Sealy Hybrid Fusion review: An excellent medium tension mattress

Hybrid mattresses are all the rage right now and if Otty, Simba and Eve’s spring and foam mattresses are anything to go by, it’s easy to see why. They’re comfortable, durable and, most importantly, affordable.

Unlike the aforementioned brands, Sealy’s Hybrid Fusion doesn’t arrive vacuum-packed and it isn’t what you’d call affordable, either. Indeed, with a listed price of more than £800 for a single, it’s more than double the price of the Otty Hybrid. Although you can typically find it for a fair bit less than that, the question remains: is it worth paying over the odds for a mattress made by a brand with heritage?

Sealy Hybrid Fusion: What you need to know

One of the most obvious differences between the Sealy Hybrid Fusion and the bed-in-box brands that have become so popular recently is that there’s no trial period, so unless there’s a fault with your mattress, you forfeit the opportunity to send it back as soon as you remove its plastic wrapping.

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Along with the fact you can lie on Sealy’s mattresses at independent retailers all across the UK, though, one upside to buying the Hybrid Fusion is that it arrives ready to sleep on. There’s no need to wrestle with a huge cardboard box and metres of cellophane when it arrives. All being well, it’ll be delivered by couriers who can place it in your room of choice and, with any luck, on your bed, too.

And there’s every chance you’ll need the help because even as a single, the mattress is very heavy. Sealy doesn’t list the weight of the mattress, but it’s noticeably heavier than most bed-in-a-box models I’ve tested and, even with its robust built-in handles, moving it is a job for two people.

At 300mm deep, the Hybrid Fusion is also considerably deeper than the bed-in-a-box mattresses I’ve tested. Contributing to that depth is a 60mm “Geltex” layer, which Sealy says delivers pressure relief, breathability and support. Below this, it has 20mm of soft foam with seven-zone support and 1,400 50mm mini pocket springs (on the king size mattress). For improved edge support and durability, the springs are encased in Sealy’s “Unirail” surround and base systems and they use a soft insulator pad for additional support.

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Thanks to its layered construction, the Sealy Hybrid Fusion is a mattress you don’t have to turn and, surprisingly, there’s no need to rotate it, either. The company does recommend using a mattress protector to improve hygiene, though.

The mattress comes with a five-year warranty against manufacturing defects.

Sealy Hybrid Fusion: Price and competition

At £842 for a single, the Fusion is the cheapest mattress in Sealy’s Hybrid range and it differs from the more expensive models by using 50mm micro pocket springs as opposed to full-size pocket springs, or a combination of the two.

It’s worth pointing out that, despite its relatively high price tag, you can save over 30% when you buy the Hybrid Fusion at MattressOnline. That means it will cost you £550 for a single, £750 for a double and £850 for a king size mattress. That’s only £100 more than the Simba Hybrid, but considerably more than the Otty Hybrid, which typically costs £450 and £550 in double and king sizes.

The John Lewis & Partners Natural Collection Hemp 4000 Comfort Support is a more natural comparison to make, however. It’s a medium-tension pocket sprung mattress and will set you back £650 and £750 in double and king sizes. Alongside its high-street rivals, it’s reasonably priced.

Sealy Hybrid Fusion: Comfort and performance

What first struck me about the Sealy Hybrid Fusion is how thick it is. At just shy of 300mm deep, it’s almost 50mm thicker than the Otty and Simba hybrids and 120mm deeper than the Eve Hybrid. It’s sumptuously made, too. Indeed, unlike most bed-in-a-box mattresses, which sometimes resemble crudely cut slabs of foam in zip-up covers, the Sealy has a more refined, robust feel to it.

Crucially, despite being predominantly made from foam, it emits much less of an odour than some of the new-age mattresses. Although the organic compounds released during “off-gassing” shouldn’t ever be harmful, it’s surely much better if you don’t have to air your mattress at all before sleeping on it.

The Hybrid Fusion is sold as a medium tension mattress and it fits that bill perfectly. It’s much softer than bed-in-a-box hybrid rivals from Otty, Simba and Eve, which are at the firmer end of the scale and even all-foam mattresses such as Casper and Emma can’t quite match its plush, cushioned feel. Despite the ample comfort layers, though, the Sealy Fusion Hybrid did a solid job of keeping my body well supported.

I’m partial to a firm mattress for the simple reason that I like nothing less than waking in the middle of the night feeling my hips being pulled down by gravity, a sensation that’s normally accompanied by a tedious, dull ache in my lower back. This was never a problem with the Sealy Hybrid Fusion. There’s less stability than you have with a firm mattress, but I found it very comfortable sleeping on my front and back as well as my side. I weigh around 75kg, so if you’re much heavier the mattress might feel softer still but if you’re lighter it should be equally supportive.

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Perhaps most impressively, the support didn’t change as the mattress became warmer. Many mattresses with foam comfort layers become noticeably softer as the memory foam layers heats up, but on the Sealy mattress I felt as well supported in the morning as I did after getting into bed. Nor did a sprung slatted bed impair the support. I tested the Hybrid Fusion on both a solid base and a sprung slatted foundation and it worked equally well on both.

As for temperature, the Sealy Hybrid Fusion isn’t the coolest mattress I’ve slept on, but it wasn’t excessively warm, either. Temperature control is a hugely subjective thing and, if you get particularly warm in bed, you’re always best avoiding foam. However, I thought the mattress performed well in this regard considering how much you sink into its comfort layers compare to other hybrid mattresses I’ve tested.

Sealy Hybrid Fusion: Verdict

So is it worth spending above and beyond the asking price for one of its bed-in-a-box rivals? In short, yes.

There’s no 100-night, money-back guarantee, but if you want a high-quality medium mattress, it’s difficult to see how you can go wrong with Sealy’s Hybrid Fusion. It delivers a combination of comfort, support and temperature control that I’ve not seen from a cheaper mattress and its superior build quality justifies spending £100 over the Simba Hybrid.

The only caveat is that it’s a little disappointing that Sealy only offers a five-year guarantee. Mattress guarantees are a notoriously thorny subject because they’re easily voided if you don’t care for your product in exactly the right way, but Sealy’s five-year promise is some way short of the ten-year guarantees offered by most of its bed-in-a-box rivals.