Simba Hybrid Ultra Mattress Review
The most elaborately constructed mattress sold by a mainstream UK brand. At 1,749 it is hard to justify. At 699 refurbished it is the best thing Simba sells.
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Eleven layers, 34 centimetres, up to 7,300 springs across four separate spring structures, thirteen support zones and a latex and coconut fibre layer. It is the most elaborately constructed mattress sold by a mainstream UK brand. At 1,749 pounds it is very hard to justify. At 699 refurbished it is the best thing Simba sells.
Buy it if
You want the most construction available from a brand with shops and a functioning returns operation, and you buy it refurbished.
Avoid it if
You are paying full price. The refurbished version is around 1,050 pounds cheaper for the same mattress.
See the current Simba offer
The refurbished Ultra lists at around 699 pounds, which is the single best value in Simba's catalogue.
No code needed. The discount is applied automatically at checkout. Opening the site in a new tab.
Simba on Amazon UK
Rarely listed at a competitive price. Buy direct or refurbished.
No code needed. Prices on Amazon change frequently, so check the seller and the returns terms before you buy. Opening in a new tab.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Hybrid, four spring structures |
| Depth | 34cm |
| Layers | 11 |
| Aerocoil micro-springs | Up to 3,800 in two layers, 25mm, titanium alloy |
| Additional spring layer | Up to 2,500 high carbon steel Aerocoils |
| Base | Up to 1,000 pocketed tempered steel barrel springs |
| Total springs | Up to 7,300 |
| Support zones | 13 |
| Special layer | Latex and coconut fibre blend |
| Firmness | Plush |
| Trial | 200 nights |
| Guarantee | 10 years |
| Price from | £1,749 |
| Refurbished from | Around £699 |
| Reviews | Around 2,000 on Simba's site |
What 7,300 springs across four structures actually means
This is the most complicated mattress in the UK mainstream, so it is worth taking apart.
| Structure | Count | Material | Job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerocoil layers one and two | Up to 3,800 | Titanium alloy, 25mm conical | Surface comfort and airflow, in thirteen zones |
| Third Aerocoil layer | Up to 2,500 | High carbon steel | Transitional support beneath the comfort layers |
| SupportCore base | Up to 1,000 | Tempered steel barrel springs | The actual support core, edge to edge |
That is a genuinely sophisticated structure, and unlike the standard Simba Hybrid there is no argument about whether this is a real hybrid. The barrel spring base does the structural work and everything above it grades the transition from that base to your body.
The thirteen-zone arrangement in the top two layers is the most granular zoning available in the UK, and on a plush mattress that is exactly where zoning earns its keep, for the same reason the Otty Pure+ 4000 needs a high spring count: the softer the surface, the more independently each region has to respond.
The scores
Outstanding construction. The score would be higher if the price were not so far above it.
At list price this is difficult to defend. Refurbished at 699 it would score 9.
Four spring structures, thirteen zones, 34cm. Nothing in the UK mainstream is built better.
Latex and coconut fibre, four spring structures, Simbatex. Very cool for a plush mattress.
Barrel spring base running edge to edge. No roll-off at all.
Four layers of independently pocketed springs. Essentially nothing transmits.
200 nights and 10 years. At this price the trial matters.
Latex and coconut fibre, which is not marketing
The Ultra includes a latex and coconut fibre blend layer, and this is one of the few genuinely uncommon materials in the UK bed-in-a-box market.
Coconut coir is stiff, springy vegetable fibre that has been used in mattress making for over a century, usually bonded with latex to hold it together. It does two things foam cannot. It is extremely breathable, because the fibres are coarse and leave large air channels. And it provides firm, resilient support that does not develop compression set, because it is not a cellular foam structure.
What it is not is soft. Coir layers are used as a firm transitional layer beneath softer comfort materials, which is exactly where Simba has put it. In a plush mattress that needs a firm boundary before the spring base, it is the right material.
Note the environmental angle too, since Simba does not push it hard. Coir is an agricultural by-product and latex is a renewable tapped resource, so this layer is materially better on that front than the polyurethane it replaces.
The price, and the refurbished argument
One thousand seven hundred and forty-nine pounds is a great deal of money for a mattress, and I am not going to pretend the construction justifies it against what else is available.
Origin's LumbarCloud gives you 35 cm, eleven layers, up to 8,000 springs and nine zones for 797 pounds. On raw specification that is a better mattress for 950 pounds less. What Origin cannot give you is a shop, a 37,000-review track record on adjacent models, or the returns machinery of a company Simba's size.
But Simba itself solves this. The refurbished Hybrid Ultra lists at around 699 pounds. That is the same mattress, inspected and re-covered, for 1,050 pounds less. At that price it is comfortably the best thing in Simba's entire catalogue and one of the best mattresses you can buy in Britain at any price under a thousand pounds.
Before buying refurbished
Confirm whether the 200 night trial and the ten year guarantee still apply. Refurbished stock also sells out quickly and availability across sizes is erratic, so if the size you need is listed, it will not wait.
A correction worth making
Commonly repeated, and wrong
The Hybrid Ultra's 7,300 springs are routinely quoted alongside other brands' spring counts as though the figures are comparable. They are not, and in this case the comparison understates the Ultra rather than flattering it. Most of those 7,300 are 25 mm conical micro-springs doing comfort work, but the mattress also contains up to 1,000 tempered steel barrel springs forming a genuine support core, which the standard Simba Hybrid does not have at all. Comparing the Ultra's 7,300 to the standard Hybrid's 1,900 implies the Ultra has roughly four times as much spring. It actually has a fundamentally different structure.
Should you buy it?
Refurbished at around 699 pounds, yes, without hesitation, and it is the single best value purchase in the Simba range.
At 1,749 new, only if you want the most elaborately built mattress available from a brand with a shopfront and you are not price sensitive. That is a real buyer and there is nothing wrong with being one.
Simba's best mattress is the one it sells second hand.
Full range in the Simba review, or compare with the Hybrid Luxe.
Questions people ask
Is the Simba Hybrid Ultra worth 1,749 pounds?
Only if you are not price sensitive and want the most elaborate construction from a brand with shops. Origin's LumbarCloud gives you 35cm, eleven layers and up to 8,000 springs for 797. Simba's own refurbished Ultra at around 699 is the better answer.
Does the Simba Hybrid Ultra have a real spring core?
Yes, unlike the standard Simba Hybrid. It contains up to 1,000 pocketed tempered steel barrel springs forming the support core, with up to 3,800 Aerocoils in two zoned layers above and a further 2,500 high carbon steel Aerocoils between them.
What does the coconut fibre layer do?
Coconut coir bonded with latex is extremely breathable, because coarse fibres leave large air channels, and it provides firm resilient support that does not develop compression set the way foam does. It sits as a firm transitional layer beneath the softer comfort materials.