Dormeo Octasmart Essentials Hybrid reviewed

The Dormeo Octasmart Essentials Hybrid is a 21cm hybrid mattress with individually wrapped pocket springs under an Octacell comfort layer, sold in two versions at the same price: Plush Comfort with a memory foam layer, or Firmer Support with Aerocell foam. It is Dormeo’s cheapest sprung mattress at £289 for a single and £379 for a double at the time of writing (September 2026), and Dormeo’s own reviews average 4.5 out of 5 from 459 buyers.

Plush or Firmer

The Essentials Hybrid page on dormeo.co.uk lists the firmness as medium/soft for Plush Comfort and medium/firm for Firmer Support, and gives the memory foam depth of the Plush version as 2cm. Everything below the comfort layer is shared.

Because the record covers both versions, we list the overall feel as medium, 5 out of 10, the midpoint Dormeo also uses when it calls the mattress medium support. Octacell is Dormeo’s cheaper relative of its Octaspring foam spring: a moulded 3D foam layer with open channels, which Dormeo says uses 25% less material and creates no production waste. Dormeo’s awards page lists a Good Homes Approved award for the Essentials Hybrid in 2022.

Choosing the right version

Bed Advice UK, the consumer site of the National Bed Federation, puts the rule simply in its guide to choosing a mattress: the heavier you are, the firmer the tension you will need, and you do not necessarily need a hard bed if you have a bad back. It also warns that there is no industry-wide standard for firmness ratings, so “medium/firm” here is Dormeo’s scale rather than a universal one. Heavier sleepers and front sleepers should start with Firmer Support; lighter side sleepers will usually prefer Plush Comfort.

Length is worth checking before you order. Bed Advice UK’s buying guide says a bed should be 10 to 15cm longer than the tallest person sleeping in it; the single and double here are 190cm long, so anyone taller than about 5ft 10in (178cm) is better served by the 200cm king or super king. Whichever version you choose, the evidence favours the middle of the scale: a 2021 systematic review of 39 studies (Caggiari et al.) found that a medium-firm mattress promotes comfort, sleep quality and spinal alignment.

Prices by size

Trial and warranty

The Essentials Hybrid comes with Dormeo’s 200-night trial, but the Octasmart Essentials range is excluded from free collection: if you use Dormeo’s courier, £45 is deducted from your refund. The Octasmart and Octasmart Essentials warranty covers the core for 18 years, in full for the first five, and the cover for one year. There is no small double.