Emma vs Simba – the best of the mattress-in-a-box brands

Emma and Simba are two mattress brands that both offer a quick and convenient mattress-in-a-box service. Gone are the days of having to transport a mattress from the store back home, and figure out a way to get it up the stairs. Thanks to the innovation of these two brands, mattresses can be packaged conveniently into a box, which can be delivered straight to your door.

The Emma vs Simba debate is a tricky one. There's a lot of overlap between the two, from the type of mattresses they produce, to their delivery system, to their general style and branding. Both offer hybrid mattresses (a mixture of foam and spring), which have been Ideal Home-approved. The question is, which brand to plump for?

After all, choosing the best mattress for your bed isn't something we should do lightly. In fact, it's absolutely essential that we select a mattress that is going to serve us well for years to come and promote healthy, comfortable sleep every night. So if you're struggling to choose between an Emma or Simba mattress, we're going to take a deep dive into both brands to help you to choose the best option for you.

Keep reading to see our take on Emma vs Simba, and learn everything you need to know about these two bestselling mattress brands.

Emma vs Simba

'A strong online presence alongside healthy advertising and marketing budgets, quick and easy delivery, and relatively affordable price points mean that both Emma and Simba are hugely popular brand names in the mattress arena,' says Amy Lockwood, Ideal Home's Ecommerce Editor. 'Both brands also offer competitive discounting, with regular sales that can see up to 50% off discounts on the brands' respective bestselling mattresses.'

Emma mattresses

'At Emma - The Sleep Company, we believe in the transformational power of sleep', says Dr Dennis Schmoltzi, Co-founder and CEO, Emma. 'We want everyone to wake up to a great day which is why our goal is democratising sleep and making a great night’s sleep accessible to everyone!'

And there's no denying the popularity of Emma mattresses. Founded in 2015 in Germany, Emma was the UK's most-awarded sleep brand in 2020 and 2021. 

Emma's most affordable mattress is the Emma Original Mattress. Made of several layers of foam, this mattress doesn't utilise springs, but users have verified the comfort provided by breathable, temperature-regulating technology and three layers of pressure-relieving foam.

The Emma Premium Mattress is the brand's hybrid mattress, that offers a memory foam upper over a coil spring base. This mattress requires a little more investment, but the addition of the coil springs helps the mattress to keep its shape and prevents motion transfer if you sleep with a partner.

Simba mattresses

Equally as innovative in mattress design, Simba began its own mattress journey in 2002, experimenting with different combinations of foam until it created its very own Simbatex foam. It’s an ‘open cell’ foam, which allows thirty times the airflow of memory foam, with the aim being to prevent the overheating that can occur with a traditional memory foam mattress.

Simba's entry-level mattress is the Simbatex® Essential Foam Mattress. Similarly to Emma's Original Mattress, this is a pure foam mattress constructed from high-density foam with an upper layer of the brand's open cell, graphite-infused Simbatex® foam. This creates the brand's most affordable mattress for those on a budget.

The Simba Hybrid Mattress is the brand's foam and spring option, that's the most comparable to Emma's Premium Mattress, The Simba Hybrid Mattress has been put through the Ideal Home review process, and received full marks with 5 out of 5 stars. 

Our reviewer Linda Clayton said in her Simba Hybrid Mattress review that the mattress 'sculpts to your body shape, offering good support on key pressure points, and is very popular with side sleepers and people who suffer from back pain'.

Emma vs Simba: what do the customer reviews say?

Simba Sleep has a total of 39,064 reviews on Trustpilot, with an average rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars. 80% of reviewers gave the brand 5 stars, with customers raving about the comfort of the mattresses, the ease of setting it up from the box, and the speedy delivery service. 

Emma also has majorly positive reviews. The brand has 32,943 reviews on Trustpilot, with an average rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars. 75% of reviewers gave the brand 5 stars, which is a good indicator of how the majority of customers are responding to the mattresses.

Emma vs Simba: which is more affordable?

Both mattress brands have rave reviews from customers, which means that the next thing to compare is the price point. 

The most affordable mattress from Emma is the Original Mattress, which currently retails at an RRP of £759 for the double. Simba's most affordable mattress is the Simbatex Essential Foam Mattress which has an RRP of £549 for a double. However, both brands regularly offer discounts of between 40-60% off, which can mean that Emma becomes the most competitively priced, depending on when you shop.

In terms of both brands' hybrid foam and spring mattresses, the Emma Premium Mattress has an RRP of £1099 for the double, and the Simba Hybrid Mattress has an RRP of £1079 for the double. Very similar price points, so, again, discount levels are likely to be what swings you in favour of one over the other.

Emma vs Simba: final thoughts

It's difficult to find much to fault with either of these popular bed-in-a-box brands. 

Both produce mattresses that make customers happy, and both offer comparable products. Simba has the biggest mattress range overall, and offers childrens' mattresses which Emma does not, so if you're looking to refresh the whole family's bedding at once, Simba might be the more convenient option for you. 

Price-wise, the most budget friendly option is largely dependent on the offers each brand is running. Both tend to discount heavily around Black Friday, Boxing Day, and the January sales. You can keep an eye on the latest prices on our mattress deals page.