Expert Reviews Sleep Awards 2026: The results

Long gone are the days when shopping for a mattress meant traipsing round a showroom and lying awkwardly, fully-clothed on bed after bed after bed: those days were already over when I started working for Expert Reviews about six years ago. Today, buying mattresses and bedding can be overwhelming, with seemingly no end to the number of brands and online bed-in-a-box mattresses vying for your attention. 

That’s why we’ve gone to the effort of rigorously testing mattresses and other sleep products, to bring you comprehensive, confident and well-informed recommendations and buying advice – with the best of the best being crowned in our annual Expert Reviews Sleep Awards. There have been plenty of contenders to choose from: since last year’s awards, we’ve reviewed over 50 sleep products, from mattresses and toppers to pregnancy pillows and electric blankets. 

It’s also our third year running our Sleep Survey, in which over 1,500 UK adults selected their favourite brands across categories including comfort, value for money and delivery experience.

With that said, read on to find out which brands came out on top, as well as our sleep products of the year. 

Expert Reviews Sleep Awards 2026: Survey results

Our Sleep Survey, carried out in February 2026, asked UK homeowners aged 24 and over what they think of their mattress, with 16 questions spread across six categories: Comfort, Delivery Experience, Value for Money, Shopping Experience and Durability. 

Drawing on a sample of 1,624 respondents (and applying a threshold of 50 respondents for a brand to reach statistical significance in most categories), we identified ten sleep brands that qualified for consideration: 

• Emma 
• Simba 
• Sleepeezee
• Bensons for Beds (including Eve Sleep)
• Dreams 
• John Lewis 
• Silentnight 
• Dunelm 
• IKEA 
• Tempur 

We picked our winners using Top Box Analysis. This reflects the percentage of respondents that selected the most positive responses across each category, highlighting those that were “extremely satisfied” over merely satisfied. 

Mattress Brand of the Year: Tempur 

Coming out on top overall is Tempur: a brand renowned for its innovations in memory foam, long before this material became an ubiquitous ingredient in mattresses and bedding.

Tempur achieved an average Top Box score of 36%, based on results across Comfort, Durability, Satisfaction and Value. This far surpasses the overall average of 23% across all of the brands we considered. You can expect to see Tempur crop up regularly throughout our survey winners.   

The brand recently gave its UK store a bit of a refresh, with new offerings such as the Tempur Pro SmartCool and the Tempur Ease mattress, which we gave four stars and an Expert Reviews Recommended Award.

Highly Commended: Emma 

Our overall runner up is Emma, a bed-in-a-box brand that prides itself on being one of the UK’s most trusted sleep brands. Our survey data agrees, with Emma following closely behind Tempur with an average Top Box score of 29%, narrowly beating John Lewis (29%), Sleepeezee (24%) and IKEA (24%).    

Most Comfortable Mattresses: Tempur 

Unsurprisingly, given its position as our Mattress Brand of the Year, Tempur also wins for comfort. When asked to rate the comfort of their mattress on a scale of 1-5, 33% of respondents said Tempur’s mattresses were “extremely comfortable”. That’s a whole 10% higher than the average score.  

Highly Commended: Emma

Emma once again tails closely behind Tempur, with an “extremely comfortable” score of 32%. We’re inclined to agree: the brand’s Original Elite is crowned as the Best Premium Mattress among our Sleep Products of the Year below. 

Meanwhile, John Lewis also scores 32% in the Most Comfortable Mattress category, Sleepeezee 28% and Bensons for Beds 24%. 

Best Delivery Experience: Simba

In the age of the bed-in-a-box, a reliable delivery experience is immensely important. For this award, the threshold for statistical significance was 20 rather than 50, because we focussed on data from a proportionally smaller group of respondents who had their mattress delivered in the last year. 

83% of these respondents said that Simba’s delivery experience was “Excellent – smooth and hassle-free”, which is a fantastic result compared to the average 77% scored across the board. Depending on the product ordered, Simba offers free standard delivery to your door or to a room of choice, between 7am and 7pm. For an extra charge, you can opt for a specified four-hour delivery window or weekend delivery, as well as a service to set up your new mattress, remove any packaging, and even recycle your old mattress. 

Highly Commended: Emma 

Not too long ago, Emma was the recipient of some rather negative Trustpilot reviews complaining of delivery delays and poor customer service. That seems to be a thing of the past though: 79% of our respondents said that Emma’s delivery service was excellent. The brand is partnered with DPD, UPS and Rhenus to offer free delivery and returns, with a dedicated page to track your order.

Following behind Emma on Delivery Experience is IKEA (78%), Silentnight (78%) and Dreams (75%). 

Best Value for Money: Tempur 

While Tempur still has a reputation for manufacturing premium mattresses, some of its more recent offerings are comparatively affordable. The aforementioned Tempur Ease is somewhat of an “entry level” option, starting at £799 for a small single. In any case, a good value product isn’t necessarily a cheap one; it’s tied in closely with how well the product performs. 

In our survey, we asked: Do you feel your mattress has been good value for money, considering its cost and comfort? And once again, Tempur has come out on top, with 31% of respondents saying that its mattresses represent “Excellent value” (compared to a 19% average score), offering “great comfort for the price”. 

Highly Commended: IKEA 

Our value-for-money runner up is everyone’s favourite Swedish flatpack furniture company. Not far behind Tempur, 27% of respondents agreed that IKEA’s mattresses were excellent value for money. 

This is followed by John Lewis, who scored 26%, Emma with 24% and Sleepeezee with 23%.   

Best Shopping Experience: John Lewis 

This was another category in which we had to scale down our threshold for statistical significance, as we are looking at those respondents who purchased their mattress directly from the brand rather than a generic retailer. As such, brands had to have 30 respondents or more to be considered. 

It’s perhaps unsurprising that John Lewis should win in the Best Shopping Experience category; so strong is the department store in the collective consciousness of the UK. An impressive 62% of respondents gave John Lewis an “Excellent” score, while the average across all brands considered was 49%. 

Highly Commended: Emma 

Bed-in-a-box brand Emma follows closely behind John Lewis in this category, scoring an “Excellent” score of 55%. In our own experience, Emma’s online store is easy to navigate and well designed – with specifications, materials and other information clearly laid out. 

After Emma, Tempur scored a 52% “Excellent” score, Simba 50% and Bensons for Beds 49% .  

Most Durable Mattress: Tempur 

A hallmark of a good quality mattress is longevity, with the general guidance being that you should change your mattress every seven to ten years. That’s up to 3,650 nights spent on the same mattress, so it’s important to get something that will hold up over time. 

We asked our respondents how well their mattress has maintained its shape and support over time. Tempur once more achieved the highest “Perfect” score, with 36% of respondents agreeing that their Tempur mattress “feels just as supportive as the day I bought it”. Across all of the brands we considered, this category had an average “Perfect” score of 23%  

Highly Commended: Emma

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Emma takes our Highly Commended spot for Most Durable Mattress, only just falling short of Tempur in the top spot with a “Perfect” score of 30%. 

Further down the scoreboard we have John Lewis and IKEA with 24%, and Bensons for Beds with 23%. 

Expert Reviews Sleep Awards 2026: Sleep Products of the Year

Sleep Product of the Year: Panda Hybrid Bamboo Mattress Topper

Price: From £250 at Panda

It’s been a little while since we’ve seen a new product from Panda. We’ve been huge fans of the London-based sleep brand’s bamboo-infused bedding for some years, so it’s perhaps no surprise that we were so impressed with Panda’s latest Hybrid Bamboo Mattress Topper. It offers a fantastic combination of comfort and support, temperature regulation is excellent and it stays firmly in place on your mattress thanks to its grippy bottom and corner straps. Another well-deserved win from Panda. 

Best Mattress: REM-Fit Natural Lux Hybrid mattress

Price: From £700 (Single) at REM-Fit

With an all-natural construction, the REM-Fit Natural Lux Hybrid mattress is the brand’s first departure from the spring-and-foam hybrid model. Made with English cotton, Hampshire wool and a layer of full-length pocket springs, it’s a great fit for allergy sufferers and hot sleepers alike thanks to its hypoallergenic and breathable design.

The REM-Fit Natural Lux Hybrid earned a five-star review, alongside a coveted Expert Reviews Best Buy award. Our tester praised its lumbar and edge support, temperature regulation and the cushioning of its wool layers. The hand tufted pockets on the top are very comfortable to lie on and it’s a great option for back sleepers.

Best Hybrid Mattress: Slumberland Air 6.0 Memory Mattress

Price: From £750 (Single) at Bensons for Beds

Another five-star mattress, the Slumberland Air 6.0 Memory Mattress greatly impressed our tester with its customisable options that allow you to pick the right firmness for your weight and sleeping style. Temperature regulation is excellent and the mattress also has MTick accreditation as a menopause-friendly mattress, helping to control night sweats. We reviewed the firm version of the mattress and praised it for excellent lumbar support that helped ease back pain. But with different firmness options to choose from, there’s a mattress to suit all sleepers.

Best Premium Mattress: Emma Original Elite mattress

Price: From £659 at Emma

Note: We originally reviewed the Emma Original Elite when it was called the Emma Hybrid Airgrid. While the brand has since rebranded the mattress, the design remains the same 

Of all the mattresses we’ve tested here at Expert Reviews, the Emma Original Elite is one of the very best for side sleeping: it offers exceptional support and contouring around pressure points. That said, we also recommend it for back sleepers thanks to its ample support (more than you might expect from a mattress labelled as medium soft). 

If you share your bed with a restless partner, the Original Elite is also an excellent option when it comes to motion isolation. At £1,099 for a double it’s definitely a premium mattress, but you may well be able to find it discounted, particularly during deals events such as Black Friday. 

Best Value Mattress: Happy Beds The Annabel 2000 Pocket Spring Natural Pillowtop Mattress

Price: From £529 at Happy Beds

The Annabel impressed us with its excellent support, which kept the spine aligned at all times. And thanks to its natural materials, including wool and silk, it’s very breathable: our tester who regularly sleeps hot never felt clammy. 

Excellent edge support also allows you to make full use of the mattress’ surface, as well as sit comfortably on the edge. The real draw, though, is its great value for money: at full price, a double will set you back £659, though you can occasionally find it discounted for as little as £449, which is a fantastic price for a natural mattress.

Best Mattress Topper: Panda Hybrid Bamboo Mattress Topper

Price: From £250 at Panda

Panda’s Memory Foam Bamboo topper won last year’s Best Value Mattress Topper award and now its big brother, the Hybrid Bamboo Mattress Topper, takes the spotlight. Constructed from open-cell memory foam with a breathable bamboo cover, this topper is a fantastic choice for hot sleepers. The addition of a layer of micro-springs makes it thick and supportive enough to breathe life into a tired mattress, while the contouring feeling of the foam is particularly beneficial for side sleepers. Plus, adjustable straps and a grippy bottom means that the Panda Hybrid topper will stay firmly in place on your mattress, no matter how much you move about on it.

Best Value Mattress Topper: Dorma Full Forever mattress topper

Price: From £70 at Dunelm

Dorma’s Full Forever mattress topper is a bit of a revelation: it’s soft and cushioning as well as highly supportive where it’s needed. Our tester found that it managed to keep her lumbar region supported, and temperature regulation was excellent. It also impressed with motion isolation and managed not to sink down too far at the edges. And, at £80 for a double, it’s also considerably cheaper than many of its rivals.

Best Pillow: Woolroom Deluxe Washable Wool Pillow

Price: £95 at Woolroom

Packed with soft British wool, Woolroom’s Deluxe Washable Wool Pillow is fully adjustable, because you can take as much – or as little – of its loose filling as you like. While it offers cushioned comfort, all that wool doesn’t let your head sink too far into the pillow. Its 100% cotton cover is breathable and, as the name makes explicit, it can be washed at 40°C – provided you use wool-friendly detergent and wash on a wool cycle.  

Best Value Pillow: Dreams Side Sleeper Pillow

Price: £30 from Dreams

The Dreams Side Sleeper Pillow is one of the most affordable pillows we’ve reviewed as of late. But don’t that fool you into thinking it skimps out on quality. It’s comfortable and supportive for both side and back sleepers, and its piped stitching feels well made and holds the pillow’s structure together nicely. 

The whole thing can be machine washed at 30°C and, of course, it’s very reasonably priced at £30. 

Best Memory Foam Pillow: Eve Hybrid Side Sleeper Pillow

Price: £69 from Eve

If you prefer a firmer-feeling pillow, we highly recommend Eve’s Hybrid Side Sleeper. It’s supportive, but not so hard that it’s lacking in comfort. Contrary to what its branding might suggest, it’s definitely not a pillow exclusively for side sleepers: we found it just as comfortable when lying on our back too. It’s breathable and cool too, which may well be thanks to its mesh sides.   

Best Value Memory Foam Pillow: Panda Memory Foam Bamboo Pillow

Price: £45 from Panda

Panda’s Memory Foam Bamboo pillow is the only returning winner from last year’s Sleep Awards: to date, it’s still our favourite value memory foam pillow since we first reviewed it many moons ago. Its solid foam construction is supportive yet comfortable, without that dense feel that puts many people off memory foam to begin with. 

At £45, it’s reasonably priced. And if that couldn’t get any better, Panda offers a 30-night trial so you can try it out before you commit to parting with that money for good.  

Best Pregnancy Pillow: bbhugme Pregnancy Pillow

Price: £159 from bbhugme

In the world of pregnancy pillows, the bbhugme gets a lot of hype. And that hype is well-deserved. It’s comfortable, feels like a premium product, and its polystyrene microbead filling means it’s much more malleable than some of its rivals. Whether you’re sitting or sleeping, it can be adjusted to suit a number of different positions, and this versatility is what makes a truly excellent pregnancy pillow – not to mention it’s one of the best-looking options out there, with a nice range of colours to choose from. 

Best Duvet: Woolroom Deluxe Washable 3-in-1 Wool Duvet

Price: From £315 at Woolroom

Much like Woolroom’s pillow above, the Woolroom duvet is an investment that we think will pay off in terms of comfort and longevity. Wool is a fabulous material when it comes to insulation and temperature regulation, meaning you’ll never feel too cold or too hot. 

We tested the All Seasons version of the Woolroom Deluxe Washable Duvet: a combination of two duvets – a light (2-5 tog) and a medium (7-10 tog) – which can be fastened together for the colder months. And while that might sound like an awful lot of duvet, the Woolroom options aren’t too thick and can easily fit into one duvet cover. Those with wool allergies notwithstanding, there’s no one we wouldn’t recommend this duvet to. 

Best Value Duvet: Dreams Dream Team Ultimate Washable Duvet

Price: From £30 at Dreams

We tested both the 10.5 and 4.5 tog versions of the Dreams duvet to cover year round sleeping. Considering that prices start at just £30 for a single 4.5 tog duvet, we were really impressed with the quality, feel, and comfort of these duvets: they’re soft, fluffy and feel nicely bouncy. There’s no crinkling noise that you sometimes get with synthetic duvets and the filling is breathable and does a great job of regulating temperature. Both duvets are also lightweight, meaning you won’t ever feel weighed down or smothered. 

Best Electric Blanket: Dreamland Snowed In Organic Cotton Warming mattress protector

Price: From £100 at Dreamland

Slightly confusingly, our best electric blanket pick is branded as a mattress protector, but  that’s no bad thing. It’s a clever beast that can be used year round. In winter, it keeps sleepers warm and cosy, with our tests producing impressive results: it warms up quickly and has plenty of heat and timer options to choose from. Plus, thanks to the thickness of the padding, you can’t feel the wires at all. 

Come summer, you can unplug the cables and use it as a traditional mattress protector. Its cotton top covers the whole mattress surface, and a generous elasticated skirt ensures a good fit over the deepest of mattresses. 

Best Value Electric Blanket: Beurer Indulgence Heated Underblanket

Price: From £75 at Beurer

Beurer’s Indulgence underblanket is designed with a fleecy ‘teddy bear’ cover, the soft touch of which is in keeping with the blanket’s name. Our testers were impressed with the blanket’s temperatures – even on half power – and it did a particularly good job of keeping our feet warm (a significant strength, considering your feet are usually the coldest part of your body in bed). Like the Dreamland protector above, the Beurer Indulgence also has an elasticated skirt that helped to keep it in place throughout the night.

Best Mattress Protector: Simba Performance mattress protector

Price: From £99 at Simba

Simba’s mattress protector is gloriously thick and soft, providing plenty of comfort thanks to its quilted, 200-thread count cover. Although it’s not fully waterproof, it does contain a layer of polypropylene, which protects against stains and small spillages. It’s also highly breathable, meaning it won’t leave you feeling clammy in the night. 

Our testers were impressed by the protector’s neat design, which feels very well constructed, and we also appreciate that it comes in eight different sizes, including EU options.

Best Value Mattress Protector: Nectar mattress protector

Price: From £39 at Nectar

The Nectar mattress protector is great value for money, with a double costing just £45. That gets you a waterproof protector that, with its breathable Tencel fabric, doesn’t leave you waking up clammy and sweaty in the morning (as is sometimes the case with waterproof protectors). 

The Nectar Protector feels silky to the touch and is comfortable to lie on. And thanks to its generous elasticated skirt, it stays put on the mattress. It’s machine washable up to 90°C, making it a doddle to care for, and also a great choice for families with potty training children. 

Written By

Jo Plumridge

Jo Plumridge is a freelance writer and photographer with almost 25 years of experience writing for a variety of magazines, websites and books. She writes extensively on home and tech products, along with covering photography, interior design and all things sleep-related. Outside of work, Jo fosters cats alongside her husband for a local rescue, giving her plenty of practice in dealing with tricky subjects.

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Gareth Thomas

As Expert Reviews’ Home Editor, Gareth manages a vast range of content, including kitchen appliances, air treatment, ergonomic furniture and mattresses – the latter being a section of the website he’s worked within since joining in 2020. Following a Master’s Degree in Magazine Journalism, Gareth’s six years (and counting) on the team has made him an unlikely expert on filter coffee machines, office chairs and pillows. Gareth also works closely with Expert Reviews’ roster of freelancers in commissioning and editing reviews. 

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