Emma Luxe mattress review: a medium-soft mattress with a high asking price

In August 2023, German brand Emma Sleep launched the second-generation of its original Emma Comfort and Emma Diamond Hybrid mattresses. Fully redesigned, they appeared to be significant updates over the originals, at least on paper. A few months later, in early 2024, the Comfort II and Diamond Hybrid II were rebranded into the Emma Comfort Adapt and the Emma Luxe Breeze respectively. Some time after that, the Luxe Breeze was changed to just being the Luxe, which is the mattress we’re reviewing here.

We’re uncertain why Emma HQ feels the need to change its marketing strategy so often but, at the time of writing, the mattress that was meant to indicate it was designed for a cool night’s sleep doesn’t say so in its name. Emma’s confusing business strategy aside, its products have always been popular in Australia and introducing new or update alternatives isn’t a bad thing at all, although all Emma products now carry very premium price tags compared to its competition.

Unlike the original Diamond Hybrid, which was a firm sleep surface, the Luxe has a softer firmness rating, but it retains the breathability that the Diamond Hybrid promised. In fact, Emma Sleep has redesigned the mattress entirely from the original to ensure maximum heat dissipation, but does it do what it says on the tin? Moreover, as its latest name suggests, Emma is marketing the Luxe as a premium mattress with a rather high asking price compared to other mattresses on the market – is it as premium as its price suggests? Read on to find out the answers to these questions.

Emma Luxe Breeze mattress: Review in brief

• Four foam layers over pocket springs
• Designed for temperature regulation
• Medium-soft firmness rating

As with all current Emma Sleep mattresses, the Luxe has a hybrid construction featuring four layers of proprietary foam laid over steel pocket springs. These foam layers are quite thin and they’re fused together to prevent movement, and the overall construction of the mattress looks quite cheap. In fact, on day one, when we tried to align it correctly onto the bed base while it was expanding, we could hear ripping sounds when using the side handles but we couldn’t see any visible damage.

According to Emma, the Luxe has been designed to ensure you have a cool night’s sleep. Emma claims that the foam layers and the mattress cover have been made to maximise breathability but, during our testing period, it slept very much like the cheaper Comfort Adapt. That’s not to say it retains a lot of body heat, but it doesn’t seem as good at dissipating it as some mattresses we’ve tested from other brands. So while you might find it comfortable under the blankets on a winter night, it might not be all that cool during summer.

The good news is that the cover is removable and machine-washable, so if you do suffer from night sweats, you can pop it in the wash and then sun-dry. The polyester used to make the cover is fast-drying, so if you hang it out in bright sunlight, you should be able to put it back on again in a few hours.

The Luxe is one of the few mattresses we’ve tested that has an official firmness rating of 3.5-4. That makes it a medium-soft mattress, but we think it sleeps more like a 4.5-5. That’s because the springs seem to be of a slightly thicker gauge (or thickness), so don’t depress as much as you would expect it to for a 3.5 firmness rating. This softness makes it ideal for stomach sleepers who would otherwise feel their chest is getting squashed when lying on a firmer surface.

Despite its lower firmness rating, the Luxe has decent support as long as you’re lying on your stomach or back — aka there’s more of your body’s surface area on the mattress. Side sleepers — particularly those with heavier frames — might find their hips sinking more into the mattress as compared to the rest of the body, thus misaligning the spine. This, in turn, can lead to restless sleep or discomfort upon waking. If Emma had added more pocket springs and packed them closer together, we think the Luxe would have had more universal appeal for anyone who prefers a softer mattress.

The less densely packed springs also mean there’s not a lot of edge support on the Luxe. The 2 inches or so around the perimeter of the mattress sinks more than the centre, thus reducing the supportive sleep area available, and that can be an issue if you opt for a double that will have two people sleeping on it. Moreover, you can feel the springs along the mattress’ edge when you sit with your feet on the floor, which adds to the ‘cheapness’ of the Luxe. Older Emma mattresses had a foam layer around the perimeter to take care of this problem and also add a little edge support, but sadly that is no longer the case on any of the brand’s current mattresses, which is a shame.

Emma says that this mattress offers zero partner disturbance, but unfortunately that’s not entirely true — the pocket springs, despite being less densely packed, pass on movement. In fact, the cheaper Emma Comfort Adapt has better motion dampening than the Luxe.

Given the mattress doesn’t quite deliver on its promises, we think it’s overpriced. There are cheaper alternatives available that offer far more comfort, support, breathability, temperature regulation and customisation, which makes it hard to recommend the Emma Luxe, even if it’s discounted down to half price.

Emma Luxe review: price, delivery and deals

• Premium price point
• Luxe Plus option available for better temperature regulation
• Frequently discounted but bundle prices can be misleading

When Emma Sleep first entered the Australian market, it was one of the most budget-friendly mattress companies, although it did have some premium products on its catalogue. That, however, is no longer true, with its cheapest mattress — the Emma Comfort Adapt — now listed with a starting price of four figures. That makes Emma one of the more expensive mattress brands, with the Luxe coming in at a starting price of AU$1,680 for the single.

Unlike the Comfort Adapt, that’s seen its price go from AU$959 in June to AU$1,140 for the single at the time of writing, the Luxe has seen its price drop slightly — the single was listed for AU$1,869 in June 2024, but is now AU$1,680 at full price. This is a very premium mattress indeed but, compared to the starting price of its predecessor — the original (and now discontinued) Diamond Hybrid last had a listed full price of AU$2,219 for the single — it’s a lot cheaper.

Below are the RRPs for all the Luxe mattress sizes and are current as of publication date:

• Single: AU$1,680
• King single: AU$1,940
• Double: AU$2,220
• Queen: AU$2,400
• King: AU$2,740

At these prices, and given we didn’t think the mattress was up to scratch on its promises, the Luxe is hard to recommend. However, like all Emma mattresses, you get 100 nights to try it out in your own home if you’d prefer a mattress with a softer firmness rating.

View the Emma Luxe mattress at Emma Sleep

Mattress choices are always subjective, so while we think the Emma Luxe is overpriced, it could be exactly what you’re after if you can pick it up at a discounted price. Emma always has rolling discounts, so if you can grab it at half price or cheaper, it may not be a bad investment.

View Deal

In addition to the basic Luxe model, Emma also has a Luxe Plus option, which is the exact same mattress but with a different CoolTex cover that, the brand claims, offers better temperature regulation than the standard cover. We didn’t get to try this cover, but it will cost you upwards of AU$269 more (depending on the mattress size) for the more breathable cover and, again, given the rest of the mattress isn’t quite what we’d hoped it would be, it’s hard to recommend over the standard Luxe.

Ordering an Emma mattress isn’t the easiest thing to do either — you will have to navigate a few annoying pop-ups before you can complete the process, after which delivery can take up to 7 business days.

Customers who live in select metro postcodes of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide are eligible for same-day delivery if you place the order before 10am on a weekday, but all other postcodes in the larger cities will receive their delivery within 1-3 business days. As soon as you place your order, you will receive an email confirmation, which is followed by another one when the courier has picked up your package. All customers are also sent a tracking link — via SMS if your delivery is to a metro address or email for regional delivery — so you know when to expect the courier.

Please note that if you live in an apartment building, the courier that Emma Sleep uses may not agree to come to your door — they will leave the box in the lobby or a safe place. This is worth keeping in mind as it can be an issue if you don’t have help moving a large, heavy box.

Along with the 100-night trial period, there is a 10-year warranty on the Emma mattresses. This covers sagging of more than 2.5cm, but you will need to prove you’ve done everything possible to maintain the mattress correctly, including rotating it regularly. Beyond this, Emma provides no more information on its warranty terms and conditions, which doesn’t build customer trust.

Emma Luxe review: Design and materials

• Innerspring design with four proprietary foam layers over pocket springs
• Removable and washable polyester UltraDry cover
• Side handles

The Emma Luxe mattress doesn’t look very different from the Comfort Adapt. In fact, they’re practically identical from the outside, but there’s one small difference on the inside – there’s one additional layer of foam in the Luxe. Individually, they’re quite thin, but they’re all fused together, which helps prevent lateral movement of individual layers. While it would be nicer to have slightly thicker layers of foam as other brands have used, it keeps the height of the Luxe at just 27cm across all sizes and doesn’t make the mattress excessively heavy, which in turn makes it easier to change the sheets.

Emma calls the topmost foam layer Thermosync on account of its breathability. It’s 2cm thick and has been infused with graphene particles to improve heat absorption and dissipation. According to the manufacturer, it promises to provide 22% cooler sleep than the Diamond Hybrid.

Adding to the better temperature regulation of the Luxe is a 1.5cm-thick Aerofoam layer below the Thermosync foam. With bigger ‘bubbles’ in the foam, it adds breathability, which is important for heat dissipation. It can also adapt to a body’s shape.

A 1.5cm layer of memory foam — called MemoryAdapt — lies under the Aerofoam, which offers support as the layers conform to a body. The difference here is that Emma claims the proprietary memory foam has been designed to improve airflow while contouring to a body as it moves. This is also the layer that gives the Luxe its medium-soft firmness and helps dampen motion transfer.

The last foam layer is also 1.5cm thick and is called the SupportBase. As the name suggests, it adds to the mattress’ overall support and comfort.

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Emma Sleep doesn’t disclose the density of any of its foam layers, so it’s hard to know how durable they are. Another piece of information that the brand doesn’t reveal is the gauge or thickness of its pocket springs. Given the Luxe’s firmness rating, we suspect the springs could be 1.3mm or 1.5mm thick — our point of comparison is the 1.8mm and 2mm springs we mentioned in our Sleeping Duck Mach II review. Even with a soft foam layer, the SD Mach II doesn’t sink as much as the Luxe, which leads us to believe Emma is using lower gauge pocket springs. While this doesn’t necessarily mean the mattress sinks unevenly, it could be an issue for heavier sleepers. The springs are edge-to-edge and, as we’ve previously mentioned, you’ll be able to feel them when you touch the side of the mattress.

All these layers are enclosed within a 100% polyester cover that Emma calls UltraDry. It’s soft and feels nice to the touch, and is moisture-wicking. The top of the cover is removable and can be washed in the machine and, importantly, it’s fast drying as well. The bottom panel of the cover is made from an anti-slip material which, in our case, was effective in keeping the mattress in place on the slats of the Emma Wooden Bed Frame.

Emma Luxe review: Firmness and comfort

• Medium-soft rating of 3.5-4 by the manufacturer
• Tom’s guide firmness rating of 4.5-5
• Good support for some stomach and back sleepers

As we’ve already mentioned, the Emma Luxe is one of the few medium-soft mattresses we’ve tested here at Tom’s Guide and that can work to its advantage — after all, not everyone likes a hard surface to sleep on. If you’re someone who likes feeling like they’re sinking into a cloud, the Luxe could just be the mattress you need. It might sink more than other mattresses in a box, but it doesn’t do so at the cost of support or comfort.

However, there is a major caveat to that: you’ll get the support you need from it if you’re a lightweight stomach or back sleeper.

During our testing, we had two adults try out the Luxe, one weighing 52kg and the other 83kg. We found that the lighter person was more comfortable on the Luxe compared to the heavier sleeper, who found the hips sinking into the mattress more than the rest of the body. This resulted in a possible spine misalignment that, in turn, caused some back pain on waking.

We also found that the mattress is perfect for stomach sleepers, especially lightweight ones as the foam is soft enough to ensure the chest isn’t getting squished — a common complaint stomach sleepers have with firmer mattresses.

Some back sleepers who like a soft mattress might also like the Luxe, but it’s not ideal for side sleepers. Even lighter users might find their hip sinking a touch more than the rest of the body, which can cause discomfort due to spine misalignment.

Emma Luxe review: Performance

• Softness would be ideal for some users
• Decent temperature regulation, but not standout
• No edge support and not enough motion dampening

When it comes to measuring the ‘performance’ of a mattress, we focus on the usual promises most companies make and check to see if they deliver. The usual suspects are pressure relief, temperature regulation, motion transfer and edge support, but these need to be assessed with the mattress type in mind — an all-foam affair will feel and perform quite differently to an innerspring or hybrid mattress.

You can test these aspects yourself thanks to Emma Sleep’s 100-night trial period, but it’s best to be patient when doing so. It can take a couple of weeks for a mattress to ‘break in’, so don’t judge it before that. Ideally, give the mattress eight weeks before you make a judgement call. For the purposes of this review, we used the Emma Luxe for a period of 60 nights.

Setup

Score: 4 / 5

As with all Emma mattresses — past and present — getting the Luxe setup is quite easy, although we would recommend having help if you’ve ordered a double or bigger size. It will arrive at your door (or your apartment building) in a large box, with the rolled mattress vacuum-sealed and shrink-wrapped inside. It can take two people to pull the roll out of the box and carry it to the bed frame.

Just cut away the plastic wrapping and the mattress will start to unfurl and expand. In our case, though, it was packed with the sleeping surface facing out, so when it unrolled, it was upside down. This has not happened with any previous Emma mattress we’ve tested, so we’re hoping ours was an isolated case, but it could be possible that you may find the anti-slip layer at the bottom uncurling on the top.

Thankfully the mattress comes with four side handles — two on each side — which help making any adjustments necessary.

Off-gassing

Score: 4.5 / 5

This is the first Emma mattress we’ve tested at Tom’s Guide that had a distinct odour. This is normal and nothing to worry about, but all previous Emma mattresses have been odour-free when off-gassing.

The manufacturing process of a mattress releases some gases which can get captured within the foam layers. Off-gassing is the process that allows these volatile gases to be released. With other mattress brands, this process can take a few hours and it’s always recommended that you open the new mattress in the morning or early afternoon and give it the rest of the day to off-gas before you put on the sheets at night — six hours is an ideal time for the process to finish.

Emma Sleep has received the OKEO-TEX Standard 100 - Class 1 certification for its mattresses, which means the product complies with the strictest standards that make them safe for babies. The brand doesn’t list any other certifications, but the small amount of odour released by the Luxe is nothing to worry about.

We were able to start using our review mattress within four hours of off-gassing, although the smell remained for about 18 hours despite the room being very well ventilated.

Pressure relief

Score: 3.5 / 5

When it comes to moulding to your body, the Luxe delivers in spades. However, it may not do so as evenly (or correctly) to suit every sleeper. During our testing of the mattress, we found that it supports lightweight sleepers much better than heavier people.

With not a huge amount of weight on the softer foam and springier springs, lighter people will find their weight getting distributed better, but only if there’s more body surface area on the mattress — for example if you’re lying on your stomach or back. While lighter side sleepers might also find the Luxe supportive, it may not be the case for everyone.

Heavier or big-built people may find that different parts of the body are sinking into the mattress to different degrees and this isn’t ideal. Again, the Luxe will be a bit more comfortable for stomach and back sleepers who are on the heavier side, but it’s definitely not ideal for big-built/heavy side sleepers.

Temperature regulation

Score: 4 / 5

Emma says the Luxe was designed to be one of the coolest mattresses to sleep on, which would be great for hot sleepers. While the Luxe does handle body heat absorption and dissipation well enough during cold nights, it’s not as effective in summer, and that’s disappointing.

In fact, its temperature regulation feels much like the Comfort Adapt when we expected it to exceed the latter’s score of 4.5 in this regard. While most of the 60-night test period with the Luxe was during Sydney’s winter, we had a few warm nights during that time when this reviewer got rather uncomfortable under the blankets. We also had the Sleeping Duck Mach II for testing during the same time period and found it was better at heat dissipation than the Emma. The one thing that the company says the Luxe is designed for and it doesn’t quite deliver.

Edge support

Score: 3.5 / 5

Despite edge-to-edge pocket springs, the Emma Luxe doesn’t offer a complete sleep surface. As we’ve previously mentioned, there’s easily a couple of inches around the perimeter of the mattress that sinks far too easily than the centre, meaning a double mattress would feel more like a king single.

We suspect that the gauge (or thickness) of the pocket springs is lower to keep the medium-soft rating and this affects the edges more. If Emma could have packed the springs a bit more tightly (thus adding a few more), it’s possible that the edge support here would be better. For a mattress that costs as much as it does, this is also a disappointing metric.

Motion transfer

Score: 3 / 5

Emma Sleep claims that the Luxe absorbs motion so that restless people won’t disturb their partners. Again, this is another promise the mattress doesn’t keep as well as it should. While there is some absorption of kinetic energy, it’s not enough to avoid light sleepers from waking up from movement beside them.

We usually test motion transfer by placing an empty wine glass in the centre of the mattress, then dropping a 5kg or higher weight near it, getting progressively close to the glass with each drop. 5kg is a fraction of what a body weighs and yet we found the glass toppled when the weight was dropped closer to the edge of the mattress than the centre.

While we think deep sleepers might not have a problem with movements from a restless partner, it will affect light sleepers.

Durability

Score: 3.5 / 5

We’ll be the first to admit that a 60-night test period isn’t enough to determine whether a mattress will go the distance or not, but we can extrapolate after putting the product through some rough-and-tumble testing. This includes moving the mattress to different places to test the durability of the side handles and washing the cover repeatedly.

While we think the cover is good quality and will withstand a wash or two every few months, we’re not too confident about the stitching holding the rest of the mattress together. As we’ve mentioned earlier in this review, we heard ripping sounds the first time we used the handles to flip the mattress during its initial setup. Every subsequent time we heard more rips. We stopped using the handles after five tries, so they were still in place at the end of the testing, but given a mattress needs to be rotated regularly for proper maintenance, we’re not sure how long those handles will last.

The quality of the zip used to keep the cover in place is quite good and the rest of the cover is not too bad either. However, it’s not thick enough to prevent you from feeling the springs along the sides of the mattress. And that makes the mattress ‘feel’ cheap, which it’s not.

The foam layers are quite thin compared to what we’ve seen in mattresses from other brands. While we didn’t see any issues with sagging during our testing, there is the possibility that even with regular rotation there could be some (not enough to be covered by warranty) sagging over time. Not only will this reduce the little support the mattress can provide, it might also allow the springs to be felt while lying down.

Long story short, the Luxe isn’t the most well-made mattress and may need to be replaced sooner than you would like.

Emma Luxe: user reviews

Mattresses are a very personal choice – just because we didn’t think the Emma Luxe is a good all-round option doesn’t mean it won’t be the best for you. The best way to find out what more people thought about it would be to check user reviews. While manufacturers only post glowing 5-star reviews on their websites, checking out forums like ProductReview — Australia’s most popular customer opinion site — or Trustpilot — an international forum for customers to leave reviews on brands.

At the time of publication, there are no reviews for the Emma Diamond Hybrid II (the original name of this mattress) and just six for the Emma Luxe Breeze (the previous name of the Luxe) on ProductReview. All six reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8, meaning users have loved this product, but six is a very tiny sample size compared to the thousands of reviews other mattresses have garnered over time. Perhaps time will tell if the Luxe stands up to scrutiny.

Emma Sleep as a brand, however, hasn’t pleased some Aussies. The brand’s rating on Trustpilot is just 1.3 stars out of 5 from a total of 49 user reviews — and this is specific to the Australian branch of Emma Sleep.

Should I buy the Emma Luxe mattress?

As one of the few medium-soft mattresses in Australia, we thought there’d be a lot to like about the Emma Luxe. Unfortunately it doesn’t live up to expectations. For a mattress that costs upwards of AU$1,640 at full price, it’s not cheap and yet it feels ‘cheap’. In comparison, the Sleeping Duck Mach II is a much better constructed mattress with a plethora of customisation options, yet a lower price tag.

Its ‘cheapness’ aside, the Luxe just doesn’t deliver on its promises — it’s supposed to be cooling, but isn’t as good as other brands; it promises zero motion transfer but that’s not the case; it’s supposed to have decent edge support but the cheaper Comfort Adapt is better in this regard.

If you really are keen on an Emma mattress, you can save a lot of money by opting for the Comfort Adapt, which is a better but firmer option than the Luxe. If it’s the medium-soft firmness that you’re after, you’ll get better value from the likes of the Eva Premium Adapt or the Sleeping Duck Mach II by opting for the softer foams.