Emma Original Mattress Review
Great value and very comfortable
Verdict
A great all-round mattress, the Emma Original Mattress is comfortable, deals with heat well and is very well priced. It’s hard to beat this mattress for convenience, either, as the cover can be easily removed for washing. Those that prefer a slightly more luxurious feel may want a firmer, hybrid mattress, but for everyone else, this is a great choice that will suit most people.
Pros
- Washable cover
- Handles make it easy to move
- Supportive
- Great heat dissipation
Cons
- Sinks quite a bit while sitting up
Availability
- UKRRP: £751
- USARRP: $648
- EuropeRRP: €799
Key Features
- TrialYou can trial this mattress for 200 nights, returning it if you don’t like it.
- WashableThe cover is removable, so can be washed to keep it clean.
- HeatThis mattress does a good job of dissipating heat.
Introduction
One of the first memory foam bed-in-a-box products, the Emma Mattress remains one of the best for price, comfort and features. A medium-firm mattress, this model still delivered great levels of support in my tests and dealt with heat well, while its removable cover makes it easy to keep clean.
Sizes and trial period
- Long trial period
- Available in all common sizes
Emma offers one of the best trial periods, giving a 200-night return period. Given that’s just under two-thirds of a year, it’s more than enough time to work out if you’re happy with the mattress or not. This trial period matches that of the Simba Hybrid Pro.
Emma sells its Original mattress in all of the common sizes: single, EU single, small double, double, EU double, queen, king and super-king. The only size that’s not available is small single, which is typically used for children’s beds.
Design and layers
- Washable cover, top and bottom
- Three layers of foam
- Comes vacuum packed
As is common for mattresses, the Emma Original comes vacuum packed in a box. Emma provides a razer tool in the box, which you can safely use to slice open the plastic cover without catching the mattress.
Once open, the mattress needs up to six hours to fully expand. When I first unboxed it, the mattress was an odd shape. Each part expanded at a different rate, so mine did need the full six hours to take on the correct shape.
One of the best things about the Emma Original is that the cover is removable. There’s a zip that undoes, leaving the top section of the cover free for removal. I think that’s a brilliant design, as the bottom part of the cover and the foam layers stay where they are.
The bottom section of the cover can be removed and washed, although that’s fiddlier to deal with, as the foam sections need to be removed; it’s easier to flip the mattress over and do it that way. However, given as most mess will come into the top layer, you shouldn’t need to wash the bottom part of the cover as often.
The top cover is soft to the touch and uses Emma’s UltraDry material: it’s designed to be breathable and moisture-wicking, removing sweat from your body.
Internally, there are three foam layers. The top layer is Airogell, which is designed to regulate temperature by absorbing and evaporating sweat. Next comes the memory foam layer, designed to adapt to your body and offer support. Finally, there’s the HRX Supreme Foam, which provides the mattress with stability and support.
Due to the design of the layers and covers, the Emma Original shouldn’t be flipped but should be rotated: once per month for the first six months and then once every three months after that. This is made easier by the handles on the side.
Comfort and support
- Medium-firm, but supportive
- Insulated movement well
- Deals with temperature well
Emma describes the Original as medium-firm, and my tests would agree with that. I started by measuring how far the mattress dipped when I was in different positions. First, I measured the mattress when I was sitting up, and I sank 6cm into it. That’s a little further than on the Simba Hybrid Pro, but the Emma Original still felt supportive.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I measured the drop at 6cm. That’s pretty good support, and I didn’t feel as though I was going to fall out of the bed at any point.
Next, I tested the mattress while in different sleeping positions. Lying on my side, I measured the drop at 4cm at my hips and the same at my shoulders. The mattress felt comfortable yet supportive.
It was a similar experience lying on my back: a drop of 3.5cm at the shoulders and 2.5cm at my hips. Again, the mattress provided a good deal of support yet was soft and inviting to lie on. On my front, I measured a drop of just 2cm on my chest.
Overall, the Emma Original feels soft and inviting to lie on, gently letting me sink into it while providing enough support that I didn’t get uncomfortable during the night.
To see how the mattress does when there are two people in the bed, I used an accelerometer placed where the second sleeper would be. This measures movement. First, I measured movement while I was getting into bed. As you can see from the graph below, the less spiky the graph bars are, the better; the Emma Original doesn’t transfer much motion from one side of the bed to another.
It was the same story, when I measured movement with me turning over in bed. That’s good to see, as two people can sleep comfortably together on this bed, even if one is quite restless.
Heat
- Helps dissipate heat
- Not too warm to sleep in
If there’s one complaint about mattresses, it’s that they retain heat. To see how the Emma Original compares, I first lay on the bed on my back for 10 minutes. I then used a thermal camera to see how well heat dissipated over the next few minutes. After two minutes, my outline had started to fade; after three minutes, my outline is close to the ambient temperature of the mattress. This is a good result, and shows that the Emma Original is capable of removing heat better than a lot of the competition, such as the Hyde & Sleep Raspberry.
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
If you want a well-priced mattress with good heat dissipation and a washable cover, this one is great value.
If you want something with a bit more luxury and a slightly firmer feel, then there are alternatives that may suit you better.
Final Thoughts
Well priced, supportive and with great motion insulation and heat dissipation, the Emma Original is a great memory-foam mattress. Thanks to its washable cover, it’s also exceptionally easy to keep in its best condition. If you prefer something with a slightly more luxurious feel and firmer support, there are alternatives that may be better, but for overall value, it’s hard to complain about this model.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every mattress we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main mattress for the review period
We use a thermal camera to see how quickly the mattress can dissipate heat for a comfortable night’s sleep.
We measure how far we sink into the mattress in various positions to measure support levels.
We use an accelerometer to measure how movement from one person is transferred to the other side of the bed.
You might like…
FAQs
It’s a medium-firm mattress: you sink into a little but it’s supportive.
It is 25cm deep.
No, this is a foam-only mattress.
Trusted Reviews test data
Full specs
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
