Emma vs Casper: quick links
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Mattress design
Mattress price
Firmness and comfort
What other users think
Verdict
In this Emma vs Casper face-off, we compare the Emma Original mattress with The Casper mattress to help you decide which one to buy. They’re two of the highest-rated entries in our best mattress guide and share many similarities, so which is better: Emma or Casper?
Both memory foam mattresses provide stellar comfort, through a construction of foam layers including body-contouring memory foam. Both, too, are bed-in-a-box mattresses – which means they’re delivered to your door, rolled up in a conveniently sized box. And they’ve both earned rave reviews from customers and critics.
However, despite the similarities between these mattresses, there are some differences. Here, we’ll explore these in detail, looking at the design, feel, price, what other users say and the small print to help you decide which one to buy. Read on to find out which mattress wins in the battle of Emma vs Casper…
- Prefer a spring layer? See our Emma Hybrid review
Emma vs Casper: design
The best way to understand the difference between two foam mattresses like The Casper and Emma Original is to compare the layers of foam they're made of.
The Emma Original
The Emma mattress is 25cm deep and made up of three foam layers. At the top, a 3cm layer of “Airgocell” foam provides breathability, and prevents motion transfer across the surface of the mattress. At the core of the mattress, a layer of viscoelastic memory foam contours to the sleeper’s body. Beneath that, a thick layer of support foam provides a comfortable base.
The Casper
There are four layers of foam in The Casper mattress – which is also 25cm deep – with each playing a specific role in providing a comfortable night’s sleep. The top layer is 3cm of open-cell foam, which provides breathability to stop the mattress getting too hot through the night. Below that, 3cm of memory foam provides contouring to you body shape. The next layer is 3cm of polyurethane foam, designed to help with weight distribution. At the base of the mattress, 12cm of support foam contributes to the mattress’ comfortable feel.
Winner: draw
It's difficult to judge which of these mattresses is the better-designed. Both are great at contouring to your body, while preventing the bed from becoming uncomfortably warm. The fact that the Emma achieves this with three layers, rather than four, arguably makes it the more elegantly designed of the two mattresses – but really, we’re splitting hairs here. Whether you choose the Emma or the Casper shouldn’t come down to design alone: you'll need to factor comfort and price into your decision.
Emma vs Casper: Price
The Casper and Emma Original are very similarly priced. Which mattress is more expensive? The answer depends on the size of your bed. The Emma costs a bit more in single, small double, double and EU double sizes; while the two mattresses cost practically the same if you’re looking at a king, super king, EU single or EU king.
- Emma Original RRP: single - £429, double - £649, king - £699, super king - £799
- The Casper RRP: single - £400, double - £600, king - £700, super king - £800
However, both brands run cheap mattress deals all year round. These can lower costs significantly, but because the offers change regularly it’s difficult to directly compare prices over a long period of time.
Winner: draw
While for some bed sizes, the Casper beats the Emma on price, and for others it’s a dead heat, both brands regularly cut the price of their mattresses. This makes it very difficult to definitively decide which is cheaper: it depends which day you look.
Emma vs Casper: Comfort and firmness
In this section, we compare the results of our testing. However, bear in mind that mattresses are subjective, which makes comparing them on a comfort level tricky. Your weight can influence how firm you find a mattress, for example. Different sleeping styles, too, can result in different experiences; as can back or joint pain, or a tendency to overheat at night.
In the next section, we'll show you what other users thought, too, to help build a more rounded picture of what the Emma and Casper mattresses are like to sleep on.
Emma Original
We found the Emma to be perhaps marginally softer than the Casper, though there isn’t a great deal of difference between the two mattresses in this respect. In our testing, we found that it provides a beautifully comfortable sleep – whether you’re on your side, back or front – pushing you up to the top of the mattress, where you're cushioned and supported.
The “point-elastic” foam at the top of the mattress also does a great job of preventing motion transfer through the mattress – which is great news if you sleep next to a restless partner.
It's worth pointing out that one of our reviewers found the Emma to be a little warmer than other mattresses they'd tested, but still rated it as exceptionally comfortable.
The Casper
We found The Casper to be a little firmer than the Emma Original, with a medium-to-moderately-high level of firmness that really suits side sleepers. The uppermost layer of the mattress, which is made of open-cell foam, kept our reviewers nice and cool throughout the night. That’s impressive, considering our testing took place in the summer months.
Winner: Emma Original
Both the Casper and the Emma are fabulous mattresses. We're happy to confirm that we found both to be fantastically comfortable and very supportive – better than most other memory foam mattresses-in-a-box we've encountered. In our opinion, the Emma is the more comfortable of the two, but if you like a slightly firmer feel, you may prefer The Casper.
Emma vs Casper: What other people think
Here, we researched the opinion of thousands of customers to help build a stronger sense of what both mattresses are like to sleep on.
Emma Original
The Emma Original is one of the best-rated mattresses we’ve come across. At the time of writing (July 2019), consumer review website Trust Pilot showed Emma with an average of four out of five stars over more than 5,000 user reviews. On Amazon, meanwhile, over 50 customers had awarded the mattress an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars: 76% gave a five-star rating, while only 4% gave a one-star rating.
Many users have commented on how comfortable and supportive the mattress is. The limited negative feedback appears to be largely delivery-related, rather than concerning the mattress. That said, we did see some users mentioning that the mattress can become warm during the night; and for a very small amount of people the initial off-gassing smell lingered for a number of weeks. (By comparison, our Emma Original mattress didn’t smell at all.)
The Casper
The Casper has also received excellent feedback from customers, with an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars from 145 reviewers on Amazon. 74% gave the Casper a five-star rating, while 8% gave a one-star rating. Trust Pilot also averages Casper at four out of five stars, this time across a smaller user sample of over 800 reviews.
Like the Emma Original, the majority of user feedback for The Casper is very positive, with people enjoying how comfortable and supportive it is, and the reduced motion transfer. Any limited negative feedback is, again, largely related to delivery issues, although a few users have commented that The Casper was a little firm for them.
Winner: Emma
On the strength of user reviews, the Emma Original mattress just edges it over The Casper. Both mattresses were in the same high-performing ballpark, but the Emma Original’s significantly larger review pool also stands in the mattress’s favour.
Emma vs Casper: the small print
Delivery information, returns, warranties and other logistical details like these are important factors that can help elevate one mattress brand over another. Once again, though, the Emma and Casper mattresses match each other well.
Emma Original
When you buy an Emma mattress, you get a 100-day free trial period, and can have the mattress collected free-of-charge within that period, if you decide you don’t want it. It comes with a 10-year guarantee.
The Casper
The Casper mattress comes with precisely the same benefits, which are an industry standard among mattress-in-a-box brands. There’s a 10-year guarantee, a 100-day free trial period, and free returns for unsatisfied customers.
Winner: draw
When it comes to the small print, there's nothing to distinguish the two mattresses.
Emma vs Casper: which one should you buy?
Overall, we think the Emma Original is the best mattress you can buy right now. The main difference between the two is that The Casper is a little firmer than the Emma Original – but both fall within the medium-firm bracket. Otherwise, as our testing shows, the mattresses achieve similarly excellent results: they're well made, durable, evenly matched at full price, and users rate both highly.
However, the Emma mattress does score slightly higher in the user reviews overall, across a much larger pool of customers. And we’ve reached a similar conclusion: The Casper is an excellent mattress. The Emma is exceptional.
Either way, the 100-night trial takes the pain out of choosing. If you're not happy with one, it's easy to send it back and try the other.
