Our Emma Luxe Cooling mattress review puts one of the brand's premium hybrid mattress through its paces to see how it compares to the best mattresses Ideal Home has tested so far.
Quick review
I've previously tested both the all-foam Emma Original mattress and Emma's entry-level hybrid mattress (the now discontinued) Emma Premium mattress for Ideal Home, and despite each having their merits, the one thing myself (normally a cold sleeper) and my partner (a certified hot sleeper) both struggled with whilst sleeping on Emma's mattresses, was overheating.
So, when Emma launched the Emma Luxe Cooling mattress which specifically promises a cooler sleep, I was eager to give it try.
And, I was impressed. Unlike the previous Emma mattresses I tested, the Emma Luxe Cooling mattress offered far more breathability which meant no overheating and a sounder sleep from day one. As someone who sleeps both on my side and back, I also found its medium-firm tension just right for me.
Overall, this is by far the best Emma mattress I've tested. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that the Emma Luxe Cooling mattress costs more than the Simba Hybrid Original mattress – which in our opinion still takes the biscuit as the best value for money – and the fact that Emma appears to put less effort into reducing its environmental impact than Simba, I'd go so far as to say I've found my ideal mattress.
Emma Luxe Cooling mattress review
Overall we consider ten factors when we test mattresses. We then use these to score each mattress out of 5. The Emma Luxe Cooling mattress scored an impressive 4.5 out of 5. Read on to find out why.
Specifications
Type: Hybrid
Materials: Foam, memory foam, pocket springs
Sizes: Single, Small Double, Double, King, Super King
Comfort level: Firm
Height: 25cm
Side handles: Yes
Manufacturer sleep trial: 200 nights
1. Comfort
From the very first night I slept on it, I found the Emma Cooling Luxe mattress to be much more comfortable than the Emma Premium mattress, which was my previous sleeping surface.
Although both mattresses offer a hybrid design – with a sprung base and memory foam top layer – I found I needed an adjustment period to get to grips with the Premium mattress, in particular because its firmness meant that I experienced some aches and pains in my hips when I slept on my side.
In contrast, I immediately felt I sank into the Emma Luxe Cooling mattress a little more, which I most definitely preferred. This is no doubt because of the additional layer of foam that sits on top of the memory foam layer in the Luxe Cooling mattress (and isn't present in the Premium mattress). The result was that I was much more comfortable sleeping on my side and could switch between my preferred sleeping positions – on my back and side – because I wanted to, rather than switching at intervals because whichever hip I was laid on had started to hurt.
As a back and side sleeper the construction of the mattress also seems to work well for me. The memory foam top layer adds enough comfort to cushion my hip and shoulder when I'm laid on my side, but the pocket springs deliver enough support that I don't feel I'm sinking in to the mattress too much – like I've experienced on an all-foam mattress before.
My sister also tested this mattress out for me when she came to stay. She sleeps primarily on her back and reported that she fared excellently with this mattress too.
However, weight can affect how a mattress feels for you. I'm 5ft 6″ and 70kg and my sister is around 60kg. The lighter you are the firmer a mattress will feel, and the heavier you are the softer it will feel and the more you'll sink in to the mattress surface if the tension is too low.
It's also worth noting that, generally speaking, a mattress that utilises memory foam isn't the best choice for front sleepers. That's because it can mean the hips sink too low as the memory foam gradually depresses to mould around pressure points. In this case you might be better opting for a firmer mattress, like the Sealy Newton Posturepedic mattress Ideal Home recently tested.
2. Responsiveness
Perhaps because the first layer of padding in this mattress is foam rather than memory foam, I found this mattress pretty responsive to sleep on. That means that it was easy to change position and turn over in the night – perfect for me as someone who swaps between sleeping on my side and back.
In comparison, on an all-foam memory foam mattress, such as the Tempur Sensation mattress or Emma Original mattress, this can be trickier as the deeper memory foam 'hug' can be a little harder to transition out of when you want to change position.
3. Motion isolation
I pride myself on being able to sleep almost anywhere and through anything, although I have to have a solid eight hours a night to avoid crashing and burning the next day. In comparison, my partner sometimes has difficulty getting to sleep, so can toss and turn a little, and more regularly gets up during the night. This can sometimes prove difficult when sharing a bed, which is where motion isolation becomes important.
Why is motion isolation important in a mattress? Because it reduces the transfer of movement from one side of the bed to the other. So on a mattress with good motion isolation, our movements shouldn't disturb our partner.
The worst culprits for motion transfer tend to be open coil mattresses, as they're constructed from one continuous coil of springs. That means bounce on one side of the mattress is more likely to travel through the springs to the other side of the mattress.
The Luxe Cooling is a hybrid pocket spring mattresss. That means each spring is individually housed in a fabric pocket, which should reduce the likelihood of motion transfer compared to an open coil structure. It's also topped with a layer of memory foam which is excellent at dampening movement.
In practice, I found this mattress didn't entirely negate the feeling of someone moving around next to me at night, but it was pretty good at masking movements. My boyfriend tends to move around a lot before he drifts off and though I now feel it a lot less than compared with our old open coil mattress, I am still aware of him getting up or changing position to some extent, and I'm a heavy sleeper.
4. Temperature regulation
As mentioned, my biggest issue with the Emma Original and Emma Premium mattresses I'd previously tested was that they regularly made me too hot at night. Though I consider myself to be a cold sleeper, whilst testing these mattresses I soon found I was waking up in the night sweating due to a lack of breathability.
This can be a common problem with memory foam mattresses as the structure of memory foam is incredibly dense, meaning that body heat can't dissipate away through the mattress, and is instead reflected back towards the sleeper. That stops the body from being able to regulate its temperature and leads to us waking up due to overheating – not ideal if you're after a restful night's sleep.
The Luxe Cooling mattress addresses this issue via what the brand dubs 'Thermosync Technology'. In practice this is a graphite-infused foam layer, followed by a second foam layer with a more open structure, that both sit above the memory foam layer inside the Luxe Cooling mattress.
Graphite is highly conductive, and is commonly used in mattresses to draw heat away from the body. For example, Simba infuses graphite into most of its memory foam mattresses (you can find out more about this in our Emma vs Simba comparison). Paired with that extra foam layer that should allow better airflow between the body and the memory foam layer, I was hopeful these two factors would contribute to a cooler sleep. And, they did.
The result was that I didn't wake up in a sweat at any point whilst I slept on the Emma Luxe Cooling mattress – hallelujah! In fact, I slept coolly and soundly from the first night onwards, even through a summer heatwave.
5. Edge support
Even though I sleep in a king size bed, strangely I always find myself gravitating towards the edge of a mattress, so good edge support is very important to me. Thankfully I've never experienced dipping at the edges with this mattress, as I can imagine it would be very disruptive to my sleep.
Even when I was really testing the mattress's metal by half-hanging over the edge of the mattress, I didn't feel it give way, which is likely down to the foam edge support that the Luxe Cooling mattress contains.
6. Ease of care
The Emma Luxe Cooling mattress is one-sided, meaning you can only sleep on the top of the mattress and it can't be flipped. Instead, it needs rotating regularly to ensure even wear and tear. This is made easier thanks to side handles that help with the mattress' manouevrability.
A one-sided mattress could perhaps lack some longevity compared to a high quality two-sided mattress. After all, only one side means that side will get more wear and tear. However, my first impressions of this mattress are that it seems durable and of good quality.
The mattress cover itself isn't removable, so I'd definitely recommend investing in a good mattress protector to keep the Luxe Cooling mattress clean and fresh. After all, it's a lot easier to wash a mattress protector than it is to figure out how to clean a mattress! (Especially how to clean a memory foam mattress, as these can require a little more TLC).
7. Sleep trial
It's taken me a while to get to grips with how firm a mattress I prefer, and, in my experience, this is something that you can only really assess after spending a good few nights sleeping on a mattress to see if it begins to conjure up any aches and pains because it's too soft or too firm.
A sleep trial can be a great way to do this. This means that you get to test a mattress out in your own home, usually for anywhere between 30 and 365 nights, with the option to return the mattress for a refund if it doesn't suit you.
There are always specific terms and conditions that apply to sleep trials and these can differ between retailers, so it's important check the small print before you make a purchase. But, as of writing, Emma offers a generous sleep trial of up to 200 nights on the Luxe Cooling mattress, which is plenty of time to assess whether it's a good fit for your needs.
The only downside is that, unlike some retailers – such as Simba who are explicit that all Simba mattresses returned during a sleep trial are fully recycled and given a new life to avoid landfill – Emma doesn't offer a lot of clarity on its website as to what happens to Emma mattresses that are returned during the sleep trial, although it does mention that some are refurbished and resold. More on that in the Environmental Impact section.
8. Delivery
This is the third Emma mattress I've reviewed and received, and each delivery has been seamless for me. My delivery date was pinpointed down to the hour, which is always helpful as it means you don't need to hang around at home for an entire day.
However, unlike most mattress retailers, unfortunately Emma doesn't offer delivery to the room of your choice. You can't even pay extra for it, instead your mattress will be delivered to your doorstep and no further.
Thankfully Emma is a mattress-in-a-box brand, which means your mattress arrives rolled up into a manageable sized box, and although I wouldn't categorise myself as someone with much muscle to spare I got the box up the stairs and into my bedroom OK.
However, this kind of manual lifting wouldn't be possible for everyone, so if you lack mobility this is a very important point to bear in mind, and could mean it's best to avoid an Emma mattress in favour of a brand that caters to people of all abilities.
Of course, as there's no delivery to the room of your choice, there's also no white glove delivery service to unbox the mattress for you, so my next job was wrestling the mattress out of its packaging.
Once unboxed, cutting away the plastic is made easy thanks to the safety cutting tool included within the box.
From my previous experience with Emma mattresses, I knew it would take at least five hours for the mattress to be fully 'inflated', so I opened the window (to air out that new mattress off-gassing smell) and left it to inflate.
9. Environmental impact
The National Bed Federation estimates that 6.4 million mattresses were disposed of between 2017 and 2021, and only 14% recycled. The rest are likely to have ended up in landfill which is a big environmental concern. So, buying from a mattress from a manufacturer that considers its impact on the environment can be a very important purchasing decision.
As mentioned, unlike its main competitor in the mattress market, Simba, which publishes a regular environmental impact report, Emma seems to offer very little publically available environmental impact information – at least from what we could find by trawling the Emma website.
I couldn't find any information that suggests any of the materials used in the production of the Emma Luxe Cooling mattress came from recycled sources, which is a shame, and the brand doesn't seem to offer a mattress recycling service.
Although it does state some of the mattresses returned via its sleep trial offer are refurbished (that means the mattress is carefully examined, the cover is replaced, and the foam is subjected to UV light decontamination) it doesn't share what happens to those mattresses deemed unsuitable for resale.
10. Value for money
Of the three Emma mattresses I've tested, the Emma Luxe Cooling mattress is by far my favourite, but it's also the most expensive. In order to score a cooler sleep that unfortunately means a fairly steep price increase from Emma's entry-level mattress range.
The RRP of the hybrid Emma Luxe Cooling mattress is currently £1049 for a double, whilst the hybrid Emma NextGen Premium Mattress (that takes the place of the discontinued Emma Premium mattress) retails for £659.
The Emma Luxe Cooling mattress is also twice the price of Emma's most affordable mattress offering, the all-foam Emma Original mattress. The Original lacks the pocket spring support of the Luxe Cooling and NextGen Premium mattresses, but does save you a significant amount of cash, with a current RRP of £499 for a double.
Personally, after testing all three mattresses, I would definitely pay more for the Luxe Cooling and a cooler night's sleep. However, obviously Emma isn't the only mattress manufacturer to consider.
Emma mattresses are often looked at in comparison to Simba mattresses – one of the other leading names in the sleep world. Our Simba Hybrid Original mattress review (which is also a hybrid mix of pocket springs and memory foam) placed this mattress in the top spot in Ideal Home's guide to the best mattresses, so I was really interested to see how the Luxe Cooling would compare. All in all, I think the Luxe's newly designed cooler sleep surface definitely puts it on a par with Simba's breathable mattress. However, the Luxe Cooling costs more, with a double of the Simba Hybrid Original mattress costing £869 compared to £1049 for the a double Luxe Cooling Mattress.
Simba will also deliver to the room of your choice rather than just your doorstep, offers recycling of your old mattress, is leading the way in addressing its environmental impact, and tends to score higher on Trust Pilot, with Simba's Trust Pilot score averaging 4.5 out of 5, as opposed to Emma's Trust Pilot score of 3 out of 5.
However, if price is the main criteria in your search then the good news is that Emma regularly runs sales, so you often don't need to wait too long to find the brand's mattresses reduced. Our mattress deals page has a wealth of information on the best time to shop for an Emma mattress, with Black Friday usually seeing the lowest prices.
How I tested
During my mattress testing process I assessed ten factors that the Ideal Home team deems vital to any mattress purchase.
I assessed the mattress for comfort, responsiveness, motion isolation, temperature regulation, and edge support through at home testing. This means that I slept on the mattress for a minimum of two weeks before writing my review.
I also took into consideration durability, any sleep trials available, the delivery process, and the mattress's environmental impact and its value for money.
Where possible, I also took into account third-party customer reviews – to see if they aligned or were at odds with my own experience – before writing my own review and giving this mattress a star rating.
