Emma Performance 26 Mattress Review
The entry point of Emma's Performance range at 26 centimetres, where the number in the name is a depth measurement rather than a spring count.
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Verdict
The entry point of Emma's Performance range at 26 centimetres. It is a competent hybrid and the first thing to understand is that the number in the name is a depth measurement rather than a spring count, which changes how you compare it against everything else.
Buy it if
You want an Emma hybrid at the shallowest and cheapest point in the Performance range.
Avoid it if
You are heavier, or you would rather have the extra spring that the deeper models carry.
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| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Hybrid |
| Depth | 26cm |
| What the number means | Depth in centimetres, not spring count |
| Position | Entry point of the Performance range |
| Trial | 200 nights, buying direct |
The scores
A sound hybrid at the shallow end of a well-named range.
Origin's Hybrid at 265 pounds gives you 26cm and up to 3,000 pocket springs.
Adequate at average build. Twenty-six centimetres is the shallowest in the range.
A spring layer moves air properly.
Ordinary for the depth.
Pocketed springs with foam above.
200 nights and Emma's returns operation.
What the number means
The numbers are centimetres
Emma's Performance range is numbered by depth: the 26, 28 and 30 are 26, 28 and 30 centimetres deep. They are not spring counts.
That is unusually honest naming for this category, and it is also the whole decision, because on a hybrid extra depth generally means more or taller spring. Check what the extra depth is made of before paying for it.
When 26 centimetres is enough
Depth is treated as a straightforward quality signal across this category and it is not.
A mattress supports you by compressing until the resistance matches your weight. A lighter person never compresses through 30 centimetres of material, so the bottom third of a deep mattress does nothing for them. A heavier person compresses further and needs the extra depth.
So 26 centimetres is genuinely sufficient for most people under about fourteen stone, and genuinely insufficient above about sixteen. Buying the deepest model in a range because deeper sounds better is how people end up paying for material they never reach.
The one place depth reliably matters regardless of weight is bedding. At 26 centimetres a standard UK fitted sheet, cut for around 25, will just about work. At 30 it will not.
A correction worth making
Commonly repeated, and wrong
Mattress depth is presented as a quality measure across the category, with deeper builds assumed to be better. Depth only helps if you compress far enough into the mattress to reach the lower layers, which depends on body weight. A lighter sleeper never engages the bottom third of a 30 centimetre mattress, so that material does nothing for them. Deeper is better for heavier sleepers and largely irrelevant for lighter ones.
Should you buy it?
Yes if you are of average or lighter build and you want an Emma hybrid. Twenty-six centimetres is enough mattress for most people and a standard fitted sheet will fit it.
At this price Origin's Hybrid gives you the same depth with up to 3,000 pocket springs for £265. See the Emma range review for the wider picture.
Questions people ask
What do the Emma Performance numbers mean?
Depth in centimetres. The 26, 28 and 30 are 26, 28 and 30 centimetres deep. They are not spring counts, which is unusually honest naming and also the whole decision, since on a hybrid extra depth generally means more or taller spring.
Is a deeper mattress better?
Only if you compress far enough to reach the lower layers, which depends on body weight. A sleeper under about eleven stone never engages the bottom third of a 30 centimetre mattress, so that material does nothing for them.