Brooklinen delivers everything we love about down pillows — a plush, cloud-like feel with chambered construction to keep your head aloft and a breathable cover that reduces heat retention. The pillow is available in three density levels, each with a distinct firmness to accommodate different sleep positions. Initially, the Sleeper Hold was only intended for airplane use, but then the inventors realized it also works on trains, buses, cars, and even office/gaming chairs! The Panda Memory Foam pillow is higher than the Panda Hybrid Bamboo pillow and a good degree firmer, but in our tests, it proved very popular with our side sleeping testers with wider shoulders who appreciated the extra loft.

The pillow contains a microfiber fill, and the cover is 100% cotton with a 230 thread count. Piped edges add a subtle, stylish touch. You may choose between a standard or king size. This pillow is fully machine-washable as long as your machine is large enough to accommodate its size. Wash in cold water on a gentle cycle, and tumble dry on low heat. You may also dry clean the pillow. The fluffy feel of the Boll & Branch Down Chamber Pillow appealed to testers who enjoy molding and cuddling their pillow at night. It also retains minimal heat, so you won’t need to worry about excessive heat retention. Thanks to its adjustable fill (a genius concept) multiple testers found this Simba option to be the best pillow for side sleepers overall.Standard:Standard pillows measure 20 inches wide by 26 inches long. Standard pillows are the smallest, and therefore the least expensive, pillows on the market today. They are also the most commonly sold pillows. If you go for a feather pillow you should find that you don’t need to turn the pillow over to the cold side as often, as they are cooler than both down and microfibre. Down retains more heat, and it doesn't have hard quills to poke through and spike into you, like feather pillows. Pillow covers also come in a variety of materials. Most pillow covers are made of cotton, polyester, or a cotton-poly blend. Some are made of other materials, such as bamboo-derived fabric or satin.

To keep users safe in the event of an accident, every Sleeper Hold also comes with breakaway plastic hooks to replace the standard metal hooks every time the device is being used in automobiles. A little more expensive than synthetic pillows and some types of feather and down, eg Hungarian Goose, can be very expensive Shredded fill makes the pillow quite moldable and snuggly, but we also noticed decent shape retention due to the chambered design. Temperature control was another highlight during our tests. Air circulates nicely throughout the inner chamber to minimize heat retention, and the breathable cover also helps ensure consistent cooling. The Boll & Branch Down Chamber Pillow is composed of three chambers. The soft pillow contains down in all three chambers to provide a plush, lofty feel. The medium and firm pillows contain feathers and down in the inner chambers, surrounded by a layer of down. This design enhances support in the core while keeping the surface soft and fluffy. The shell is composed of 100% cotton. Hypoallergenic means that the actual material and filling of the pillow isn't made of a known potential allergen, such as feathers, wool or latex. But other allergens like dust mites can still develop on these types of pillow.Firmness Level:Just like mattresses, pillows come in different firmness levels. Firmness affects how a pillow feels, as well as how high it holds your head. For example, a pillow with a high loft might not hold your head up as high as you’d expect if it is extremely soft and sinks under weight. Memory foam pillows can divide opinion, with some loving the adaptive sleep surface and others less keen on the firmer feel. We also recommend the pillow for hot sleepers, thanks to the naturally breathable materials. Our heat guns detected very little heat buildup on the pillow’s surface. The fiberfill also made the pillow quite moldable during our tests, which is great if you prefer to snuggle your pillow at night. Polyfoam:Polyfoam, or polyurethane foam, is a type of foam used in both mattresses and pillows. Although polyfoam can vary widely in terms of both quality and firmness, it’s generally lower cost than memory foam. When used as pillow fill, polyfoam is often shredded or cut into small pieces. A bonus of using the Sleeper Hold pillow was that it freed up the Delta-provided pillow to be used for lumbar support — something I’ve found makes long haul flights a bit more bearable. Incidentally, the seat next to me somehow ended up going unoccupied so I could have stolen that pillow as well… but that’s not the point.

There are three main traditional types of pillow: feather and down, hollowfibre/microfibre and memory foam.

Pillows at a glance

The Quince Premium Down Alternative Gusset Pillow captures the luxurious feel of down at a fraction of the cost and without the animal sourcing. We found this model was also reasonably priced compared to other down alternative pillows that we’ve tested.