Simba Hybrid Pro mattress review: The most comfortable mattress we’ve ever tested – now on offer for Black Friday

Leading mattress brands have to work hard to stay ahead in the fiercely competitive bed-in-a-box market. Simba’s strategy is to tweak its winning recipes, for example by adding a zipped removable cover – a key feature of many rivals – to its best-selling mattress, the Hybrid Pro.

At the time of writing, I’ve been sleeping on the 2024 iteration of the Simba Hybrid Pro for around six weeks. The washable cover is a welcome addition, and was something we found lacking when we initially reviewed the mattress some years ago. But more importantly, the Hybrid Pro is the most comfortable hybrid mattress I have ever slept on.

Simba’s 200-night trial means you can sleep on the Hybrid Pro for more than six months without financial commitment, which is reassuring given its chunky price. But I think this is a mattress you’ll want to keep for many years, and I didn’t hesitate to give it a Best Buy award.

Simba Hybrid Pro review: What you need to know

Since we first reviewed its mattresses, Simba has extended and restructured its product lineup into several “ranges”, with the Hybrid Pro sitting at the lower end of its Deluxe range. It’s more expensive than the three “Comfort” mattresses (which includes the regular Simba Hybrid – now called the Hybrid Original), but it’s the cheapest of the three Deluxe mattresses, all of which include multiple layers of springs and foam, a wool layer for temperature control and the new washable cover. More on pricing later.

Beneath its upper fabric surfaces is the natural wool layer that Simba claims to offer “superior moisture management” and temperature regulation, and which acts as a cushioned sleeping surface. Next comes a double layer of micro springs for adaptive support, followed by an open-cell “Simbatex” foam layer designed to encourage airflow.

After that there’s a “stabilising” foam layer, then a “SupportCore” layer of up to 1,000 pocket springs for firm edge support, followed by yet another stabilising foam layer. Finally, the supportive foam foundation is zoned to offer different levels of support below your shoulders and hips.

In total, the Simba Hybrid Pro contains eight layers – two more than the Simba Hybrid Original – and is 280mm thick. That’s a full 30mm thicker than the Hybrid Original and the Emma NextGen Premium (also pictured below).

Like most hybrid mattresses, the Simba is not designed to be flipped, but manoeuvrability is essential when you’re changing bedsheets. I found the double-size mattress relatively easy to move on my own, and the sturdy side handles came in handy when shifting its 40kg bulk. The Eve Wunderflip Premium Hybrid is a much heavier 50.5kg for a double, even though both mattresses are 280mm thick.

Simba lets you sleep on any of its mattresses for 200 nights before deciding whether to keep it or ask them to collect it for a full refund. That’s a generous trial, but standard among bed-in-a-box companies. Simba also gives you a free 10-year guarantee.

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Simba Hybrid Pro review: Price and competition

The Simba Hybrid Pro is not a cheap mattress. It’s more expensive than most mattresses we’ve reviewed here at Expert Reviews, with a king size costing £1,329 when not discounted. The cheapest size is single, at £929, while a double is £1,279 and a super king is £1,459.

That puts it in a similar price bracket to other premium hybrid mattresses such as the Otty Pure Plus (£1,050 for a king size), the Origin Hybrid Pro (£1,434) and the Emma Elite (£1,649). Though we haven’t reviewed all of these mattresses yet, they are of similar thickness and construction to the Hybrid Pro.

The cheaper Simba Hybrid Original, costs £999 for a king size. While it’s still expensive, this is more in line with other hybrids we’ve reviewed, including the Emma NextGen Premium (£799) and the Otty Pure Hybrid (£850).

At the other end of the scale, Simba’s most expensive mattresses are among the priciest you can buy anywhere. The Simba Hybrid Ultra is a cool £3,199 for a king size: well over double the price of the Simba Hybrid Pro. I’ve had some of the best sleeps of my life on the Hybrid Pro, so I’m not convinced it’s worth buying a more expensive mattress unless you have very specific orthopaedic needs.

It’s also worth knowing that Simba regularly runs discount sales that cut 45% or more off its prices, but it may stop running them quite so often. The company recently received a slap on the wrist from the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for overstating its price reductions, so it may be out to prove that it only runs “genuine” deals. When we see new deals, we’ll let you know on this page.

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Simba Hybrid Pro review: Comfort and performance

The things we loved about the first iteration of the Simba Hybrid Pro are still present and correct in 2024, including its temperature-regulating wool layer and its supremely comfortable balance of cushioning and support, which was evident from the first night I slept on this mattress.

One of our main criticisms of the Hybrid Pro when it launched was that you couldn’t remove the cover to wash it. Removable covers are common among cheaper hybrids including the Emma NextGen Premium and the Eve Wunderflip Premium Hybrid, so it was a surprising omission. Simba has now put this right, with a knitted cover that’s not only machine washable at up to 40°C but also soft and silky to touch.

When reviewing hybrid mattresses for Expert Reviews I often need a period of adjustment to the new sleeping surface, but my double size Hybrid Pro was an instant hit. Every inch of me felt supported, including when I moved and changed position. This support was coupled with just enough cushioning to accommodate my body’s curves without ever giving me that sinking feeling, and I woke up fully refreshed and pain-free.

Simba judges the Hybrid Pro to be medium-firm, and I would agree with that assessment. The mattress offers a powerful degree of push-back that seems to adapt to your sleeping position and size, delivering the ideal balance of pressure relief and cosiness.

I should add that I am a small-proportioned side sleeper, so very firm mattresses don’t give my hips and shoulders anywhere to go and the result can be uncomfortable. But I also suffer lower back pain on soft mattresses, and this hasn’t happened once with the Simba Hybrid Pro.

If you’re a larger person who sleeps on their back and loves the solid pressure relief of hard mattresses, then you may not find the Simba Hybrid Pro firm enough. But this mattress is so exceptionally well made, durable and supportive that I would say it’s worth taking a chance on, whatever your sleeping style.

My Simba Hybrid Pro is on a slatted base that probably adds to its bounce. To find out how it compared with a solid divan surface, I put the mattress on the wooden floor and didn’t notice any difference in firmness.

I used a set of weights to put this impression to the test. A concentrated 7.5kg pile of weights in the middle of the double-size mattress caused the surface to dip 210mm on slats, and 200mm on the floor. When I tested firmness at the edge, the results were similar, sinking just 5mm more.

Most people weigh significantly more than 7.5kg of course, but when we lie on a mattress our weight is more evenly distributed. With that in mind, I’d argue this test gives a fair indication that the Simba Hybrid Pro offers a superb level of support, whatever surface it’s on. Of course there are firmer mattresses available, such as the HiGrid Premium Hybrid, but I found the Simba Hybrid Pro to be more comfortable.

On edge support, the Hybrid Pro compares well with the Eve Wunderflip Premium Hybrid and the extra firm HiGrid Premium Hybrid, and far exceeds the cheaper Emma NextGen Premium. If you’re fed up with your bed giving way beneath you when you sit on the edge, the Hybrid Pro will feel wonderfully robust.

The temperature-regulating wool layer was one of the things we liked most about the Simba Hybrid Pro when we first tested it. As a woman of a certain age who struggles with feeling too hot and cold at night, I was particularly keen to re-test this feature against Simba’s claims.

As it turns out, the wool layer is a masterstroke. As well as helping to keep my temperature and clamminess under control during June’s warmer nights, it also added a degree of cosiness that made a dramatic difference to me, absorbing the strong support from below.

Again, I wanted to illustrate this cooling effect with some testing. After I heated up an area of the surface with a heat pad and then sat on it and measured its temperature, it cooled down at around the same rate as the Emma NextGen Premium and the Eve Wunderflip Premium Hybrid. All three mattresses dropped from 30°C to around 20°C after 10 minutes when the ambient temperature was 16.5°C.

I got the impression that the Hybrid Pro maintained its support better than the Emma and Eve mattresses when I heated up its surface. This may be because the Emma and Eve both have a foam layer immediately beneath their sleeping surface, and foam is notorious for absorbing heat and softening up.

Simba Hybrid Pro review: Verdict

The Simba Hybrid Pro is no bargain, but it’s a great investment. It is a pleasure to sleep on and one of the best mattresses we’ve ever tested.

I’ve owned all sorts of mattresses in my life, including hard futons and bouncy pocket sprung beds, but the Hybrid Pro beats them all by feeling both supportive and cushioned where needed. Most hybrid mattresses aim to deliver this kind of zoned support that adapts to your body, but not many achieve it to this degree.

Temperature control and edge support are measurably excellent, and the addition of a removable washable cover is a welcome finishing touch that suggests Simba is not prepared to be beaten by upstart rivals on any detail.

More than £1,300 is a lot to pay for a king size mattress, even one whose durable construction and 10-year guarantee should see it delivering healthy sleep for you for more than a decade. However I don’t think it’s overpriced, even when Simba isn’t running one of its discount sales. Wait for a sale if you prefer, but I’m happy to give the Hybrid Pro another Best Buy award, because it is simply the best in its class.