It's hard to beat the Highgrove Solar Orthopocket 1500 Mattress for the money: pocket springs, two sleeping sides and an extra firm feel. Heavier people who lie on their back or front are the ones who want that, and it does the job well for a budget price. Side sleepers and anyone under average weight will find it far too hard.
Small pocket springs, deep fillings, two sides
The core is small-diameter pocket springs, each one independent of its neighbours, sandwiched between deep white fibre fillings. It's hand-tufted, upholstered in damask, 29cm deep and double-sided, with turning handles. Highgrove recommends flipping it as well as rotating it.
Pocket springs are the right way to build an extra firm bed. Each spring pushes back on its own, so the mattress stays flat under a heavy body without a partner's movement rolling across. With handles fitted, turning it is a job you'll do, and a turned mattress wears more evenly.
The extra over the Ortho Dream buys pocket springs
Highgrove's cheaper Solar Ortho Dream is a close cousin: extra firm, double-sided and hand-tufted. Underneath, it's an open coil, Bonnell springs wired together into one unit, so you feel a partner turning over right across the bed. This one costs a little more, and the money buys pocket springs, which is the right way to make a bed this firm. I'd pay it without a second thought.
You also get 29cm against its 27cm, a longer warranty, and turning handles, which the Ortho Dream doesn't list. And if extra firm is the point, owners of this one keep calling it firm, while a couple of Ortho Dream owners found theirs softer than the label promised.
Ignore the back-pain pitch
Highgrove's listing leans on back pain. I'd leave that out of your decision: a harder mattress is not a safer one for a sore back, and medium-firm is the better start for most. Buy this because you're heavy and like a hard surface; skip it if the label's back-pain promise is what tempted you. Same goes for the Ortho in the name: it's a label, it isn't a standard, and here it just means extra firm.
Owners come back for a second one
A couple are on their second, and one owner is on their fourth. One spent weeks choosing an extra firm mattress, took a chance on this cheaper one, and found it as firm as mattresses costing far more, at "a fraction of the price". A landlord says the tenant took the trouble to tell them how pleased they were.
One owner says their husband no longer wakes when they move, which is the pocket springs at work, and as a light sleeper I'd want exactly that. A parent who moved a son up from a 3ft bed says he loves the extra room, and the 3ft6 large single is in Archers' size list if that's the jump you're making. One owner who had an older Highgrove extra firm likes this one, but still misses how hard the old one felt.
The one sharp complaint is about finish: one owner thought the stapling looked rough and found a mark on the cover on delivery. That's a single report, but inspect the mattress before the delivery team leaves anyway.
Medium to firm, or natural fillings
If you're not sure you need extra firm, you probably don't. The Shire Spectrum Luminaire Pocket 3000 is medium to firm, turnable and has a fuller spring layer. For extra firm with natural fillings, the Shire Artisan Ouse Pocket 3000 is the alternative.
