The Emma Smart Hybrid Deluxe Mattress is a straightforward medium hybrid, memory foam and gel foam over zoned pocket springs, rolled in a box. It suits couples of average weight who want a bit of sink and less of each other's tossing and turning. I'm not an Emma fan and nothing on this listing changes my mind about the brand, but the build is sound, so buy it at a good sale price and judge that price on its own.
Memory foam does the cushioning and the springs do the lifting
Under a cool-touch knitted cover sit 2cm of gel foam, 4cm of memory foam and 840 pocket springs zoned into three areas, all on a 7cm base of reflex foam. The total depth is 25cm. Expect a medium feel with a soft first inch: the memory foam lets your shoulder in and the springs stop your hips going further.
The gel layer sits on top for a reason. Gel foam runs cooler than plain memory foam and I think it makes a difference, even with a slab of memory foam just beneath it. Owners keep saying it keeps them cool, which is more than I'd have bet on for a memory foam hybrid.
What the unhappy owners say
Most owners are pleased. The few who aren't give three stars, and their complaints are specific enough to use. One found it softer than expected and says there's no reinforced edge, so you can roll off if you sleep near it. Another says it sits low, which an older sleeper getting in and out of bed will notice. A third says the corners and springs were still compressed several weeks after unrolling. That's a handful of owners, not a pattern, but the edge point clashes with the listing's claim of a foam-encased edge, and on a shared double I'd take the owner's word seriously: a weak edge turns a double into a small double.
Who it suits and who should pass
Couples who want movement kept to their own side are the match, because pocket springs and memory foam together are good at that. Back and side sleepers of average weight should both get on with a medium like this.
Avoid it if you're heavier than about eighteen stone, since a 25cm rolled hybrid on a 7cm foam base isn't what I'd put under a heavier body. Skip it if you need a high bed to sit down onto. And skip it if you run hot enough that a gel layer won't save you. Check the edge in the first week, too, if you sleep near it.
What to buy instead
If you run warm or change position a lot, the Emma Helix Hybrid Deluxe drops the memory foam for gel and reflex foam and sits 2cm deeper, so it's the better Emma for you. If you're heavier, a firmer pocket-sprung mattress with a deeper spring unit is the right buy. For everyone else this is a sound hybrid; read the sale price, never the "was" price.
