The Sleep Guy’s Waffle Free Summary
“OTTY’s most famous mattress is the OTTY Hybrid Original Mattress (££), which sits in the middle of its range on price, specification and firmness. It’s a good all-rounder that is medium-firm, so will be about right for average-weight people who sleep on their front or back.
There are two other mattresses in the OTTY range that are a similar firmness level, including a cheaper option called the OTTY Hybrid Aura Mattress (£) and a slightly more expensive one called the OTTY Pure Hybrid Bamboo Mattress with Charcoal (££).
The cheaper one has fewer springs and is thinner, so is a little less supportive. However, it is still a perfectly decent specification that will do the job nicely and can be picked up for a good price during sales. The slightly more expensive one uses fancier materials in an effort to regulate temperature better.
If you want a softer mattress you’ll need to cough up for the top of the range OTTY Pure+ Hybrid 4000 Pocket Sprung Mattress (£££). This is probably the one for you if you are average weight and sleep on your side or if you are lighter than average.
Finally, there’s the OTTY Firm Hybrid Mattress (££), which is firm on one side and very firm on the other. Go for this one if you are heavier than average and sleep on your front or back.”
Are OTTY mattresses any good?
OTTY are one of the newer names in the mattress market, having launched in 2016. However, they’re certainly worth considering if you want a mid-priced and highly regarded mattress.
They get very positive reviews, have won lots of awards and are a little cheaper than several of their competitors. Plus, they offer a decent trial period and a long warranty.
But should you buy an OTTY mattress or is it better to stick to a longer established big-name brand like Silentnight or Hypnos? And how does OTTY compare to its rivals like Simba, Emma and Nectar?
Our guide covers everything, including OTTY mattress review scores and advice on what you’re getting for your money.
Pros and cons of the OTTY Mattress range
Pros:
- Range of firmness levels
- Cheaper than some other mattresses with similar designs which also combine springs and foams
- One of the highest rated brands on TrustPilot and they achieve outstanding results in tests
- A better range of sizes than some rivals
Cons:
- Even the softest model will be too firm for some people
- Most sizes don’t have handles, which makes rotating it difficult
What type of mattresses do OTTY make?
OTTY are one of those ‘bed in a box’ mattress brands that come squashed up in a box. That makes it easier to get them upstairs without destroying your banisters. Unlike a lot of ‘bed in a box’ brands OTTY will actually take away your old mattress for a fee.
Unlike ‘traditional’ brands, they have a very small range of mattresses. When the company first started, there was just one OTTY mattress. That range has now increased for five mattresses, but it is still a more comprehensible range than some brands!
Personally, I find a small range appealing as mattress buying is pretty baffling when a company has dozens of seemingly identical white rectangles for you to choose from.
What are the names of the five OTTY mattresses?
Let’s start by listing the OTTY mattresses in order of price.
In order from cheapest to most expensive.
- The cheapest model is the OTTY Hybrid Aura Mattress (£499 for a double)
- The three mid-priced models are the OTTY Hybrid Original Mattress (£699), the OTTY Pure Mattress (£749) and the OTTY Firm Hybrid Mattress (£749). The OTTY Hybrid Original Mattress is sometimes called the OTTY Original and is the most famous of their mattresses. The OTTY Pure is also known as the OTTY Pure Hybrid Bamboo Mattress with Charcoal.
- The most expensive OTTY mattress is the OTTY Pure+ Hybrid 4000 Pocket Sprung Mattress (£949). OTTY say this is the ‘most comfortable’ mattress.
So, you’ll pay roughly twice as much for OTTY’s cheapest mattress compared to its most expensive model.
As you’ll have noticed all of OTTY’s mattresses are what are known as ‘hybrid’ mattresses, meaning that they use both springs and foam. The gist of it is that pocket springs are what most of us are used to sleeping on, but that foam mattresses offer consistent support.
It’s also worth ranking them from softest to firmest, as that is another important factor that might help you decide on the best model for you.
- Medium: OTTY Pure+ Hybrid 4000 Pocket Sprung Mattress (£949)
- Medium-firm: OTTY Hybrid Aura Mattress (£499), OTTY Original Hybrid Mattress (£699) and OTTY Pure Hybrid Bamboo Mattress with Charcoal (£749)
- Firm or extra firm (double sided design): OTTY Firm Hybrid Mattress (£749)
So, most of OTTY’s mattresses are medium-firm, but there are softer and firmer options available.
Using the firmness rating to help you choose an OTTY mattress
Firmness in mattresses is a confusing area. There is not a universally agreed system for firmness, so it’s a bit of a guessing game for the mattress buyer. Lots of companies use a 1-10 scale with 10 usually meaning very firm. However, there’s nothing to say that a mattress that is 10/10 for firmness with Company A will feel as firm as a mattress with a 10/10 firmness rating sold by Company B.
My general advice for firmness is to aim for something that suits your body shape rather than assuming a firm mattress will necessarily be better for a bad back. All the research and advice that I’ve read suggests that it’s more complex and individual than that.
You want a mattress that supports you sufficiently and allows you to sink in just the right amount. If you sink in too much, your spine won’t be in a good position for sleeping. If you don’t sink in enough, there will be big parts of you that are unsupported.
The broad rule is that you should look for firmer mattresses if you are heavier than average and if you sleep on your front or back. You should look for softer mattresses if you are lighter than average and if you sleep on your side. Combine these two and it will give you a good starting point.
When it comes to OTTY, I would lean towards the OTTY Firm Hybrid Mattress if you are heavier than average and sleep on your front or back.
I would start with the softest model (OTTY Pure+ Hybrid 4000 Pocket Sprung Mattress) if you are medium weight and build and sleep on your side.
If you are medium weight and build but sleep on your front or back then you may find that a medium-firm mattress is better for you. That gives you a choice of three mattresses including OTTY Hybrid Aura Mattress (£499), OTTY Original Hybrid Mattress (£699) and OTTY Pure Hybrid Bamboo Mattress with Charcoal (£749).
Of course, this is a bit of a guessing game when you are buying online. That’s where the trial period becomes useful!
What about OTTY’s older models that I’ve seen?
You may be trying to replace an OTTY mattress that you’ve been sleeping on for some time.
Previously OTTY sold two other mattresses called OTTY Essential and OTTY Flex. As far as I can tell, the OTTY Essential has been replaced with the OTTY Aura Hybrid Mattress whilst the OTTY Flex is not currently for sale on the OTTY website and doesn’t seem to have been replaced with a like-for-like mattress.
So what’s the difference between the OTTY mattress models?
The more expensive OTTY mattresses are deeper than the cheaper ones. However, even The OTTY Aura Hybrid Mattress (the cheapest one) is 23cm deep which is certainly not a thin mattress. Most decent mattresses are about 20-30cm deep.
Mattress name | Firmness | Springs | Depth | Price (double) |
OTTY Hybrid Aura Mattress | Medium-firm | 1000 | 23cm | £499 |
OTTY Original Hybrid Mattress | Medium-firm | 2000 | 25cm | £699 |
OTTY Pure Hybrid Bamboo Mattress with Charcoal | Medium-firm | 2000 | 25cm | £749 |
OTTY Pure+ Hybrid 4000 Pocket Sprung Mattress | Medium | 4000 | 28cm | £949 |
OTTY Firm Hybrid Mattress | Firm or extra firm (double sided) | Unclear | 25cm | £749 |
We haven’t been able to figure out how many springs there are in the OTTY Firm Hybrid Mattress, but my best guess is 2000 as it is a similar price and depth as OTTY’s other mattresses with 2000 springs.
Is it worth paying more money for a higher spring count on an OTTY mattress?
A higher spring count roughly equates to a more supportive mattress but don’t get too suckered in by bigger and bigger numbers. If you are average weight and build than 1000 springs should do the job nicely. If it’s below that number that I would be a bit more concerned, but 1000+ springs is fine for most people.
4000 springs sounds impressive, but it needs a bit of explanation.
You can only squeeze about 2000 springs onto a single layer of a king size mattress. What you are actually getting is two layers of 2000 springs on this 4000 spring mattress.
This will spread out your weight a little better, but most people would consider 2000 springs to be perfectly adequate.
If you get a mattress that is smaller than king size then you get a smaller number of springs.
What reviews do customers give OTTY mattresses?
You might get the impression online that every mattress brand has endless 5/5 reviews, so it’s worth digging a little deeper.
We did a mini league table of TrustPilot reviews for some of the biggest mattress brands.
- Ergoflex – 4.7/5
- Dunlopillo – 4.5/5
- Simba Sleep – 4.5/5
- OTTY – 4.4/5
- Happy Beds – 4.4/5
- DreamCloud – 4.2/5
- Sleepeezee – 4.2/5
- Nectar Sleep – 4.2/5
- Dormeo – 4.1/5
- Hypnos Beds – 4.1/5
- Silentnight 4.1/5
- REM Fit – 4.1/5
- Harrison Spinks – 4.0/5
- Vispring – 3.9/5
- Sealy – 3.9/5
- Tempur – 3.7/5
- Mammoth – 3.1/5
- Emma Sleep – 3/5
It’s worth bearing in mind that the OTTY score was for the whole brand, rather than for a specific mattress and that they’ve changed their range quite recently. See our beginners’ guide for more details and explanation of these scores. Several brands don’t seem to be on TrustPilot, so this isn’t an exhaustive list.
Elsewhere, OTTY’s Hybrid mattress scores 4/5 on Amazon.
What guarantee does OTTY offer?
OTTY offer a ten year warranty on all their mattresses – even the cheapest one. That’s similar to several of their rival ‘bed in a box’ brands. However, it’s longer than warranties offered by lots of other big name ‘traditional’ mattress manufacturers.
You’ll find the cheapest mattresses come with a year or two’s warranty, whilst most offer between 5 and 10 years. There are exceptions, such as posh brand Vispring which offers up to 30 years. Meanwhile, ‘bed in a box’ brand Nectar Sleep (£600) offer a ‘forever guarantee’.
Needless to say, there are terms and conditions attached to warranties so please read the small print first.
OTTY also offer a very appealing 100-night trial on all their mattresses. You pay for the mattress and can get a refund if ‘you are not 100% satisfied’. Again, it’s important that you read the terms and conditions, but it does mean that you can really see if a mattress is right for you. Similar offers and trials are offered by a number of OTTY’s rivals, but they tend to be longer. Simba gives a 200-night trial, Emma Sleep offers 200 nights and whilst Nectar Sleep offers a 365-night trial.
We’ve spent a long time looking at the various trial periods offered by different mattress brands. The best trial periods will give you a refund, whilst less generous ones will only let you swap the mattress. Some give you the difference if you swap for a cheaper one whilst others pocket the difference.
The OTTY trial is one of the better ones as there is the option of a refund, so you won’t be stuck with choosing another mattress from their range if that’s not what you want.
Where can I buy OTTY mattresses? Do they offer discount codes?
OTTY mostly sell direct but you can also buy OTTY via Amazon. It’s worth checking both to see which is offering the best discount. When I checked, the best price was from OTTY direct. We’ll add discounts and deals at the top of this page when we find them.
What are the best alternatives to OTTY mattresses?
The mattress market is a crowded place. There are quite a few brands that have appeared in the last decade or so that offer something quite similar to OTTY. Some options include:
The Simba Hybrid Original (£799)
The Simba Hybrid Original is a medium-firm mattress, which claims to have won ‘more awards, from more experts’ than other mattress brands. The 200-night trial period is more than that of OTTY’s whilst the 10-year guarantee is on a par. Much like the OTTY Hybrid it uses springs and foam.
The first mattress Simba manufactured just used mini springs which were 25mm compared to OTTY Hybrid’s 160mm springs. However, Simba revamped its mattresses and now has five different hybrid mattresses (read our Simba range guide here if you’ve got time on your hands). The Simba Hybrid Essential still just has a layer of small springs, but the other four models – including the Simba Hybrid Original – use a combination of smaller and larger springs.
The Simba Hybrid Original currently scores 3.9/5 on Amazon and 4.5/5 on TrustPilot, which is along similar lines to the OTTY Hybrid.
Nectar Memory Foam Mattress (£600)
This Nectar mattress is comparable to OTTY’s range in that you get a trial period and a long warranty, but it’s designed in a different way. The Nectar Sleep is 100% foam rather than a combination of foam and springs. It is medium-firm and gets a brand score of 4.2/5 on TrustPilot which is marginally behind OTTY.
The plus points with the Nectar mattress are that you get a whole year to try it out. That means you can try it in summer and winter, which can help you figure out if it will keep you at a just-right temperature regardless of the weather outside. Nectar also offers a remarkable ‘forever’ warranty. There is small print, of course, but it’s certainly a big statement and claims to be the best on the market.
Ergoflex 5G (£483)
Medium/firm. The home trial period with this memory foam mattress is much shorter than the OTTY mattresses (30 days compared to 100) but it has an outstanding average TrustPilot score of 4.7/5. The warranty length is 10 years, which matches OTTY. Notably, it doesn’t use any springs, so it isn’t a hybrid mattress. Instead, it uses layers of foam and is similar in design to the Nectar Memory Foam Mattress.
Facts and figures – how does the OTTY Mattress compare to its rivals?
We’ve picked out the OTTY Hybrid for our Supergrid comparison, as it is the original and mid-priced model in the OTTY range.
These are all mattresses which come with a trial period and are priced around the same area. They are all so-called ‘bed in a box’ mattresses although that’s less relevant than other factors when you’re making your decision.
As you’ll see, the OTTY Hybrid Mattress is a mid-priced option with the caveat that mattresses are regularly reduced or bundled with bedding to encourage you to plump for a deal. It is a little cheaper than some other hybrid mattresses (i.e. those combining foam and springs) including the REM-Fit 400 but is more expensive than some of the 100% foam mattresses featured such as the Nectar Sleep Memory Foam Mattress.
The OTTY Hybrid Mattress is also unique amongst our selection in offering an emperor sized mattress, which is even bigger than super king size. There’s a very good range of sizes, which might be the clincher for you.
Our comparison table
What’s it called? | How much is it? (Double) | Warranty and trial | How firm is it? | Brand score (TrustPilot) | Sizes available |
OTTY Hybrid Mattress | £799 | 10 years, 100 night trial | Medium/firm | 4.5/5 | Single, EU Single, Small Double, EU Double, Double, EU King, King, Super King, Emperor |
The Simba Hybrid Original | £799 | 10 years, 200 night trial | Medium/firm | 4.5/5 | EU Single, Single, Small Double, EU Double, Double, EU Queen, King, Super King |
Nectar Sleep Memory Foam Mattress | £600 | ‘Forever’, 365 night trial | Medium/firm | 4.4/5 | Single, Double, King, Super King |
Ergoflex 5G | £483 | 10 years, 30 night trial | Medium/firm | 4.7/5 | Single, Double, Euro Double, King, Euro King, Super King |
REM-Fit 400 | £598 | 15 years, 100 night trial | Medium/firm | 4.1/5 | Small Single, Long Single, Single, EU Single, Small Double, Double, EU Double, King, EU King, Super King |
Review scores and prices are correct at the time of writing.
The OTTY mattress warranty and trial period
If we move onto other features, you can see that the OTTY Hybrid warranty is decent but certainly not exceptional. Several rivals offer the same 10 years whilst REM-Fit and Nectar Sleep beat it. The warranty offered with the Nectar Sleep is actually described as being ‘forever’ but we’ve limited it to 25 years for the purposes of producing a comparable graph.
Along similar lines, the OTTY Hybrid’s trial period is generous compared to most traditional pocket spring mattresses. However, it isn’t unique and several similar brands either match it or beat it. The 100 nights is longer than that offered by Ergoflex and Silentnight but it’s shorter than the trial periods from Simba Sleep, Eve Sleep, Emma and Nectar Sleep.
One area which isn’t explored on our Supergrid is the inner workings of the OTTY Hybrid Mattress compared to its rivals.
How the OTTY mattress combines springs with foam
Some mattresses are 100% foam whilst others use a combination of spring and foams to achieve comfort and support. Notably, there is variation in the ratio of springs to foam amongst several mattresses which are all described as ‘hybrid’.
As the graph below shows, the Emma Hybrid and Simba Hybrid Essential are roughly 10% springs and 90% foam. The OTTY Hybrid Mattress is more like two-thirds springs and one third foam. We can’t necessarily leap to the conclusion that a higher ratio of springs is better since there are several excellent mattresses on the market that are 100% foam. However, we can draw some other conclusions.
1) Generally, 100% foam mattresses are cheaper than hybrid mattresses from the same manufacturers. This suggests that the sprung element of the mattress is more costly to produce. That makes the OTTY Hybrid mattress look good value because it is cheaper than some of its rivals which use a smaller proportion of springs.
2) Some hybrid mattresses lean more heavily towards achieving the feel of a foam mattress. Others lean towards achieving the feel of a pocket sprung mattress. If you’re nervously making the move from a traditional pocket sprung mattress to a hybrid mattress, then a model such as the OTTY Hybrid might be a good choice.