When it comes to maximising the quality of your sleep, there's certainly more to consider than just your mattress. Pillows, often overlooked, are really important in ensuring you have a well-rested night. Enter the Emma Premium Cloud Pillow, now sold as the Emma Comfort Cooling Pillow, a product that claims to offer a premium sleep experience.
How we assessed it
The Emma Comfort Cooling Pillow is a padded polyester cover zipped around removable layers of Aerosoft microfibre, and it's sold as a soft to medium feel. Owners describe three layers inside, so the height changes a whole layer at a time. One found it "too high for a side sleeper but too low if you remove the thing inside". We'd expect side sleepers to want most of the filling left in and front sleepers less of it, which matches the owner who wrote, "As a front sleeper, with less filling, they're just right." With every layer in it's a full pillow, and a few owners say it's a struggle to get into a standard pillowcase.
Design and features
The Emma Comfort Cooling Pillow sports a design that's all about luxury and comfort with its microfibre fillings, a fresh touch, and inviting aesthetics. It represents softness, akin to lying on a down pillow, but with the friendly 'no-animal-hurt' touch of alternative down. And what truly sets it apart is its ability to personalise comfort with its removable microfibre layers. This means you're not stuck with a one-size-fits-all pillow, but can modify the pillow's feel to suit your liking.
Construction
The Emma Comfort Cooling Pillow stands out with its use of Outlast® technology, a property that regulates temperature by absorbing, storing, and releasing excess heat. This, underpinned by studies that show a reduction of sweating by up to 48%, means overheating should be less of a worry. Its comforting Aerosoft microfibre fillings provide a supportive yet soft resting spot for your head - a nice blend of firmness and fluffiness.
Suitability
This pillow would be a good choice for those who seek personalisable comfort and are environmentally conscious (it is, after all, not made from down), those who tend to overheat during sleep, or are simply looking for a luxurious sleep experience. But, considering that a pillow is a critical element of your sleep environment, what really matters is individual preference. This 'one-pillow-fits-all' concept may not necessarily work for everyone, especially those with stringent firmness requirements or unique sleep positions.
What customers thought
Most owners find it very comfortable, and a good number say they no longer wake with a stiff neck; one summed it up as "Cloud like but supportive." The recurring complaint is that it goes flat. One owner wrote that it felt supportive for the first month, "but after that it became flat, just like any cheaper pillow", and others report the same within weeks or months. Height and feel split opinion too, with some finding it too high or too firm and others too soft for their neck.
Owners like being able to unzip it and take layers out to set the height, which suits couples who want different things: "I have kept one layer and he has kept all three." Cooling is mixed. One owner found it "very comfortable and cool in use", while another wrote, "I wouldn't say its any cooler than any other pillow". Price divides owners as well, from "Pricey but worth the investment" to "Really not worth its price point." Of course, the notion of 'value for money' can be subjective. But when it comes to spending a substantial amount on a pillow, you want to be sure you're getting the comfort and support, characteristics that should not be compromised.
The verdict
There is no doubt that Emma's Comfort Cooling Pillow offers an enticing blend of luxury, personalisable comfort, and clever construction. Its temperature-regulating Outlast® technology and down-like softness definitely give it an edge in the current pillow market. However, we remain slightly sceptical. While luxury sometimes demands a premium price, it's still a pillow we're talking about.
If you have the budget, love the idea of personalising your pillow's firmness, and value the temperature-regulating feature highly, this might just be the right choice for you. On the other hand, if you're on a strict budget, you might want to consider more affordable options, as the Emma Comfort Cooling Pillow appears not to offer an extraordinary difference to justify its price point.
