Eve Lighter Hybrid mattress review: Affordable but thin

UPDATE: Since we initially reviewed the Eve Lighter Hybrid, the brand has relaunched its entire mattress range. The new ‘Wunderflip’ range still offers a choice of memory foam and hybrid mattresses, this time with higher spring counts alongside a new feature that allows sleepers to choose between two comfort levels by flipping the mattress.

We’re hoping to review the new Wunderflip mattresses soon, so watch this space. Until then, our original review of the Eve Lighter Hybrid mattress continues below.

The Eve Hybrid offers something strangely traditional in the disruptive bed-in-a-box mattress market. Unlike its predecessor, which is now known simply as the Eve Original, and rivals from Nectar and Emma, which are made entirely from foam, the Eve Hybrid uses 90mm pocket springs topped with a foam comfort layer.

Put simply, what you’re getting here is much more pocket-sprung mattress, much more so even than the Simba Hybrid, which is largely foam with much smaller, 20mm springs. At £650 for a king size, the Eve Hybrid is also £100 cheaper than its all-foam stablemate and you still get the 100-day money-back guarantee. The question is, is it any good?

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Eve Hybrid Mattress review: What you need to know

The Eve Hybrid’s 90mm pocket springs are surrounded by 25mm of foam to give it extra stability. Above this, there’s a 30mm foam layer made from “open cell hybrid foam” and a moisture-wicking sleeping surface that you can unzip and put in the washing machine. At 180mm deep, the mattress fits standard sheets but it’s considerably thinner than many other bed-in-a-box mattresses. Indeed, it gives up some 70mm to Eve’s all-foam mattress and the Simba Hybrid.

Like most bed-in-a-box mattresses, the Eve Hybrid never needs to be turned, but you are advised to rotate it every thirty days for the first year, after which you can do so just twice a year. Eve claims its Hybrid mattress will work with any type of bed base but that wood slats or a platform bed offer the most support.

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It also recommends that, if you use a slatted base, the slats are no more than 70mm apart and, if you use an adjustable bed, that you leave the mattress flat when it’s not in use. To get the most comfortable night”s sleep, it’s advisable that you use a cotton mattress protector with a natural sleeping surface, like the Eve one, which is made from 100% cotton.

The mattress is suitable for people weighing up to 114kg (18 stone). You have up to 100 days in which you can return the Eve Hybrid if you don’t like it, after which it is covered by a ten-year guarantee if there are any manufacturing defects. If you’re really keen to try the mattress before you buy, there’s no Eve showroom, but the company’s mattresses are now available at some Next, Debenhams and Fenwick stores in the UK.

Eve Hybrid Mattress Review: Price and competition

Although it’s cheaper than many of its bed-in-a-box rivals, the Eve Hybrid has gone up in price by more than £100 in most sizes since launch. It now costs £400 for a single, £550 for a double and £650 for a king, which is more or less the same pricing model as the Otty Hybrid mattress but considerably less than the Simba Hybrid, which is priced at £550, £750 and £850, respectively.

If you’re not fussed about having a spring layer, the excellent Emma Original has recently had its price cut to just £500 and £580 in double and king sizes, respectively. That’s more than Eve’s Original mattress, which will set you back £650 and £750 in these sizes. If you want a cheaper foam mattress, Dormeo’s Memory Plus is another great option. It can normally be picked up for around £300 in a king size.

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Eve Hybrid Mattress Review: Comfort and performance

After removing it from its vacuum packaging, the Eve Hybrid expanded more quickly to its full size than any other bed-in-a-box mattresses I’ve tested. Eve gives the same advice as it does for its foam mattress, that it can take 4-5 hours to fully expand but, in reality, it seemed much quicker than this and the company’s advice that it’s ready to sleep on right away seemed appropriate.

There was a slight plasticky smell at first, a standard trait for bed-in-a-box mattresses, but this was never overbearingly strong or unpleasant. It also faded quite quickly, perhaps because the Eve Hybrid contains much less foam than many of its rivals.

What struck me most was how much thinner the mattress looked than the Simba mattress sitting nearby, and I was initially concerned that this might stop the Eve Hybrid from offering sufficient support. It also meant there was excess slack when using a standard fitted sheet. Fortunately, my fears were quickly allayed when I first laid on the mattress directly on the floor. It felt remarkably firm – perhaps 7.5 or 8 out of 10 where 10 is the firmest – but still comfortable thanks to the foam top layer, which lets you hips sink in several inches and thereby offers excellent support to your lumbar.

The firm feel is hardly surprising because the Eve Hybrid uses a combination of 2mm and 1.8mm springs in different zones, wire thickness normally associated with orthopaedic mattresses. Despite its firmness, the Eve Hybrid is still easily identifiable as a pocket sprung mattress, quite simply because it has more ‘bounce’ than its all-foam competitors.

Unfortunately, my opinions took a slight turn for the worse when it came to sleeping on the Eve Hybrid, at least to begin with. I first tested the mattress on a bed frame with sprung wooden slats and although it wasn’t uncomfortable per se, it just didn’t offer the level of support I was expecting after first trying it on the floor. This led to a couple of slightly restless nights, as confirmed by the Nokia Sleep pad that I was testing the same week.

Although Eve sells its own bed base with sprung slats, my hunch is that it was the slats on my bed that were causing the problem rather than the mattress itself. The Eve’s lack of depth, combined with the fact it isn’t designed to be rigid meant it was simply flexing too much.

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Next, I tried the mattress on the floor, and the difference was night and day (excuse the pun). I never woke feeling unsupported and was comfortable lying in any position: on my back, side or front. Again the Nokia Sleep confirmed what I’d experienced, concluding I’d had around three times more deep sleep than on the first nights on the Eve Hybrid. Of course, weight is highly likely a factor in my experiences. If you weigh less than I do (around 75kg) or have a bed with firmer sprung slats, you might feel adequately supported on this type of bed frame.

On the whole, temperature control was excellent. Eve claims that its evecomfort foam layer is thirty times more breatheable than normal memory foam, which seems plausible. Unlike some bed-in-a-box mattresses, I was never excessively warm or clammy on the Eve Hybrid and although the foam comfort layer might have softened a little as its temperature increased, the firm foam casing and tensioned pocket springs beneath it meant I felt as adequately supported in the morning as I did when I first clambered into bed.

Eve Hybrid Mattress review: Verdict

If you’re looking for a mattress that uses a combination of pocket springs and foam, the Eve Hybrid represents very good value for money. It’s supportive and comfortable and costs around £100 less than some of its all-foam, bed-in-a-box rivals. Best of all, its pocket springs mean it has a more traditional, bouncy feel, which will appeal to those who don’t get on with all-foam varieties.

It is thinner than some of these mattresses, which affects the support it offers on some types of bed base. But when used on a solid platform, the Eve Hybrid offers an extremely comfortable night’s sleep.