Nectar Hybrid Mattress review: the best of both

The Nectar Hybrid Mattress is one of three mattresses in the firm's UK range, sitting in the middle of its memory foam and premier offerings. As the name suggests, this model combines its memory foam technologies with a layer of open coiled springs. 

The aim here is to provide the best of both worlds: the comfort of a memory foam bed with the benefits of a sprung model. While memory foam offerings have become a more popular choice over the years, spring-based mattresses are known to be better at avoiding motion transfer to avoid rolling you into the centre when your partner gets into bed, or out of it. They are also traditionally better at heat distribution, due to the airflow between the coils, rather than the solid mass of foam.

These benefits are the reason so many of the best mattresses in our guide fall into this category. So does the Nectar Hybrid live up to the competition? Having already tested the Nectar Memory Foam Mattress earlier this year, we were keen to find out. 

I've been sleeping on the Nectar Hybrid now for over a month and it certainly offers many advantages over my previous sprung and memory foam models. It also comes at a good price, especially if you use one of the Nectar discount codes we currently have available. 

Nectar Hybrid Mattress: price and availability

The Nectar Hybrid Mattress retails from £799 for a single, up to £1259 for the super king. It also comes in small double, double and king sizes, giving a wide range of options to suit your room. At the time of writing there was a 45% discount on any size of mattress, which took the king size model I tested down to £631.95 with free shipping. 

Nectar are a bed-in-a-box mattresses, which means they come handily delivered, rolled and vacuum-packed in a relatively compact box. This makes them easier to deliver and easier to place in your bedroom. 

The US Nectar range are different models and don't include an equivalent to the Hybrid model.

Nectar Hybrid Mattress: features

The Nectar Hybrid mattress is 25cm (9.84 in) deep once it has expanded from the vacuum packing. This is thinner than its US mattresses but fairly standard for UK models. Only the premium models tend to stretch to 28cm and beyond. 

The mattress is made up of six layers. The open coil spring layer, made up of 1600 micro springs sits in the centre. Above it is a breathable foam layer and the soft quilted cover, while below it is 4cm of memory foam, a supporting foam layer and a non-slip bottom material to stop the mattress from moving around on your base. 

The top quilted cover is very comfortable and the whole thing looks pretty smart with the grey sides and blue bezel. Nectar describes the firmness of the Hybrid mattress as a 6 to 6.5 out of 10. That's a medium-firm, to put it another way. Unlike with purely foam mattresses, you don't sink right down into the mattress here. Instead, it feels like it just moulds around your hips and shoulders. 

Nectar Hybrid Mattress: setup and comfort

The beauty of a bed in a box is that you can practically install it on your own. The box is pretty heavy but compact enough to carry up the stairs. Inside the box, the mattress is vacuum-packed and rolled, so you can slide it out and unroll it onto your bed. There's a Nectar-branded box cutter included to help you cut the plastic cover without damaging the mattress. As soon as you break the seal, the mattress starts to expand and within about 20 minutes is up to full height.

You'll want to have the mattress in place on your bed before opening the plastic, as there are no side handles to help reposition it. It's not a major problem for mattresses of this size, but they can be handy to help flip or rotate your mattress.  

I found the slightly firmer surface of the Nectar Hybrid preferable to a normal memory foam mattress. The springs give a little more support that worked just as well whether sleeping on your side or your back. If you're used to a softer mattress, it will take a little getting used to though.

The other benefit of the springs is the lack of motion transfer. My last memory foam mattress was really bad for that and would mean you felt when your partner – or dog – got in or out of the bed. With the Nectar Hybrid though, you could stand on one side of the bed and not feel any movement at the other side.

I didn't find the mattress noticeably cooler than foam mattresses. Though if you're not sinking into the mattress as much, I guess it feels less smothering. My only disappointment here was that there is very little edge support on the Hybrid mattress. Sleeping too close to the edge means that the sides compress and you can feel like you're going to roll out.

Nectar Hybrid Mattress: delivery and warranty

The Nectar Hybrid comes with free named-day delivery. You can even have your old mattress taken away for £45, saving you the hassle of disposing of it yourself. While we've come to expect free delivery on many products, it's not always the case with big items. Luckily, as the Hybrid mattress comes rolled and vacuum-packed in a box, it's easier to deliver than fully sprung mattresses and it's easy to carry from your door to the bed. 

There's a generous 365-night trial period with this mattress too, so if you don't like it, you can get it refunded and collected for free. There's also what Nectar call a 'Forever Warranty' which guarantees the mattress for as long as you own it. Considering you should change your mattress at least every 10 years, that's a good long warranty. 

Nectar Hybrid Mattress: verdict

The choice between a memory foam and a hybrid one is personal, but there's a reason why hybrid models top our best mattress guide. The combination of coils and foam provide an ideal mix between comfort and support that suits the majority of users. 

The Nectar Hybrid mattress is a great choice if you want more support from your mattress. It's very comfortable to sleep on but doesn't let you sink right in the way that memory foam models can. Plus, the lack of motion transfer is a big benefit for those that share a bed with a partner. 

It's well priced too. The current retail prices put this mattress firmly in the mid-priced  range and for that you get the 365-night trial and lifetime warranty. 

The only downside is the edge support, so this is something to consider if you naturally hang off the edge of the bed at night – but it's something that memory foam mattresses suffer from even more.  

Nectar Hybrid Mattress: also consider

If you want a deeper mattress, the Nectar Premier gives you 28cm of height and a special honey-combed support system that works in place of coils to provide support. Nectar's Memory Foam mattress is slightly cheaper but still provides a firmer than normal support but without the springs. 

If you like the idea of a hybrid mattress but want a little more luxury, the Simba Hybrid Pro mattress is our top choice. While it will cost you a little more, it has a 28cm depth, a seven-layer construction and some impressive airflow.