Pro Plus SmartCool for sleep-testing in July. It was the best of times and the worst of times to test this mattress, because my bedroom was stifling. I was sent a medium mattress instead of the requested medium-firm, and this was unfortunate because heat can make memory foam even softer – and I find firmer mattresses more comfortable. At least the balmy conditions were perfect for testing the claimed cooling properties of the SmartCool fabric cover. Before any snoozing could take place, my husband, Alan, and I ran our usual mattress-testing experiments. Memory foam tends to trap heat, so we were keen to see if the SmartCool cover could offset this. We used a heat pad, a thermocouple and our bottoms to measure how efficiently the surface cooled down, and we also took the temperature of the foam beneath. We then deployed weights and wobbly cups of water to measure factors such as sinkage, motion isolation and edge support. Our family testing panel came over to score the mattress out of 10 on firmness, breathability and comfort. I prefer to sleep-test mattresses for much longer than a week because even the firmest cushioning materials soften over time. The Simba and Panda Hybrid Bamboo felt significantly softer after a couple of months. The Tempur was soft from the start, though, and Alan and I found it too cushioned for comfort. After a week of poor sleep, we gave it to my dad, Don, 85, to see if its pressure relief might help soothe the joint pain he's been suffering in his hip and shoulder (more on which below). He returned it to us for a second leg of sleep testing once temperatures had cooled down in late July. Tempur, founded in the US in 1992, was among the first brands to make mattresses from viscoelastic polyurethane foam. 'Memory foam' is how you know this stuff, but Tempur calls it 'Tempur Material' and uses its own proprietary formulas that cover a range of densities. Memory foam moulds to your body and doesn't spring back quickly when pressed. It feels quite different from the simple seat-cushion polyfoam used in many sprung mattresses under the sleep surface (in the Ikea Valevåg, for example). It's also more expensive. And so, as with many mattresses that contain high proportions of memory foam, Tempur mattresses are expensive. The Pro Plus SmartCool sits in the middle of Tempur's range, costing from £1,499 for a 21cm-deep single to £4,299 for a 30cm-deep 200 x 200cm ('special size'). The 25cm-deep double I tested costs from £2,299, almost twice the price of the Simba, the next most expensive mattress in the Filter's roundup. The medium SmartCool has four layers of foam, of varying densities: a 5cm upper layer of soft, elastic memory foam for cushioning and pressure relief; then 5cm of adaptive foam; and then 3cm of even denser supportive foam. Finally, the 12cm 'DuraBase' layer of even denser foam provides support and durability. Everyone on my panel rated it 5/10 on the soft-firm scale, so the 'medium' description is accurate. The sleeping surface sank a generous 4.2cm under 7.5kg of hand weights. That's well cushioned, but only marginally more than the Eve Wunderflip Hybrid, which sank 4cm and is described as medium-firm. Tempur doesn't say how the SmartCool's 'QuickRefresh' polyester fabric cover dissipates heat; it simply cites 'cool-to-the-touch' technology. The cover unzips easily with its stylish green handles, and it can be washed at 40C. You can also unzip and wash the base cover. Trying to wash or sponge the mattress inside, however, will invalidate your guarantee. The double-size mattress weighs a chunky 40kg, a few kilos more than the Otty or the Simba, but much less than the 65kg Millbrook Wool Luxury 4000. The Tempur's weight and floppiness – plus the absence of any turning handles – make it tricky to manoeuvre, but once you've got it on your bed, you'll never really have to. You don't have to turn it, although you can rotate it occasionally to maintain even support, according to the care guidelines. Tempur has several showrooms where you can try its mattresses before buying, although you'll need to make an appointment. Locations include Castleford in West Yorkshire, Bridgend, Swindon, Milton Keynes, Durham and both Westfields in London. Whether you buy in person or online, you get a 10-year warranty and a 100-night trial. Type: memory foam Firmness: advertised as medium, panel rated as 5/10Depth: 21, 25 (as tested) and 30cm Cover: unzip to wash at 40CTurn or rotate: don't turn; you can rotate 'to maintain even comfort'Trial period: 100 nightsWarranty: 10 yearsOld mattress recycling: not offered in UKSustainability credentials: Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified; Pro mattresses are Danish Indoor Climate labelled; UK warehouse operations are zero landfill; Tempur aims to be carbon neutral by 2040 You wait years for a mattress to turn up without being vacuum-shrunk, then they all come at once. As with the Millbrook Wool Luxury 4000, the Tempur arrived full-size and flat. That meant it was ready to sleep on immediately, unlike the oodles of bed-in-a-box mattresses I've tested, and it came packed in significantly less plastic wrapping than they did. The downside of receiving a non-shrunk mattress is that it's harder to get it up the stairs. Tempur's helpful delivery team would have done it for me, but I wanted to see how my husband and I coped (sorry, Alan). The Tempur-branded delivery team was nice to see after so many third-party couriers, but I had to wait three weeks for the mattress to arrive. New foam often has a chemical 'off-gassing' smell, and the Tempur is quite stinky (or fragrant, depending on your preferences) for its first couple of weeks. I don't mind the smell, but you may find it distracting, especially when you're trying to get to sleep. Sign up to The Filter Get the best shopping advice from the Filter team straight to your inbox. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. after newsletter promotion None like it hot when they're trying to sleep, so I was delighted by the genuinely fresh feel of Tempur's SmartCool cover. Iggy the cat was particularly keen to hog the stitched fabric when July's night-time temperatures exceeded 20C, perhaps because his 4kg body couldn't sink into the heat-trapping memory foam. Our bodies did sink into it, however. As we slept, the foam formed a cocoon around us (mainly our bums), and made us feel like we were floating in the mattress rather than on top of it. There was no sense of sagging, just of strong, deliberate cradling. Firmer mattresses are more to my taste, but they can give me niggling pain from an old rib injury, and the Tempur never did. If you live with pain and find it hard to sleep as a result, the memory foam upper layers of this mattress could be just what you need. My 85-year-old dad, Don, also enjoyed the pain relief of the mattress but has since switched back to the firmer surface to which he's more accustomed. He first tried it lying on his back and said: 'Oh, I like that … I think,' which echoed my own thoughts. I asked him to turn on to his right side to test his recently injured shoulder and hip, and he said there was no pain – a welcome relief for us both. The mattress's motion isolation is exceptionally good. This is something I've learned to expect from highly cushioned memory foam because it absorbs the movement of your body and dramatically cuts down on bounce. Alan and I are fidgety sleepers, so motion isolation helps us rest without being disturbed by each other. As mentioned, some of the higher-density layers of Tempur's mattress are decidedly firm. The Pro Plus SmartCool is also available in two firmer versions than the one I tested. But the medium version quickly turned out to be an over-enthusiastic hugger, at least for our tastes. After the initially pleasurable cradling, it just kept going until it seemed to be swallowing us. 'My bum is disappearing into it,' said Don. He and I are very small, so we didn't sink as far into this mattress as a person of larger build would. My husband, Alan, thoroughly average size, sank too far for comfort and declared it 'like being sucked into quicksand'. We wanted to give the Tempur a fair chance, so we used it on our slatted bed base for several nights, then Don used it on his solid divan base. It never felt lumpy or saggy, but my lower back felt unsupported, and our sleeping bodies made impressions so deep that it became difficult to roll over. If your sleep style involves plenty of tossing and turning, a firmer mattress will suit you better. Edge support is frankly poor for a mattress that costs this much. Even a soft mattress should have some firm reinforcement around the sides to make it easy to get into and out, but when we tried sitting on the edge, we all felt like we were sliding off it. Sitting up to read is difficult because your weight is concentrated on your bum, and you just, well, sink. Even the cover's cooling ability had its limits, as Alan and I discovered when sinking into the foam beneath it. We woke in the night, complaining that we felt we were cooking in the heat of our sleeping bodies. The cover helps by forming a barrier between you and the foam, but we found – in our experience and our heat-retention tests – that it couldn't stop the foam getting hotter than a mattress that contains springs. If you tend to overheat at night all year round, an all-foam mattress isn't for you. Environmental kudos is a challenge for a company that uses this much foam. High-viscosity polyurethane foam is non-biodegradable, has a chemical-intensive manufacturing process and is harder to recycle than fabric or springs. Given all this, Tempur has made decent strides in sustainability. The most noticeable example for me was the dramatic reduction in plastic packaging compared with bed-in-a-box mattresses. There isn't even any cardboard to get rid of. Behind the scenes, Tempur's products are Oeko-Tex Standard 100-certified, and its Danish production facility is ISO-certified for quality, environment, health and safety, and energy. Tempur mattresses are made in Denmark, and its Pro and One mattresses are certified by the Danish Indoor Climate Labelling scheme, a voluntary but internationally recognised standard for chemical compound emissions. Tempur's UK warehouses and distribution centres have been zero landfill since 2019, and the company aims to be carbon neutral by 2040. Foam isn't easy to recycle, but Tempur offers ideas on its environmental sustainability page. Old foam 'can be cleaned and shredded for use in new products, such as carpet underlay', it says, so I'm disappointed that the company doesn't offer to do this with its UK customers' old mattresses. Mattress collection is offered in the US 'on request', but not here. Tempur UK does at least run an online outlet store where you can buy refurbished products, including mattresses that have been returned by buyers within the 100-night trial. The medium version of the Pro Plus SmartCool is a soft, cradling mattress with excellent pressure relief. If you love your beds on the plush side, you may decide it's worth every penny. However, this sumptuous mattress is not for everyone – including my family and me. Perhaps the quicksand sensation was too close to our childhood nightmares to give us the sleep of our dreams. Jane Hoskyn is a features journalist and WFH pioneer with three decades of experience in rearranging bookshelves and 'testing' coffee machines while deadlines loom. Her work has made her a low-key expert in all manner of consumables, from sports watches to solar panels. She would always rather be in the woods
Tom's Guide
11-07-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
I put Amazon's bestselling £7 pillow to the test and love it — but this is the pillow I'd shop instead this Prime Day
I had little to no expectations when trying the Amazon bestselling Adam Pillow but it really did check all the right boxes. The £7 pillow was plush, medium-firm and supportive for my combination-sleeping style (side and back). However, if you're struggling with summer heat like I am, go for the Simba Hybrid Pillow, now 20% off for Prime day. While testing some of the best pillows of 2025, I understood that temperature regulation and breathability are core performance indicators, especially when recommending options for hot sleepers or anyone who struggles with night sweats. Yes, the Adam Home Pillow may be affordable, but it's unlikely to match up to the specialised cooling elements in the Simba Hybrid. Need to make the most of the final day of the sale? Head to our Amazon Prime Day bedding deals, where we track the latest discounts as they drop. But first, here's more info on the Simba so you can make an informed decision… Simba Hybrid Pillow: was £109 now £87 at AmazonThe Simba Hybrid Pillow stands out in the market with its plush yet supportive fill, made with recycled polyester fibres and a contouring inner core layer filled with Nanocubes: soft CertiPUR foam cubes. Hot sleepers will love the Stratos cool-to-touch soft cover which means "no more flipping to find the cool side of the pillow". It also features an open mesh design on the sides to promote better airflow. You can now find the Simba Hybrid Pillow at 20% off in the Prime Day sale, taking the price of a standard size down from £109 to £87. User score: ★★★★½ (based on 1K+ Amazon reviews) One of our testers went hands-on the Simba Hybrid pillow, and found it to be comfortable for her combination-sleeping style (side and back). The fully adjustable fill allows you to customise the feel according to your sleeping preferences, which means it is suitable for all positions (side, front or back). All you need to do is add or remove the foam and fiber fill until you achieve the desired loft and firmness (Simba even provides a bag for storing excess fill). This makes it suitable for most sleepers. Adam Home Pillow: standard pack from £16.99 from £12.99 at AmazonCrafted from a plush down-alternative fill, the Adam pillow has a medium-firm support which will suit most sleeping styles. It comes in a quilted cotton and polyester outer cover filled with 3-D hallowfiber for enhanced comfort and cushioning. The brand also state that it's designed to promote airflow and be breathable, but it's unlikely to be as effective as an actively cooling pillow like the Simba Hybrid. You can now find a pack of standard pillows at 24% off which drops the RRP from £16.99 to £12.99.
Scotsman
02-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Scotsman
Simba Hybrid Mattress review after 5 months: support, heat and comfort
Simba Hybrid Mattress: our long-term test verdict after five months of real-world use | Simba This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement. Five months on from my Simba mattress switch, here's how it's holding up — from sticky summer nights to long reading sessions in bed. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Back in March, I wrote about finally parting ways with my long-suffering old mattress after nearly a decade of shared nights, creaks and increasingly dodgy sleep. I swapped it out for the Simba Hybrid mattress, along with the brand's pillow and duvet, and promised to report back once I'd put it properly through its paces. Well, I've now been sleeping on the Simba for five months – and with a few warm summer nights behind us, I feel like it's time for an honest update. Let's start with the heat. A few nights ago, our indoor bedroom thermometer was reading 27°C at bedtime. The sort of night that, in the past, would have had me dreading bed — knowing I'd wake up drenched, overheating, and increasingly irritable as the hours ticked by. But surprisingly, we had nothing to worry about. It wasn't miraculous – it was still warm – but there was no awful, sweaty cling, no trapped heat, and no need to get up and strip off layers or switch to the floor. Simba's Hybrid mattress: a night-time game-changer | Simba Sleep That, to me, says a lot. Because the real sign of a good mattress in summer isn't that it makes you feel cold — it's that it doesn't turn into a swamp. The Simba Hybrid, paired with the Simba Hybrid Pillow and Duvet, seems to find that sweet spot: we stay covered, but not suffocated. The cool comfort has been matched by long-term support, too. I'm still free of the morning back and shoulder pain I used to assume was just part of getting older. That cautious, two-stage lever-out-of-bed movement I perfected over the years? Gone. I get up normally now, which feels like a ridiculous thing to celebrate — until you remember what it was like when every movement felt like a risk. Products tested Simba Hybrid Mattress: I tested the Simba Hybrid Mattress , available direct from Simba for £899 (king size). It combines five layers of comfort, including Aerocoil® micro springs and cooling technology, for exceptional support and temperature regulation. Simba Hybrid Pillow: I was so impressed with the mattress that I decided to upgrade my pillow game as well. The Simba Hybrid Pillow (£109) features adjustable Nanocube® filling, temperature regulation, and a breathable design, making it customisable for different sleep positions. Simba Hybrid Duvet: To complete the full Simba sleep experience, I also invested in the Simba Hybrid Duvet (£139). It's designed with Stratos® temperature control, helping to maintain an ideal sleeping climate throughout the night. Together, these have elevated our slumbers to boss level—turning our bed into the kind of luxurious retreat you normally only find in high-end hotels. Five months in, the Simba still feels supportive and evenly balanced. We rotate it monthly, and so far it's held its shape brilliantly. I read a lot in bed and often sit upright for long periods — but as far as I can tell, my backside hasn't left a permanent dent in the mattress. The edge support still holds up well, too, which is a minor but underrated feature for anyone who finds themselves perching to put on socks or sitting with a coffee first thing. My only small gripe? I didn't realise quite how deep the mattress is. We've had to replace a few fitted sheets because the older ones just couldn't stay put — they'd ping off at the corners in the night like over-wound mousetraps. A minor inconvenience, but worth noting for anyone making the switch. Would I still recommend it? Absolutely. It's proven itself as a long-term investment in proper rest. I've said before that a good mattress is one of those things you don't really appreciate until you've lived with a bad one for too long — and the Simba has backed that up, night after night.
Scotsman
02-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Scotsman
Simba Hybrid Mattress review after 5 months: support, heat and comfort
Simba Hybrid Mattress: our long-term test verdict after five months of real-world use | Simba This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement. Five months on from my Simba mattress switch, here's how it's holding up — from sticky summer nights to long reading sessions in bed. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Back in March, I wrote about finally parting ways with my long-suffering old mattress after nearly a decade of shared nights, creaks and increasingly dodgy sleep. I swapped it out for the Simba Hybrid mattress, along with the brand's pillow and duvet, and promised to report back once I'd put it properly through its paces. Well, I've now been sleeping on the Simba for five months – and with a few warm summer nights behind us, I feel like it's time for an honest update. Let's start with the heat. A few nights ago, our indoor bedroom thermometer was reading 27°C at bedtime. The sort of night that, in the past, would have had me dreading bed — knowing I'd wake up drenched, overheating, and increasingly irritable as the hours ticked by. But surprisingly, we had nothing to worry about. It wasn't miraculous – it was still warm – but there was no awful, sweaty cling, no trapped heat, and no need to get up and strip off layers or switch to the floor. Simba's Hybrid mattress: a night-time game-changer | Simba Sleep That, to me, says a lot. Because the real sign of a good mattress in summer isn't that it makes you feel cold — it's that it doesn't turn into a swamp. The Simba Hybrid, paired with the Simba Hybrid Pillow and Duvet, seems to find that sweet spot: we stay covered, but not suffocated. The cool comfort has been matched by long-term support, too. I'm still free of the morning back and shoulder pain I used to assume was just part of getting older. That cautious, two-stage lever-out-of-bed movement I perfected over the years? Gone. I get up normally now, which feels like a ridiculous thing to celebrate — until you remember what it was like when every movement felt like a risk. Products tested Simba Hybrid Mattress: I tested the Simba Hybrid Mattress , available direct from Simba for £899 (king size). It combines five layers of comfort, including Aerocoil® micro springs and cooling technology, for exceptional support and temperature regulation. Simba Hybrid Pillow: I was so impressed with the mattress that I decided to upgrade my pillow game as well. The Simba Hybrid Pillow (£109) features adjustable Nanocube® filling, temperature regulation, and a breathable design, making it customisable for different sleep positions. Simba Hybrid Duvet: To complete the full Simba sleep experience, I also invested in the Simba Hybrid Duvet (£139). It's designed with Stratos® temperature control, helping to maintain an ideal sleeping climate throughout the night. Together, these have elevated our slumbers to boss level—turning our bed into the kind of luxurious retreat you normally only find in high-end hotels. Five months in, the Simba still feels supportive and evenly balanced. We rotate it monthly, and so far it's held its shape brilliantly. I read a lot in bed and often sit upright for long periods — but as far as I can tell, my backside hasn't left a permanent dent in the mattress. The edge support still holds up well, too, which is a minor but underrated feature for anyone who finds themselves perching to put on socks or sitting with a coffee first thing. My only small gripe? I didn't realise quite how deep the mattress is. We've had to replace a few fitted sheets because the older ones just couldn't stay put — they'd ping off at the corners in the night like over-wound mousetraps. A minor inconvenience, but worth noting for anyone making the switch.
Daily Mirror
09-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Simba customers can bag £836 of 'free' gifts with any mattress
Customers can upgrade their bedroom setup with 'complimentary' memory foam pillows, mattress protectors and more We all know how crucial a good kip is for our well-being. While splurging on top-notch mattresses and bedding may seem a bit extravagant, it's an investment that pays off every night. With this in mind, sleep tech brand Simba has introduced a tempting deal that makes upgrading your sleep setup even more attractive. Currently, when shoppers purchase a Simba mattress, they can receive over £800 worth of complimentary sleep-boosting items, including pillows, mattress protectors, and a luxurious duvet. For instance, with a double, king, or super king Simba Hybrid mattress, customers will receive two complimentary memory foam pillows (priced at £218) and a mattress protector (valued at up to £169) - that's an additional £387 in value. If you're shopping for a single-size mattress, you'll get the same deal - but with one pillow instead of two. On the other hand, the Simba Luxe Mattres s (starting from £1,119) comes bundled with even more high-end complimentary items. If shoppers buy any double, king or super king Luxe, they'll be gifted a Hybrid 3-in-1 duvet, a mattress protector and two Hybrid pillows - totalling up to £836. As before, single mattresses are also included in the offer but come with one pillow instead of two, reports the Liverpool Echo. Additionally, the brand offers a 30-day trial and a 12-month warranty. If you're not familiar with Simba mattresses, its best-selling Hybrid Mattress is the most recognised. It has garnered over 100,000 five-star reviews for its 'supportive' five-layer design, which combines springs with memory foam. For those who prefer to browse before making a purchase, a wealth of other top-notch mattresses are available. Take Tempur, for example, which boasts NASA-approved technology in its designs that mould to your body shape, offering pressure relief exactly where it's needed. Emma Sleep also offers a tempting choice with its award-winning Hybrid Premium Mattress, which features three layers of advanced foam designed to optimise sleep by improving airflow, distributing weight evenly, and reducing motion transfer. Back to Simba, one chuffed customer said: "After spending a few weeks sleeping on the Simba Hybrid mattress, I can confidently say it lives up to much of the hype. It's a great blend of support and comfort, and the materials feel premium from the moment you lie down." Another chimed in with praise, remarking: "The mattress arrived on time with an easy delivery. It is super comfortable and folded out well. I was a bit worried when it was all crushed up in the box, but it is firm and has no dips. Also, the duvet and pillows are great so far and stay plump." However, not everyone is thrilled with their purchase. A disgruntled buyer expressed dissatisfaction: "It wasn't comfortable for me. No quibble return was provided, though, with mattress collection provided." Yet another enthusiast shared their devotion to the Simba Hybrid Mattress: "I love this mattress. We bought it for our first home, and it gave us a great night's sleep. Firmness is perfect for us - no sore backs. No more tossing and turning. Comfort level is 10/10." Investing in a mattress can be a big decision, but it could be the best thing you can do for your sleep health this year. You can browse the entire Simba collection here; the sale ends on June 19.
