Buying a bed in a box is a convenient alternative to traipsing around a mattress showroom on a retail park on a Saturday morning with three reluctant children.
Your mattress is usually delivered quickly and you can carry it up the stairs without knocking the mirror off the wall. You then watch it hiss away and expand in your bedroom.
Most of the bed in a box mattresses in the UK come with a generous guarantee of 10 years or more. They also have the option of sending it back if you don’t like it. Take note of the wording as some give you a refund without any faff whilst others offer to swap it for a similar mattress.
Is your mattress good for the planet?
One other factor that you might not have considered when weighing up what type of mattress you should buy is its environmental impact. There are obviously many angles from which to approach the issue but it’s worth mentioning a study by Glew, Stringer et al (2012). It concluded that pocket sprung mattresses using natural fibres have been found to ’emit marginally less greenhouse gasses than foam (petrochemical) pocket spring mattresses.’ Bed in a box mattresses are usually either 100% foam or a combination of pocket springs with foam.
There are also environmental concerns about the disposal of memory foam once it is finished with. ‘Relatively high emissions’ of Nitric Oxide, Ammonia and Hydrogen Cyanide were recorded by academics in Spain who carried out tests whilst memory foam mattresses were being incinerated. They suggested that the reduction of these emissions ‘must be considered’ (Garrido, Font and Conesa, 2017).
For balance, it’s worth noting that some bed in a box mattresses give information about their environmental impact.
We’ve picked out five of the best bed in a box mattresses on sale in the UK by looking at customer reviews, value for money, length of the home trial period, length of the warranty and specifications.
Prices are for double mattresses. Review scores and prices are correct at the type of typing.
1. Nectar Sleep Memory Foam Bed In A Box Mattress – medium/firm – £480
Nectar Sleep’s bed in a box has nothing to do with either honey or Sainsburys. It offers the joint-longest home trial and warranty that we’ve found in the UK market (along with DreamCloud).
You get a whole year to try it out (with the option of a refund and free collection) and you get a ‘forever’ warranty. That’s a long time by my standards. Check the small print on these things, of course.
But is it any good?
Well, TrustPilot customer reviews of Nectar Sleep average 4.3/5 at the time of writing (after more than 14000 reviews). It’s also won approval from Good Housekeeping and Ideal Home amongst others.
How is the Nectar mattress made?
It’s made from layers of foam, including memory foam and is usually considered medium/firm by customers and expert testers. The advantage of a memory foam mattress is that you get more consistent support than from a typical spring mattress. Some people aren’t keen on the slight hugging feeling you get from memory foam. Others find memory foam quite warm to sleep on. This mattress uses ‘smart memory foam’ which aims to regulate body temperature.
It’s made in the UK and claims to offer climate neutral manufacturing.
Nectar explain that they have a process ‘to calculate the carbon footprint from our manufacturing process, find strategies to reduce this, and offset the remainder’.
This is particularly important as a study by academics in Portugal found that foam mattresses have ‘a higher environmental impact’ than pocket sprung mattresses. They highlight the manufacturing process as being the ‘main issue’ that needs to be tackled (Lanoë, Simões et al, 2013).
You can watch a video about Nectar Sleep here.
What about Nectar Sleep’s other mattresses?
When we first started this mattress-obsessed website, Nectar Sleep only had one mattress. They called it – rather predictably – the Nectar Sleep mattress. This was the equivalent of their debut album and many true fans will forever claim it is their best, much like Radiohead fans who feel it has all been downhill since Pablo Honey.
However, in the intervening years Nectar Sleep has released a further four mattresses. I like to think of these as The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A and Amnesiac but I suspect that I may have spent too much time a) writing about mattresses and b) listening to 1990s and 2000s Indie music.
The first sequel to the Nectar Sleep mattress was a hybrid version called the Nectar Hybrid Mattress. At this point, the Nectar Sleep Mattress changed its name to the Nectar Sleep Memory Foam mattress to clarify the differences.
The Nectar Hybrid model is more expensive than the original Nectar mattress but it uses a layer of small springs. This is a pretty common trick amongst mattress makers who want the bouncy support of springs with the consistent feel of memory foam.
There’s also a budget hybrid Nectar mattress (Nectar Essential Hybrid Mattress) that combines larger springs with foam and a luxury one which uses both small and large springs (Nectar Premier Hybrid Mattress)
Your other upgrade option is the Nectar Premier Mattress. This one is pretty similar to the Nectar Memory Foam mattress featured at the top of this page. It is 100% foam but it comes with a slightly deeper memory foam layer and a redesigned bottom layer, which Nectar reckon does a better job of supporting your lumpy and bumpy body (no offence).
2. Inofia Breathable Fabric Bed In A Box Mattress – medium/firm – £259
You’ll have noticed that this bed in a box from Inofia is considerably cheaper than all the others on the list. I generally feel you get what you pay for with a mattress but this has a lot going for it so you might feel it’s worth a punt. I’m also aware that not everyone can shell out £500+ for a mattress or you might just be looking for a cheap mattress for the spare room.
Despite the low price, it comes with the appealing 10 year guarantee and 100 night trial which you get with most other bed in a box mattresses. There’s not much detail provided on the Amazon listing about the terms and conditions.
What do reviewers say?
Reviews are very positive, with an average of 4.6/5 from more than 3000 customers at the time of writing. A high proportion of the reviews are in Spanish, but some are in English. Despite watching lots of Dora the Explorer, I’m afraid my Spanish doesn’t extend further than ‘hola’.
In terms of specification, the Inofia bed in a box uses a combination of springs and memory foam so you’d usually call it a hybrid mattress. It’s about 22cm deep, whilst the Nectar Sleep Memory Foam bed in a box is 25cm deep.
Some of the information provided uses some unusual grammar and phrases. For example, it refers to ‘pocketed springs’ instead of pocket springs and doesn’t specify how many pocket springs have been used. That can be a useful piece of information as heavier people benefit from higher spring count mattresses.
According to the blurb it has a ‘firmer feel’ whilst most reviewers say it is ‘medium to firm’ or firm. There are several other Inofia bed in a box mattresses also available via Amazon.
3. Simba Hybrid Original Bed In A Box Mattress – medium/firm – £819
The Simba Hybrid Original is another highly rated bed in a box mattress, but it has a slightly different design to most of the others in our top 5
*Warning: I’m about to veer into some very boring talk about mattress design but if you can try to stay awake, I’ll try to keep it brief*
The Simba Hybrid Original uses a different type of foam on the top layer, with the memory foam sandwiched further down. So, you don’t get such a warm hugging/sinking feeling as you would with memory foam but you still get the support.
Warranty and trial period with the Simba Hybrid Original Mattress
Besides that, the Simba Hybrid Original Mattress shares a lot in common with several of the other bed in a box mattresses we’ve featured. You get a long guarantee of 10 years. It has won several awards and it gets a similarly impressive score on TrustPilot (4.5/5 when we checked). On Amazon.co.uk it scores 3.9/5 at the time of writing from 900+ reviews.
One notable difference is that you get a longer home trial period than most competitors (200 nights).
Some reviews and guides reckon the Simba Hybrid Original bed in a box is a medium/firm mattress. Others call it medium. Perhaps I should call it medium/medium/firm, or would that just confuse matters further?
The official blurb calls it medium/firm so let’s stick with that.
Bed in a box brands – such as Simba – are sometimes considered rebellious outsiders to the mainstream mattress industry. A marketing person with a scarf would probably call them a ‘disruptor’. However, Simba was awarded a prize at the 2022 Bed Industry Awards, which is a prestigious event where the likes of Hypnos, Harrison Spinks and Sleepeezee usually perform well. In 2022, Simba was a finalist in the Online Bed Retailer of the Year category. Judges said it was a ‘worthy finalist in this category’ and pointed out that the company has ‘sold over 2 million ground-breaking mattresses and sleep products and has over 200k five-star reviews’ (BedShow.co.uk)
Simba’s other bed in a box mattresses
Simba started out – about a decade ago – with just one mattress. Part of the appeal was that they took away the choice for the confused mattress buyer. The mattress was known as the Simba Hybrid Mattress or sometimes just the Simba Mattress but is now known as the Simba Hybrid Original to avoid confusion (see waffle above).
Over the years, Simba’s range has grown. As I type this, there are 12 Simba mattresses to choose from including:
- Five hybrid models, ranging from budget ones through to luxurious ones with extra layers of foam and more springs. The Simba Hybrid Original sits as the second cheapest out of five. These are all bed in a box mattresses, in that they come squashed up in a box and come with long trial periods and long warranties.
- Three Earth mattresses, which share a lot more in common with traditional mattresses such as Hypnos. They use lots of natural materials like wool, flax and hemp which makes them easier to recycle. These aren’t technically ‘bed in a box’ mattresses as they come flat. However, you still get the option to return them if you don’t find them comfortable. They are relatively pricey at around £1000-£2000, depending on which model and size you choose.
- Two budget mattresses which are made of 100% foam. They call these the Simbatex Foam range and they don’t use any springs. They’re a bit thinner than I like a mattress to be but that can sometimes be a good thing if – for example – you want a spare mattress to squeeze under a bed.
- Two kids and baby mattresses, which are designed for cot beds and single beds. We won’t jabber on about these ones too much as they aren’t relevant to this guide.
4. OTTY Hybrid Bed In A Box Mattress – medium/firm – £577
The OTTY Hybrid is another strong contender in the search for the UK’s best bed in a box.
It uses a combination of memory foam on top and springs further down, hence the ‘hybrid’ name.
It’s also gained approval from some of the same experts including Good Housekeeping. It has the same length warranty (10 years) and the same length home trial period (100 nights).
The OTTY hybrid’s standard price is a bit higher than some bed in a box mattresses but check for offers as you usually get a good deal if you can hold on for special events like Black Friday.
OTTY scores 4.5/5 on TrustPilot. That score is for the brand as a whole. This particular mattress was scoring 4/5 on Amazon when we checked.
5. REM Fit Pocket 1000 Hybrid Mattress – medium/firm – £299
Here’s a budget-friendly bed in a box that we think punches well above its weight.
I consider REM Fit to be a similar quality brand to Simba Sleep and Nectar Sleep. Most of its other mattresses are similarly priced for mattresses by those brands. However, I think this entry level model offers a lot more than you would expect for a ‘cheap’ bed in a box.
Cutting corners in the right places
This mattress certainly isn’t as good as REM-Fit’s 400 and 500 models but the areas where they have saved on costs are sensible.
For example, this model has 1000 pocket springs compared to 2000+ on the more expensive models. For most people, 1000 pocket springs is perfectly adequate. Heavier people will notice more difference than others. Personally, I can feel a significant difference between an 800 spring and a 1000 spring mattress. I find it much harder to feel the difference between a 1200 spring mattress and a 1400 spring mattress. It’s also very obvious when ‘open coil’ springs have been used rather than pocket springs.
The REM Fit pocket 1000 hybrid mattress is 20cm deep whilst more expensive bed in a box mattresses are around the 25cm mark. However, as with the springs issue, I would say that 20cm is adequate for most people.
Outstanding features for the price
The areas where this bed in a box mattress really stands out is the warranty and the trial period.
In both cases, REM-Fit has decided offer the same features as you get on on their much more expensive mattresses. This is a ringing endorsement that they think this mattress will do the job, despite the price.
The warranty is a massive 15 years. For a modest price tag, that is exceptional. You also get a 100 night trial period, which is usually reserved for mattresses costing twice the price. You can find the terms and conditions on the REM Fit website but it’s one of the more generous trial periods that you’ll find.
The rise and rise of the bed in a box
The idea of buying a ‘bed in a box’ has grown in popularity hugely over the last few years. It seems to be thanks to the appeal of a home trial period, a long warranty and slick marketing campaigns.
As the graph from Google Trends below shows, the number of people searching for the term ‘bed in a box’ on Google has been gradually rising around the world for about a decade. Things really started to take off around 2016.
In the UK, the rise of the bed in a box coincided with the arrival of some of the more successful bed in a box brands. For example, this graph below shows how interest in the term ‘simba mattress’ began to take off from 2016. As you can see, it emerged from zero quite quickly and then has seen a lot of interest in recent years. The data shows relative numbers rather than actual search terms.
And this graph shows how the Emma Mattress has quickly grown in popularity since its launch in the UK in 2017.
Silentnight v Simba
Finally, let’s look at how long-established brand Silentnight has performed on Google Trends since 2004. Their popularity amongst people searching online has stayed relatively consistent. There was an increase which began in around 2012 which has stayed in place since.
Meanwhile, the term ‘simba mattress’ began to overtake ‘silentnight mattress’ in popularity as a search term soon after its launch. It has stayed ahead of it since. Within the last year or two, the difference has continued to widen.
My conclusion from all this data is that the arrival of big name bed in a box mattresses has shaken up the mid-priced mattress market. Intense competition has been provided for familiar names such as Silentnight, Rest Assured and Sealy. Such rapid change and increased marketing also explains why established brands have launched their own ‘bed in a box’ models. These include the Silentnight Studio and the Rollo by Slumberland.
