REM-Fit Halo Memory Foam Topper review: make your old mattress feel positively angelic

A quality mattress topper can be an affordable alternative to splurging on a new mattress when your old one is a little past its prime, and it can also be an effective way of adjusting the feel of a mattress that's a bit too firm or soft for your liking. Many of the best mattress companies also sell toppers, and the latest to add one to its roster is REM-Fit, with its Halo memory foam topper.

We were recently very impressed by the REM-Fit 600 Lux Elite hybrid mattress and in particular by its supportiveness, luxurious feel and temperature regulation. And so having reviewed two of T3's best mattress toppers, I was suitably intrigued enough to put the Halo topper through its paces despite my own reservations about memory foam toppers. Here's what I found out.

REM-Fit Halo memory foam topper review: price and availability

The REM-Fit Halo mattress topper is only available from REM-Fit, and it'll cost you £149 for a single, £189 for a double, £219 for a king and £249 for a super king; a small double as well as EU sizes are also available. You'll get free delivery in 1-3 days and a 30-night sleep trial, and the Halo topper comes with a 10-year guarantee too.

While REM-Fit's mattresses are usually available at a discount, you're a lot less likely to get a cut-price Halo topper, and at the time of writing I've only seen 20% off when you buy it with a mattress. I don't know about you, but if I was buying a mattress I wouldn't want to buy a topper to go with it; I'd rather be confident that the mattress I was buying provided enough comfort and support by itself.

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REM-Fit Halo memory foam topper review: design and setup

While REM-Fit's mattresses tend to feature multiple layers of foam and springs, its Halo topper is a lot more straightforward. It consists of a single 4cm layer of breathable open-cell visco memory foam, with a removable and washable cover made from 300gsm polyester and a mesh border to further improve breathability. On the underside, there's an anti-slip base to prevent the topper from sliding off the bed, and just to make certain it'll stay in place there are thick elastic corner straps to help anchor it to your mattress.

REM-Fit doesn't specify how firm this topper is, only stating that it'll add a layer of luxurious comfort and support to your mattress, which sounds a little vague to me. It does however describe the memory foam as '45D' with no real explanation; a little digging leads me to conclude that this refers to the foam's density and most likely describes a medium-firm feel, which I think is a fair description of what the Halo topper feels like to sleep on.

The Halo topper was delivered by courier, boxed, rolled and vacuum-packed, and once it arrived it was the work of minutes to unbox it, pierce the vacuum seal and unwrap it, and leave it on my spare bed for a while to decompress. I immediately noticed a strong off-gassing smell, which is a typical occurrence when you open up any mattress or topper with a lot of memory foam in it. It's a weird chemical aroma that's harmless but off-putting, and despite the topper being more or less ready to sleep on after a couple of hours, I left it for a few days before actually sleeping on it to give the smell a proper chance to fully dissipate.

REM-Fit Halo memory foam topper review: performance

I spent two weeks sleeping on the REM-Fit Halo topper in a single size, on an elderly sprung mattress on our spare bed. The mattress itself is pretty comfortable considering its age, so I was interested to see how much difference the Halo topper would make to its feel. Long story short: I was rather impressed.

The Halo topper feels quite firm to the touch, and I was a little concerned that it might prove to be a little too hard for comfortable side sleeping, which is the position I tend to default to. However once I actually got into bed and settled down on the Halo topper, it quickly softened up in response to my body heat, providing a gentle cradling feel that was comfortable in every sleeping position.

Now, I'm not a fan of memory foam on the whole. I don't like the feeling of sinking too far into a mattress and being enveloped by foam, because I tend to shift position a lot in a night and being cradled too enthusiastically by a mattress can really restrict my movement as well as resulting in overheating in the night.

Fortunately the Halo topper didn't do that; rather it provided just the right amount of give and pressure point relief for me to sleep comfortably in every position. Because it's just 4cm thick it's hard to sink too deeply into the Halo topper anyway, and as an added bonus it didn't get hot, even on warm nights when I had a large, heavy cat wedged right up against me. I didn't even notice him leaping onto the bed in the night, thanks to the topper's foam doing a great job of reducing motion transfer.

Overall, I slept well on the REM-Fit Halo topper every night, and woke up feeling well-rested without any aches and pains; I find that's increasingly a win as the years take their toll on my joints.

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REM-Fit Halo memory foam topper review: verdict

There's no denying that the REM-Fit Halo mattress topper is a little on the expensive side for what's essentially a thick sheet of foam wrapped in polyester, and I'll admit that I didn't have especially high hopes for it when I agreed to write this review. Occasionally, though, it's nice to be proved wrong, and I have to admit that the Halo topper completely surpassed my expectations and then some.

It did an excellent job of livening up the feel of an aged mattress, it provided just the right combination of sink-in comfort and pressure point relief, it didn't trap heat and leave me sweltering in the night, and it stayed resolutely in place throughout the testing period. That pretty much ticks all my boxes, and if you're in the market for a mattress topper you should put this one at the top of your list.

REM-Fit Halo memory foam topper review: alternatives to consider

I'd have said that the best alternative to the REM-Fit Halo topper was the Eve topper, however, a visit to the Eve site suggests that it's not available any more, which is a shame. So instead, I'd direct you towards the Panda topper, which again is a comfortable all-foam option at a more reasonable price, although I found it just a little too soft with more of a tendency to trap heat than the Halo topper.

If you'd prefer something more advanced and have the budget for it, check out the Simba Hybrid Topper, which features layers of latex, foam and mini springs to give any mattress a luxurious upgrade.