Simba Earth Apex Mattress review: a premium, sustainable pocket-sprung mattress that's built to last

This Simba Earth Apex mattress review is one that I've been hoping to write ever since Simba announced its Earth range a year ago, and it's been worth the wait. I make no bones about the fact that the best mattress for me is a traditional pocket sprung model rather than a bed-in-a-box option, so when Simba launched a range of three pocket sprung beds around a year ago I was instantly interested.

Simba's Earth mattresses are decidedly old-school in their construction, and they're impressively eco-friendly too, as befits Simba's B-corp status, with all-natural materials and not a trace of foam. They're also rather expensive: the Simba Earth Apex comes in a price that'll make many people think twice before buying.

I've been sleeping on the Simba Earth Apex in a double size for over a month, which has given me plenty of time to decide whether this premium mattress is worth the investment. Here's what I've found out.

Simba Earth Apex Mattress review: price and availability

While the Simba Earth Apex isn't the brand's most expensive mattress – that distinction belongs to the 11-layer, 32cm-deep Simba Hybrid Ultra – it's definitely a premium option. The standard price for a double is £1,999, although you'll find that Simba often sweetens the deal by including a pair of Hybrid pillows, a Hybrid duvet and a mattress protector, worth £546.

If you're already happy with your bedding, however, it's probably worth waiting for a Simba sale, which should get you 20% off the Earth Apex without the bedding bundle. This brings the price of a double down to a less hair-raising £1,599.20. But whether you pay full price or nab a discount, you'll get a 10-year guarantee and a 200-night sleep trial, and unlike with other Simba mattresses you'll get free VIP delivery, which means it's delivered directly to your bedroom and set up for you. That should be music to the ears of anyone who's ever wrestled with a recalcitrant bed-in-a-box.

Simba Earth Apex Mattress review: delivery and set-up

Delivery of the Earth Apex mattress might be VIP, but it's not the next-day service you get with other Simba mattresses. In fact, after my order confirmation came through, it took 20 days for my Earth Apex to arrive. Why the delay? It's almost certainly because the Earth Apex is delivered flat, rather than rolled, vacuum-packed and boxed, which slows things down because full-size mattresses are harder to warehouse in large quantities and you can't fit as many on a van. To be fair, if you've ever shopped for a pocket sprung mattress, you'll know that these things never arrive quickly; I just picked out a vaguely similar mattress online and it promised delivery in five weeks, making the arrival of the Earth Apex pretty speedy by comparison.

The delivery itself was pretty painless; I was given a four-hour delivery window with a promise that the driver would phone me half an hour before arriving. The phone call never came but the mattress arrived on schedule, delivered by a friendly two-man team who took it to my bedroom. There was a brief moment of awkwardness when it looked like they were going to just leave the mattress wrapped at the foot of the bed and I had to ask them to set it up, but once they checked their instructions they sorted it all out quickly and took the packaging with them.

It took maybe five minutes for the Earth Apex to be delivered, unwrapped and on my bed, and it looked ready to go straight away, without any off-gassing smell that you get from vacuum-packed mattresses. However, I gave it a few hours to settle after its long journey before introducing it to a mattress protector and bedclothes.

Simba Earth Apex Mattress review: design

One thing you'll immediately realise when you see the Earth Apex up close is that you might need new sheets to go with it. It's 32cm in depth and I have to break it to you: even if you have deep sheets, they might not be quite voluminous enough for the Earth Apex, and you may have to go in search of extra-deep sheets instead.

There's a lot going on within those 32cm, though; the Earth Apex has 12 layers, which is one more than the Hybrid Ultra, and while the Hybrid Ultra has various layers of different types of foam, with the Earth Apex, you get one hell of a lot of wool. Seriously, there are six separate wool layers providing both comfort and stability, as well as a silk and cashgora cushioning layer up top, and three whole layers of Simba's Aerocoil microsprings (up to 5,700 of them in total) to add support.

All of this sits on top of a layer of up to 1,000 high carbon steel pocket springs, arranged into seven support zones and with a reinforced frame to help edge support. So far so good, but what really makes a difference with this mattress is how it's finished off. The cover is plant-derived viscose woven into a super-smooth sleep surface, plus a heavyweight edge fabric that, I learn, is called ticking, all of which gives the Earth Apex a substantial feel that I often find lacking in other modern mattresses. It also has two handles on each side and again, while I sometimes find that handles on some modern mattresses are only really for show, these feel like they mean business, which is a good job because this is a really heavy mattress that'll need to be rotated around twice a year to keep it in top shape.

The final touch that literally holds the Earth Apex together is tufting: the finished mattress is compressed and hefty cords are threaded through it to lock all the layers in place. With a traditional tufted mattress you'll see pom-poms marking where it's tufted, however the Earth Apex uses invisible tufting to keep everything feeling smooth. It's easy to see where the tufts are, though, and to feel the results: everything feels solid and secure and unlikely to shift around (an anti-slip base helps on that last point, too).

Simba Earth Apex Mattress review: performance

All that tufting on the Earth Apex gives it a dimpled, undulating look that suggests it's super soft. Don't be fooled, though; Simba rates the Earth Apex as medium-firm, and you'll quickly realise that this may be a bit of an understatement. It might look like it's made of marshmallows, clouds and dreams, but the Earth Apex feels really firm to the touch and my first impression was that I might find it too firm for comfort.

I change position a lot in the night but I generally end up on my side, and I was concerned that the Earth Apex's solid feel would wreak havoc on my shoulders and hips. Impressively, though, this hasn't been the case; in fact once you lie down on it you realise that the Earth Apex provides a lot more cushioning than you might expect. It's very much a mattress that you lie on top of rather than sinking into, but its multiple wool layers and zoned support combine to deliver pressure point relief in all the right places and a very comfortable sleep experience all round. And I’ve slept well on it: according to my Sleep Cycle app, since mid-March when the Earth Apex was delivered, after an initial dip as I adjusted to a new sleep surface, my sleep quality has been steadily increasing.

Another benefit that comes from having wool comfort layers rather than foam is that this isn't a bed you'll swelter in at night. Wool won't trap heat the way foam does, and there's the added benefit of those microcoil layers to improve airflow, and the result is that I've found the Earth Apex to be delightfully temperature-neutral. It's also very good at motion isolation; while it can't completely deaden movement the way foam will, the multiple wool and microcoil layers mean that I've not been disturbed by my partner's – or my cat's – movement in the night (both of them have found the Earth Apex to be exceptionally comfortable and supportive, by the way).

The only tiny downside to the Earth Apex is its edge support. It's good in places – specifically around the pocket sprung core – but less effective around the comfort and support layers, which means they'll squish down a little more than you might expect when you sit right on the very side of the bed. I've never felt in any danger of rolling off the edge, but a little less compression around the upper edges would be nice.

One final point to note after sleeping on the Earth Apex for over six weeks is that its feel softens a little with time, but you may also find a you-shaped indentation forming where you sleep. Wool's not memory foam and doesn't regain its shape the way less eco-friendly materials can, so you need to be on the case with rotating this mattress: Simba recommends doing this every couple of months for the first six months, then twice a year.

Simba Earth Apex Mattress review: verdict

There's no two ways about it: the Simba Earth Apex is an outstanding mattress. It's beautifully constructed with eco-friendly materials and completely recyclable. Despite an initially firm feel it's turned out to be incredibly comfortable too; it's one of those rare mattresses that hits the spot for both me and my partner, who tends to have much firmer mattress tastes than I do. It's supportive in all the right places, it doesn't get hot in the night, and my only minor niggle with it is a slight lack of edge support that really isn't a big deal, all told.

Long story short: the only times I've slept on better mattresses have been when I've stayed at five star hotels that I won't even name because it'll sound like I'm showing off. The Earth Apex really is that good, but then again it should be, considering its price. All told, the Earth Apex isn't unreasonably expensive; think of it as an investment piece, because this thing's built to last a long time.

Simba Earth Apex Mattress review: alternatives to consider

If you like the cut of the Earth Apex's jib but you're put off by the cost, an obvious alternative would be Simba Earth Source, which boasts similar materials and feel at a more palatable price. It's not quite as luxurious (or as tall) as the Earth Apex but it's nevertheless a strong choice.

A more direct challenger to the Earth Apex is the Sleepeezee Centurial 03, which our reviewer rated as the comfiest she's ever slept on. It comes in at a similar price and features latex and alpaca fleece for cool comfort; it's also monumentally deep at 36.5cm.

While we haven't tested it yet, the new Otty Natural Evolve feels like a serious rival to the Earth Apex: it's tufted and made with natural and organic materials, and comes in at a lower price.