Simba Review: Every Model, Scored
The most visible mattress brand in Britain and one of the few you can lie on before buying. The engineering is real and frequently misunderstood.
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Verdict
The most visible mattress brand in Britain and one of the few you can lie on before buying. The engineering is real but frequently misunderstood, because the headline spring counts describe 25 millimetre micro-springs rather than a support core, and the base of the entry model is foam.
Who should buy it
You want to try before you buy, you value the returns operation, and the Aerocoil feel suits you.
Who should avoid it
You are comparing spring counts across brands. Simba's numbers are not measuring the same thing as everyone else's.
See the current Simba offer
Community heroes get up to 31% off everything. Refurbished stock carries the deepest savings in the range.
No code needed. The discount is applied automatically at checkout. Opening the site in a new tab.
Simba on Amazon UK
Check the seller. The 200 night trial applies only when buying direct.
No code needed. Prices on Amazon change frequently, so check the seller and the returns terms before you buy. Opening in a new tab.
The range, scored
| Model | From | Key construction | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simba Hybrid Essential | £549 | Entry construction | 5.2 |
| Simba Hybrid | £699 | Aerocoils over a foam base | 6.9 |
| Simba Hybrid Pro | £899 | SupportCore with up to 1,000 barrel springs | 8.0 |
| Simba Hybrid Luxe | £1,249 | Up to 5,700 springs, 31cm | 7.8 |
| Simba Hybrid Ultra | £1,749 | Up to 7,300 springs, 34cm | 8.1 |
| Natural Hybrid Source | £899 | British wool, up to 2,900 springs | 7.5 |
| Natural Hybrid Escape | £1,249 | Natural fillings, up to 4,800 springs | 7.6 |
| Natural Hybrid Apex | £1,499 | Cashgora, silk and wool, up to 6,700 springs | 7.9 |
| Simba Hybrid Kids | £399 | 16cm, calibrated for a light body | 7.6 |
Scores are mine, using the six criteria set out on the method page. Prices are the lowest UK size before discount and move constantly.
What an Aerocoil actually is
Twenty-five millimetres
Simba's Aerocoil micro-springs are 25 millimetres tall. They are conical, they compress inwards, and they push air upward as they do. They sit in the comfort layers.
They are a genuinely good piece of engineering and they are not a support core. Their job is surface responsiveness and airflow.
This matters most on the standard Simba Hybrid at £699, where the support base beneath the Aerocoils is foam. A mattress advertised with thousands of springs, whose structural base contains none, is a genuinely confusing product to shop.
The Hybrid Pro at £899 adds a SupportCore with up to 1,000 tempered steel barrel springs. That is a structurally different mattress rather than a tier upgrade, and it is the step in this range that actually matters.
The refurbished range is the best value Simba sells
Simba's refurbished stock regularly sits well below half the new price. A refurbished Hybrid Ultra has listed at around £699 against £1,749 new: 34 centimetres and up to 7,300 springs for the price of a mid-range mattress.
Before spending anything on a new Simba, check what is available refurbished. You may find a structurally larger mattress for half the money, and the only thing to establish is whether the trial and guarantee still apply to that stock.
This is the least advertised and most useful thing about the brand.
You can lie on one, which almost nobody else offers
Bensons for Beds has stocked Simba in stores since May 2025. That makes Simba one of very few bed-in-a-box brands you can try in person.
Use it. The Aerocoil feel is distinctive and it divides people: a cushioned responsiveness that neither pure foam nor traditional pocket springs reproduce. Some people try everything else and come back to it. Others find it odd. No description resolves that, including mine.
Fifteen minutes in a Bensons store answers a question a 200 night trial only answers the expensive way.
The CMA undertakings
Simba gave undertakings to the Competition and Markets Authority in August 2024 concerning reference pricing. Under those undertakings, a was price must be a genuine previous selling price backed by meaningful sales volume rather than a nominal figure.
That is a good outcome for buyers and it means Simba's stated discounts are more meaningful than most in this category. It also means the headline percentages are real rather than constructed.
Even so, judge the cash price. A genuine 30 per cent off a high price can still be worse value than a competitor at a flat price, and that is exactly the comparison the percentage discourages you from making.
Which Simba should you buy?
A refurbished Hybrid Ultra, if one is available. Around £699 for 34 centimetres and up to 7,300 springs is the best value in the range by a distance.
The Hybrid Pro at £899 otherwise. The SupportCore with barrel springs is the step where Simba becomes properly built.
Not the Hybrid Essential at £549. It scores 5.2 on this site, the lowest mattress score I have given, and it is priced to make the model above it look reasonable.
Not the standard Hybrid at £699 unless you have tried it and want that specific feel, because the support base is foam and Origin gives you a genuine spring core for £265.
A correction worth making
Commonly repeated, and wrong
Simba's advertised spring counts are compared directly against other brands' figures, and they are not equivalent measurements. Most of the springs in a Simba are 25 millimetre Aerocoil micro-springs sitting in the comfort layers, not a support core. On the standard Simba Hybrid the structural base beneath them is foam. The Hybrid Pro and above add a SupportCore of tempered steel barrel springs, which is the point at which the mattress has a sprung base at all.
Should you buy from Simba?
Yes, for the Hybrid Pro and above, and especially for refurbished stock. Below that, the construction does not justify the price against Origin or Otty.
Go and lie on one at Bensons first, because the Aerocoil feel is the variable no review can settle. Then check refurbished before paying new prices.
See current Simba offers.
Questions people ask
What is a Simba Aerocoil?
A 25 millimetre conical micro-spring that compresses inwards and pushes air upward. It is genuinely good engineering and it is not a support core: Aerocoils sit in the comfort layers and their job is surface responsiveness and airflow.
Does the Simba Hybrid have a spring base?
No. On the standard Simba Hybrid at 699 pounds the support base beneath the Aerocoils is foam. The Hybrid Pro at 899 adds a SupportCore with up to 1,000 tempered steel barrel springs, which is a structurally different mattress rather than a tier upgrade.
Is a refurbished Simba worth buying?
It is the best value in the range. A refurbished Hybrid Ultra has listed around 699 pounds against 1,749 new, giving you 34cm and up to 7,300 springs for mid-range money. Establish whether the trial and guarantee apply to that stock.
Where can I try a Simba mattress?
Bensons for Beds has stocked Simba in stores since May 2025. The Aerocoil feel is distinctive and divides people, so fifteen minutes in a shop answers a question a 200 night trial only answers the expensive way.