23 best mattress picks including hybrid, pocket-spring and memory foam for an even better kip in 2023

Quality pocket sprung mattresses provide good support, helping to distribute your weight evenly and keep your spine aligned as you sleep. The steel coils inside compress when you sit on them, giving you a bit more bounce – though you might need to replace them more regularly.

Spring counts in pocket sprung mattresses vary from around 600/800 to 2,500 – but can go even higher when there are multiple layers. Pocket sprung mattresses are available in a range of firmness levels – more on that later.

Silentnight Middleton 800 Pocket Comfort Double Mattress

£369 at Argos

Memory foam mattresses serve up a bit more cushioning, ideal for those who like to sink in and feel cocooned. The top layer of memory foam provides pressure relief to your pressure points, ideal if you're a side sleeper or suffer with lower back pain, painful hips, shoulders or knees. Memory foam mattresses conform to body contours, slowly responding to the user's shape. They tend to last longer than pocket sprung mattresses. Traditionally these would run a bit hotter than their pocket sprung counterparts, but with modern tech that's no longer the case, long live the best electric blankets!

TEMPUR® Sensation Elite Memory Foam Mattress, Firm Tension

£2,449 at John Lewis & Partners

Hybrid mattresses are constructed with both foam and coils. They give you the comfort of foam or latex mattresses, but the spring of something with springs. Hybrid mattresses also tend to give good edge support (read: you can sleep right at the edge without feeling like you're going to fall off).

The Simba Hybrid Mattress

£1,259 £755.40 at Simba

While you might not mind buying a more affordable mattress for your guest room, when it comes to the master bedroom, you're likely going to want something comfortable and long-lasting. This can mean that you might need to extend your budget (or count on Klarna in your slumber's time of need) but, longterm it could end up saving you money. Indeed, a more premium mattress is less likely need replacing every 3-5 years. As such, we'd look to mattresses that have more durable materials. Think: cotton and/or a high-ILD memory foam (TLDR: a high indentation load deflection is a foam layer that will take more overall pressure to sink). For instance, the little green sheep's natural dual sided pocket sprung mattress.

Distinguishing between spring and foam mattresses comes down to a few factors. Namely:

• All-foam mattresses tend to come out on top when it comes to motion isolation.
• Foam mattresses - not all - can offer less breathability, thus making sprung mattresses better for the warmer months.
• While foam mattresses exceed sprung mattresses when it comes to support for side sleepers, if you like a bit of extra support or a firmer mattress, you'll likely prefer a sprung sleep surface.
• In terms of sound, a foam mattress will generally be quieter.
• Likewise, foam mattresses win when it comes to sagging over an extended period, too, and cheaper sprung models are known for doing this over time.
• A win for the sprung mattresses - more often than not they'll come in cheaper than their foam counterparts, with the most expensive foam models reaching up to £2,400.

Emma Original Mattress

£311 £248.80 at Emma

Silentnight Middleton 800 Pocket Memory Kingsize Mattress

£369 at Argos

The level of support you choose depends on your body weight and personal preference. "Generally speaking, the lighter the person the softer the mattress you will need," Angela said. "Sleeping position makes a difference, too." Side sleepers will be well supported by a softer mattress or medium mattress, while back sleepers or front sleepers may want to consider a medium-firm mattress or firm mattress.

When it comes to mattresses, you really do get what you pay for. For a decent mattress, you should expect to pay somewhere around the £300 mark if it's to be comfortable and durable. Emma's Original Mattress is one of the best mattresses of the year, costing £249.50, while The Casper Hybrid mattress is £500. We've also got a full edit of the best cheap mattresses here.

For mattresses between £500 and £1,000, you'll get something that lasts longer, which regulates temperature, reduces bounce when your partner moves during the night and helps with back and ache spinal alignment through multiple layers or a larger number of pocket springs.

There is no single mattress that will suit everyone with back pain, but generally speaking, considering the firmness of your mattress is important when choosing which mattress you buy. A firmer mattress will provide more back support. Also, the coils or pocket springs are what provide the support in mattresses; so you should look for something with more coils and springs for more support.

Mattresses and pillow tops don't actually have to be separate things. You can buy mattresses with a pillow top as part of the makeup and, naturally, ones without, too. Ultimately, a pillow top is an extra layer of padding atop your sprung or foam mattress and they tend to act much like a mattress topper. For instance, the Silentnight Thornbury mattress has a luxury quilted Pillow top sleep surface and reviewers remarked that it was a top choice for heavier buyers and, aside from that, had helped with aches and pains, and the quality of their sleep overall, too. In summary? Pillow top mattresses are a good choice if you're after that extra ounce of support and you prefer a sprung to a foam mattress - pillow tops are more common on sprung-style mattresses.

By using product reviews from customers combined with data on what you've been searching for, as well as checking thoroughly to see which products feature high-quality versus less durable materials, we curated what we feel is a selection of the best mattress on the market for side sleepers, back sleepers, front sleepers and every size of bed frame. We've rifled through the good and bad comments, so you don't have to, not to mention we - as a team of fashion, interiors and beauty experts - happen to know a thing or two about which brands have earned their respective places as the best in the business. Plus, with a team of 30+ here at GLAMOUR HQ, of course some of us have trialled a mattress or two (& we've let you know which ones!), so we have some dos and don't knowhow, too. Our aim is to find you pieces which will last and, should anything about a product signal that that's not the case, you'll be the first to know - happy shopping!

1/5 - Not one you're likely to see in our guides, as we aim to curate a list of only the best products. That said, a 1/5 rating would mean the product fails on value for money, quality, performance and how consumers reviewed it.
2/5 - Again, not likely to be included in our buying guides, a 2/5 would mean the product is a let down across most factors, perhaps excelling in one field e.g. value for money.
3/5 - A 3/5 would mean the product is passable, perhaps a good choice if you're on a more modest budget, but leaves room for improvement. For instance, this could be a mattress that is suitable for back sleepers perhaps, but not side sleepers so not a top pick for couples with different sleep preferences.
4/5 - A 4/5 would mean the mattress is near perfect, with faults only small and easy to overlook. For instance, a mattress that ticks all the boxes, but costs a fair whack.
5/5 - A 5/5 rating means the product, website and company are all perfect. We will never give a product a five-star rating if it has a single fault that we're aware of, so look out for these, they're rather rare!

After more sleep content? We've got weighted blankets and mattress toppers, best duvets and the best pillows, plus anti-allergy pillows, cooling pillows, silk bedding, best sofa beds, silk pillowcases and linen bedding. Elsewhere, find body pillows to invest in, pregnancy pillows if you're expecting, sleep masks to keep the morning light at bay and pillow spray to help you nod off.

For more from Glamour UK Commerce Editor Sophie Cockett, follow her on Instagram @sophiecockettx.