Emma Sleep review: The mattress that saved me from a ‘sleep divorce’
Claiming to be the solution to a restless night’s sleep, we put this top-rated mattress-in-a-box to the test. After a month, here’s our honest verdict.
These products are hand-picked by our team to help make shopping easier. We may receive payments from third parties for sharing this content and when you purchase through links in this article. Product prices and offer details are not assured, and should be confirmed independently with the retailer. Learn more
There’s something no one tells you when you first move in with your partner.
After years of sleeping in your own bed, spreading out as much as you want, sleeping on whatever damn side you please, it can take some adjustment to sharing a bed with someone day in and day out.
Maybe you have different sleep schedules so you get woken up every time your partner has to head off early to work. Perhaps they’re a restless sleeper and you feel every toss and turn.
You’re not alone. A 2023 study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that one in three couples are choosing to get a ‘sleep divorce’, opting to sleep apart and move to another room to get a better night’s sleep.
In fact, the hashtag #SleepDivorce has racked up over 850k views on TikTok, with couples happily sharing how sleeping in a different room from their partners has changed their sleep – and their lives.
Earlier this year, Sunrise’s Edwina Bartholomew revealed in a column for News Corp Australia that she sleeps in a separate bed to her husband to “keep (their) love alive”.
“When I would get up for work, he would struggle to get back to sleep, so we decided to trial separate rooms,” she wrote.
“When we had kids, it continued. I would sleep overnight with the baby in my room and then he would wake up early to take over. Ten years into our relationship and five years into our marriage, it works a charm.”
She’s not the only one. Former NRL star Benji Marshall and podcast host wife Zoe have slept in separate beds for more than 10 years. Marshall previously told news.com.au that sleeping apart was “heaven” and prevented resentment building up between the pair.
Other celebrity couples who sleep in separate bedrooms include Gwyneth Paltrow and husband Brad Falchuk, as well as David and Victoria Beckham who reportedly have “his and her sleeping wings” in their London home.
But that’s all well and good for celebrities who have the space, rooms and money to do so. Most of us don’t have a spare room with a spare bed and couldn’t ‘sleep divorce’ even if we wanted to. That’s precisely the situation I find myself in. My partner and I have wildly different sleep schedules. He goes to bed late, way past my bedtime, and I wake up early. He’s quite a restless sleeper and often tosses and turns in the night and I, of course, am a light sleeper so any noise or movement wakes me up. Our sleep routines are not conducive to that all important good night’s sleep and as we live in a one-bedroom apartment, a ‘sleep divorce’ is out of the question.
Enter the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress.
Leading mattress brand Emma Sleep recently released their most breathable and weightless mattress yet, which they say is the solution to a restless night’s sleep. And so after a particularly bad streak of interrupted sleep which put me in a bad mood all week, I was very keen to try out the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress* to see if it was the answer to my woes. After a month of testing it out, here’s my honest review of the new Emma Zero Gravity Mattress.
NOTE TO READERS: Emma Sleep is currently having a massive sale on its mattresses - including 55 per cent of the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress. Plus if you buy an Emma bed frame, you get an Emma mattress for free, where you save as much as $860.
HOW WE REVIEWED THE EMMA ZERO GRAVITY MATTRESS
At news.com.au’s checkout, it’s our mission to help you make informed shopping decisions. To ensure you buy the right product at the best price, we rigorously test products so you don’t have to. As well as sorting through mountains of consumer reviews, product manuals and conducting thorough product research, our team of expert writers puts each product we review through a series of hands-on tests to ensure we give you honest feedback about its performance and whether it’s worth your hard-earned money.
To properly test the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress we made it as close to the customer experience as possible — ordering it online, getting it delivered and unboxing it ourselves. Over a period of a month, we tested what the mattress was like for a couple who sleep on very different schedules and who are back sleepers and side sleepers.
In this article:
- Delivery and unboxing an Emma mattress
- How supportive and comfortable is the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress?
- How is the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress for couples?
- Other features of the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress
- How much does the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress cost?
- Is the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress worth it?
DELIVERY AND UNBOXING AN EMMA MATTRESS
Gone are the days of going in store to awkwardly lie on mattresses in public to get the feel of it. I never felt that the few minutes on the mattress was enough to truly gauge how it would feel sleeping on it night after night.
Which is why I love the invention of these bed-in-a-box companies that offer you a trial period in the comfort of your own home to see if the mattress is right for you. Emma Sleep offers 100 nights to test out any of their mattresses and if you decide it’s not quite right, you can send it back for free. We love the convenience!
The other great advantage of a mattress in a box is the fast and free delivery. I ordered the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress on a Monday and it was delivered to my apartment the next day. You’re kept updated via email and text so you’re across exactly when the mattress will be arriving.
I’ve never used a bed in a box before so the first few minutes of its arrival consisted of me marvelling aloud how a mattress could fit in a box, which conveniently has two wheels on it to make dragging into the bedroom easy. Much easier than manoeuvring a heavy and bulky mattress around, which I had the pleasure of remembering how annoying and backbreaking it is when I moved my old spring mattress to my apartment’s bin room for council pick-up.
The unboxing was relatively simple but I’d say it’s a two person job although it could be done with one. It’s helpful to have someone hold the box while the other pulls the mattress out as the mattress is quite heavy – weighing 46.7kg for the Queen size. Don’t make the same mistake we did – we had the mattress upside down so had to use a bit of elbow grease to flip it.
Once the mattress is unfurled and out of the vacuum sealed plastic (there’s a handy little cutter provided so no need to scrounge around for scissors), it instantly expands. It honestly looked and felt fine to sleep on almost immediately but it does probably need a couple of hours to fully expand.
One thing to note – there is a plastic-y new smell that lingers for a while – which is typical of any bed in a box – so I’d advise airing out the mattress for a few hours before putting on any sheets.
Otherwise my partner and I were both eager to get on with our day so we could jump into bed that night to test it out.
HOW SUPPORTIVE AND COMFORTABLE IS THE EMMA ZERO GRAVITY MATTRESS?
First, a little background: Before the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress, I slept on a traditional spring mattress my partner and I bought about eight years ago from a mattress store. It was quite a soft mattress and it had started sinking in the middle. I could feel every little movement on the mattress. Even when my four kilogram cat adjusted herself to find a cosy position to sleep in on the bed, I’d feel it. So you can imagine the movement of the mattress when my partner got into bed or was having a particularly restless night. It was wreaking havoc on my much needed beauty sleep.
Now my first impression of the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress was that it’s not as thick as my old mattress, standing about 25cm in height, so it was a bit of a strange feeling sitting on it. When I pushed into it with my hand like I was in a mattress ad, it felt quite firm. Having been used to a soft, springy mattress, I worried how it would feel to sleep on. Not going to lie – on the first night when I got into bed and didn’t sink into my mattress as I usually do, I panicked at the firmness of the mattress. But as I moved around into various sleeping positions – right side, back, left side – I noticed how the mattress barely moved but cradles your body’s pressure points without sinking deeply in. With my old mattress, sleeping on the side meant I’d sleep on a slight slant as the mattress would sink under my body weight. It wasn’t until I slept on my back on the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress did I realise how much my old mattress dipped and did not provide me the back support I needed.
It’s been a month of sleeping on the new mattress and me and my body have adjusted to the firmness of the mattress. The mattress is rated a four (a medium-soft) on the Emma firmness scale so it’s actually not too firm at all but if you’re used to a soft mattress like me it will take some getting used to.
But I am now a convert to a firmer mattress as my body feels much more supported and balanced while I sleep – and I have noticed sleeping on the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress has taken the pressure off my back and joints, particularly my hips and shoulders, leaving me with no stiffness or pain when I wake up.
HOW IS THE EMMA ZERO GRAVITY MATTRESS FOR COUPLES?
Now onto the most important question: are my partner and I still headed towards a ‘sleep divorce’?
I can happily confirm that when Emma Sleep say “zero gravity” they mean zero gravity. You do not feel ANYTHING (okay, that’s a lie, if someone launched themselves and jumped into bed you’d feel it) on this mattress.
When once my partner slipped into bed, no matter how quietly and gently, the mattress slanted and sloped and I’d feel every movement of it, now I don’t find myself waking up. I repeat: I DO NOT WAKE UP AT ALL. It’s a miracle.
I don’t quite understand this magic but it has something to do with the many layers in the mattress which work to instantly adapt and respond to your body’s movement meaning you won’t disturb your bed mate, no matter how much you toss and turn. I’m finally getting consecutive nights of pure, uninterrupted sleep. It’s a game-changer I tell you.
OTHER FEATURES OF THE EMMA ZERO GRAVITY MATTRESS
Another big thing I’ve noticed with the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress that I had never really considered before is the breathability of a mattress.
My partner runs hot and tends to get sweaty in bed, even in winter, but he’s noticed he isn’t waking up as hot and clammy as he usually does. I feel the cold and will rug up in winter but in the middle of the night I often heat up and will wake up to take off my jumper or kick off my socks. But not with this mattress. The thermoregulation properties and multiple air channels means that we both haven’t overheated as we usually do. I’m looking forward to sleeping on the mattress in summer, which I suspect will keep us both nice and cool unlike our old mattress.
I’m also a big fan of the removable and machine washable mattress cover. After getting rid of my old mattress, I shudder to think about how dirty it was. We’d of course clean the mattress as much as we could but after years of sleeping on it, I’m sure there was plenty that stuck. But with a removable cover that’s easy to clean, this gives me some peace of mind that the mattress I’m sleeping on every night is clean.
HOW MUCH DOES THE EMMA ZERO GRAVITY MATTRESS COST?
The Emma Zero Gravity Mattress is Emma’s most elite mattress yet with a bunch of innovative new technologies. Here’s the price breakdown:
- Single: $2219
- King single: $2469
- Double: $2719
- Queen: $2959
- King: $3339
However, if the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress is not in your budget, Emma has other affordable mattress options like the Comfort, Comfort Premium and Diamond Hybrid.
All Emma mattresses come with free delivery. For metro areas, the mattress will often be delivered as soon as the next day. For regional areas, it’s around two to seven business days.
You also have a 100 day trial so if you decide the mattress is not right for you, Emma will give you a full refund and handle the return at no cost to you. Plus, there’s a 10-year warranty for all mattresses.
IS THE EMMA ZERO GRAVITY MATTRESS WORTH IT?
In a word: Yes. The Emma Zero Gravity Mattress is a dream to sleep on – it’s supportive, it’s comfortable, it’s breathable, but the most important thing for me that makes this mattress 100 per cent worth it is the “zero gravity” feature that isolates movement so well that you barely feel your bed partner.
Although the Emma Zero Gravity Mattress is certainly not the cheapest mattress around, it’s an investment into a quality mattress that will help you get a restful, uninterrupted sleep every single night. And particularly for couples who have different sleep routines, and don’t have the option to get a ‘sleep divorce’, this mattress is a game-changer.
Your bedroom should be a sanctuary where you know you can get a good night’s sleep. It had been a long time since I’d thought of my bed as such. With this new mattress, I love going to bed knowing that I’ll get a good night’s sleep and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to start the day.
More Mattress Coverage:
Koala SE review: The bargain mattress that ‘changed my sleep’
More Coverage
If you love a discount, make sure you stop by news.com.au Coupons. You’ll find impressive deals across categories from homewares to tech, on brands including Bed Threads and Myer.
Lastly, stay up to date on all the best new shopping trends by signing up to our shopping newsletter here.
*Product has been provided by Emma Sleep for a 100 per cent independent, honest review
‘Best decision’: Over $780 off top mattress
Craving a good night’s sleep? Shoppers say this dreamy mattress is “not only soft and plushy”, but also “really cooling”.
‘Impressive’ Koala product that’s a triple threat
We tried out Koala’s Cushy Sofa Bed, which really shines as a functional and comfortable living room statement piece.
Top-rated luxury mattresses for your best night’s sleep
These mattresses have helped thousands of Aussies to get a comfortable sleep with zero partner disturbance.
‘Exceeds expectations’: We try the Emma Comfort Plus Mattress
The Emma Comfort Plus mattress is a great blend of comfort and support that makes for a restful and energising sleep.