Silentnight Studio Eco mattress review: supportive & sustainable comfort

The Silentnight Studio Eco is a rolled, vacuum-sealed hybrid mattress, and its price is more akin to budget entrants than the fancier bed-in-a-box mattresses dominating the market at the moment.

Its most noteworthy features include a 1,000 full-size pocket springs, a mysterious 'comfort layer' where you might usually find memory foam on other hybrids, breathable fabric that provides extra ventilation and moisture regulation, and the fact that its eco-fibres are made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.

Silentnight offers a 60-night exchange guarantee – which is shorter than the 100 days that has become standard elsewhere in the industry. The company has also been independently validated as a carbon neutral organisation under the Carbon Footprint Standard.

It's one of the best cheap mattresses we've tried, but can it compete with the fancier models in our best mattress ranking? Read on for my full Silentnight Studio Eco mattress review.

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Silentnight Studio Eco Hybrid mattress review: firmness & comfort

Now obviously there’s a broad spectrum in terms of the firmness individual sleepers are looking for. But I’ll be honest that years of sitting at desks and slouching like an inveterate limboer means my spine benefits from a firmer mattress and the Silentnight Studio Eco does not disappoint here. Rather than sinking into its surface, you’ll be properly supported, meaning there are none of the early morning twinges you might get from the kind of mattress that nigh-on envelopes you as you lie on it.

None of this is to say that it is hard or uncomfortable though – its surface is absolutely soft and yielding. But once you’ve settled, those 1,000 pocket springs do their job, adequately bracing your body and meaning the work isn’t all having to be done by your spine and ligaments.

Inevitably, opting for a hybrid mattress like the Studio Eco does mean you’re sacrificing some of the benefits of pure memory foam mattresses. If you want a mattress that perfectly sculpts itself around your hips and shoulders and negates all pressure points, it may be wise to look elsewhere. However, what I would say is that while I noticed having to switch sides a reasonable amount at first, the more you break in the Studio Eco the less of an issue this becomes, to the point I can’t recall a single time in the last few weeks I’ve woken up exclusively to shift position.

And eschewing memory foam has another real bonus – in a battle of springs vs memory foam, one of the main complaints levelled at the latter is its irritating tendency to trap heat. The Studio Eco always keeps its cool, even when you’re having a clammier night’s sleep. During my first few weeks of testing, the weather was all over the place and my central heating struggled to keep up, which meant that on several occasions my bedroom hit temperatures I’d describe as ‘subtropical'. Despite this, the mattress coped admirably: thanks to its structural ventilation and breathable fabric, it always took a long time to heat up and, once I’d nerfed the temperature on my thermostat, it became bearable much quicker than the rest of my bedding.

The mattress' firmness also results in another serious positive: the Silentnight Studio Eco hybrid mattress doesn’t travel very far as you move about in bed. This is not the kind of mattress that launches your partner into a near-earth orbit every time you hop out of bed. In fact, motion doesn’t propagate much through the mattress at all: you may still quibble with your partner about stolen covers in bed, but one of you tossing and turning doesn’t necessarily mean you’re both destined for a sleepless night.

Sadly, there is one area this breaks down. Thanks to its sloped, softer edges, the great support offered by the Studio Eco almost entirely collapses within a couple of inches of its edge. As a result, this becomes a bit of a no-go area that neither sleeper wants to venture too far into, resulting in a few boundary disputes as each partner tries to retain a firm hold. Likely this is less of an issue if you’re sleeping on a King or lounging out solo, but while sharing a Double there’s a chance you may find yourself craving more viable territory.

Silentnight Studio Eco Hybrid mattress review: design & features

Looks-wise, the Silentnight Studio Eco hybrid mattress is perfectly attractive, if not hugely distinctive. It doesn’t quite have the same strident identity as other recent offerings: there’s no stripes of brand colours and you won’t necessarily be leaving your bed unmade so you can Instragram the hell out of it. But fundamentally that’s the point of a mattress: it should be felt, not seen. And the odd times you’ll be airing your bedsprings and changing your sheets, the Studio Eco still has an understated elegance that will spare you any blushes.

When it comes to more practical touches, this mattress is relatively bog-standard. There’s no removable and washable cover, meaning it’s unlikely that it will remain as attractive after years of use (and investing in one of the best mattress protectors to save it from spillages is a must). And when it comes to rotating it – as a single-sided mattress, you won’t be flipping this fella – there are no handles to help you: you’re on your own there. Although having done this once already without help – and with what I would euphemistically refer to as a ‘runner's build’ – I can say it’s not so heavy or unwieldy that your average adult should struggle that much.

Fundamentally, these things are definite nice-to-haves – thoughtful flourishes that make using and living with your mattress that little bit easier. However, given the price is significantly cheaper than many of its rivals, compromises have to be made somewhere. And personally I find focusing on a quality sleeping experience over extras and add-ons to be laudable: you’re getting a really decent quality snooze here without paying a premium for it.

And this is all disregarding the most appealing part of its design: as mentioned above, the Silentnight Studio Eco is made from entirely sustainable fibres from 100% recycled plastic bottles. Silentnight estimates that it has kept 105 million plastic bottles out of our oceans and landfills with this technology. Given mattresses aren’t usually the greenest of purchases, this is undeniably laudable and should guarantee you’re able to sleep easy, in every sense.

Silentnight Studio Eco Hybrid mattress review: set-up

As with the vast proportion of mattresses these days, the Silentnight Studio Eco hybrid mattress comes in roll-down vacuum packaging, making setup a dream. While the package may be a little unwieldy, it’s not unbearably heavy, so even if you’ve hardly been hitting the gym lately, I doubt you’ll need an extra set of hands to help you get it up the stairs to Bedfordshire.

Unpacking the Studio Eco is easy enough you could – ironically – do it in your sleep. The second I’d pierced its single-layer of packaging, it quickly began to inflate and unroll, naturally flollopping into place without much effort. While Silentnight recommends you allow up to 24 hours for it to reach its optimum size, it’s in pretty great shape within minutes and I doubt you’ll be facing a long night on the sofa waiting for it to be ready for you.

Silentnight Studio Eco Hybrid mattress review: price

The Silentnight Studio Eco hybrid mattress is priced very much with affordability in mind. At full price, it will cost you just £329 (Single), £389 (Double) or £469 (King). Of the current big-name brands, it's in the same ballpark as the Emma Original and budget Eve Lighter mattresses, but the Studio Eco is cheaper across all sizes. 

However, it's important not to put too much stock in RRPs, as cheap mattress deals and sales are abound in this market. Take a look at the widget below for the best prices in your territory right now.

Silentnight Studio Eco Hybrid mattress review: verdict

At this price – some £300 cheaper than many of its flashier rivals – the Silentnight Studio Eco hybrid mattress was never going to please everyone or deliver all of the little extras you may have come to expect. 

If you’re partial to a softer mattress or particularly struggle with your hips and shoulders, it may not be for you. Overly spongey edges mean hopping out of bed in the morning is more precarious than it really should be. And, inevitably, little flourishes like handles, washable covers and fancy colours are all absent.

But when you take into account how reasonable its price is, it’s much more remarkable just how many of the fundamentals it gets right. It’s pleasantly soft to the touch and yet unerring in the support it offers, remains cool even in a muggy room. The fact its fibres are 100% recycled plastic is, frankly, icing on the cake. For this price, the Silentnight Studio Eco hybrid mattress provides a cracking night’s sleep.

Silentnight Studio Eco Hybrid mattress review: Alternatives to consider

If you want something similar to the Silentnight Studio Eco Hybrid mattress but a different brand, the Eve Lighter mattress is the best choice. Both have similar price tags, are incredibly comfortable and have little motion transfer.

If you're a fan of the Silentnight Studio Eco Hybrid's eco credentials, the OTTY Pure Bamboo & Charcoal mattress uses innovative and sustainable fabrics. The OTTY Pure is more expensive than the Silentnight model but it's incredibly high quality and kind to the environment, too.

First reviewed: May 2021