Many individuals invest countless hours in researching the perfect mattress, but here’s a lesser-known fact: your pillow plays an equally vital role in ensuring a restful night’s sleep. Your pillow provides crucial support to your head and neck, and it also plays a pivotal role in regulating the temperature around these areas. If your pillow traps heat or fails to provide the necessary support for your sleeping position, it can hinder your ability to attain the deep, restorative sleep our bodies crave for optimal functioning.
When it comes to selecting the ideal pillow, several factors deserve your attention. These include your primary sleeping position or positions, your material preferences, cooling features, desired support and firmness levels, and the pillow’s construction. Our dedicated team of bedding experts routinely conducts comprehensive testing on numerous pillows. We recognize the challenges that can arise when researching pillow options without clear guidance.
In our quest to streamline your search and make it as efficient as possible, we have assembled our top picks for the best pillows of 2024. To further simplify your decision-making process, we have even assigned unique superlatives to each model, allowing you to quickly pinpoint the perfect option for your needs. Rest assured that our best pillow guide remains consistently updated to reflect the latest testing results and expert opinions.
One pillow emerged as the clear winner: Dosaze Contoured Orthopedic Pillow. This pillow is the top of the top, crème de la crème. Our experts universally felt the innovative shape and the quality of the materials of the Dosaze Contoured Orthopedic Pillow shined during their testing period.
According to one expert, “The innovative shape really works wonders to keep my neck and back aligned, and I was so surprised by how much deeper my sleep was with this pillow. When testing this pillow, I woke up so much more well-rested.”
Let’s get down to the detailed reviews for our top picks.
Here’s why our team loves the Dosaze pillow:
This pillow proves to be an excellent choice for individuals who favor sleeping on their back, side, a combination of both, or even their stomach. Its unique design features a lower center portion and higher sides, catering to various sleep preferences. If you’re a back or stomach sleeper, you’ll find comfort in the lower center portion, which provides the reduced height typically needed for those positions. Alternatively, if you prefer side sleeping, the elevated sides of the pillow offer the perfect support.
For those who switch between back and side sleeping, this pillow accommodates your needs effortlessly. You can comfortably rest on the higher sides when you’re on your side and seamlessly transition to the lower center when switching to a back sleeping position. Notably, this versatility sets it apart from other pillows, which lacks this flexibility due to its “wings.”
This pillow stands out among other options for four key reasons:
1. Exceptional Material Quality: The foam used in the Dosaze Contoured Orthopedic Pillow is certified by CertiPUR-US, a mark of quality not found in many other pillows. Additionally, the pillow’s cover is crafted from bamboo, providing a luxurious feel that sets it apart from pillows using scratchy 100% polyester or similar materials. The memory foam strikes the perfect balance with its Indentation Load Deflection (ILD), offering just the right level of firmness without being overly rigid or too soft.
2. Innovative Contoured Shape: The pillow’s unique contour design is nothing short of remarkable. It excels in aligning your neck and back, maintaining proper neck positioning throughout the night. This design not only reduces neck pain but also alleviates tension headaches, snoring, and sleep apnea by preventing airway blockage. While other pillows have attempted to mimic this shape, our team found this particular one to be the best by a significant margin.
3. Universal Suitability for All Sleepers: The pillow’s shape is ideal for several reasons: it effectively aligns your head and neck, ensuring stability during sleep. For combination sleepers who switch between back and side sleeping, the pillow accommodates both preferences. You can comfortably sleep on the higher edge of the pillow when on your side and seamlessly transition into the central contour when switching to a back sleeping position. Even stomach sleepers, who typically stay in that position, find comfort in the contour.
4. Exceptional Customer Experience: Our team’s experience with the purchase of this pillow was truly outstanding. The Dosaze team displayed remarkable responsiveness when our test pillow went missing during shipping, promptly sending a replacement free of charge. Moreover, they offered a generous 60-day sleep trial and back their product with a reliable 3-year warranty, ensuring customer satisfaction and peace of mind.
The Xtreme Comforts Pillow truly excels as a budget-conscious option for stomach sleepers, particularly those with broader shoulders and larger body types. Additionally, it serves admirably as a back pillow for individuals with a wide range of body shapes. Interestingly, it has gained popularity for unconventional uses beyond its marketed purpose.
One noteworthy advantage is its effectiveness as an alternative to solid memory foam thin pillows. It cradles the head without causing the uncomfortable “bottoming out” effect often associated with thinner pillows. Moreover, the fact that this pillow is entirely washable adds to its appeal, making it a compelling choice worth considering.
One of the most prominent features that users appreciate is its exceptional malleability. Unlike polyfill and traditional memory foam, shredded memory foam can be shaped and adjusted to suit specific comfort requirements. This unique attribute holds several benefits, most notably its ability to provide robust support to areas of the body that commonly experience stress and strain.
The Process
Here at Home Hacks, we go the extra mile by subjecting the products we review to rigorous performance tests, providing valuable insights into durability and overall value. Our team of testers encompasses a diverse range of heights, weights, and individual sleeping preferences. These unique attributes contribute to the personalized nature of our reviews, ensuring that we deliver candid and comprehensive recommendations.
In our dedicated testing laboratory, our team personally evaluates these products, drawing upon their extensive knowledge of pillow materials and the brands that offer them. Rest assured that the products featured on our list have undergone thorough testing by our experts and have earned their esteemed stamp of approval.
Other Good Pillows We Reviewed
While our top picks remain our top choices, it’s important to acknowledge that our testers’ responses to pillows tend to vary widely. Every individual has a unique reaction to each pillow, and our selections tend to gravitate toward those that offer easy adjustability or consistently outperform their competitors. Below, we provide a comprehensive list of other pillows that have garnered popularity among our testers over the years. As you peruse this section, keep your personal preferences in mind, as what might have led us to exclude a pillow from our top picks could be precisely what you desire in a pillow. We’ve taken care to highlight pillows that have received positive feedback from side, back, and stomach sleepers, ensuring that you can find options suited to your specific sleeping needs.
Cozy House Collection Luxury Pillow
Summary: The Cozy House Collection Luxury Pillow has received a slightly above average rating our experts. While it offers a plush and comfortable sleeping experience, it falls short in terms of exceptional support and longevity compared to higher-end competitors. Some testers have noted that the pillow’s loft tends to flatten over time, impacting its long-term durability. While it represents a reasonable balance of quality and affordability, it lacks the standout features and performance that would elevate it to a top-tier choice.
Summary: The Saybrook Adjustable Pillow is a good pillow, but given it’s price, our experts felt there were superior options. Despite its adjustability features, some testers reported that the pillow didn’t feel very luxurious or premium. Additionally, the relatively high price point didn’t align with the overall performance and longevity of the pillow, making it a less appealing choice compared to more cost-effective options with better long-term value.
Summary: The Sleepgram Adjustable Pillow, while touted for its customization, fell short of expectations in our expert evaluation. Despite its innovative design allowing users to modify the pillow’s loft, it struggled to provide consistent comfort and support across various sleeping positions. While some may appreciate its adaptability, it’s essential to consider other options that have fared better in expert assessments for a more reliable sleep solution.
Sleep Number PlushComfort Pillow
Summary: Overall, our team enjoyed this pillow. The removable inserts allowed each individual to find the right loft and plushness for them. A solid option for all types of sleepers.
Summary: The pillow is advertised as cooling, and it indeed felt very cool to many of our experts. The main issue was how soft the pillow was, which lead to a lack of support.
Therapeutica Cervical Orthopedic Pillow
Summary: The Therapeutica Cervical Orthopedic Pillow left our expert reviewers with mixed impressions. While it offers a unique orthopedic design aimed at addressing neck and spine alignment, its performance didn’t consistently live up to expectations. Some members of our team felt the sides were too thick to sleep comfortably in different positions.
Summary: This pillow is on the more expensive end of the pillows we tested. Overall, our experts had a pleasant experience, but the main concern for the majority was that the pillow felt too soft and plush. While comfortable to sleep on, this pillow was consistently rated too soft in our reviews and didn’t find the right balance as the pillows we ended up recommending.
Conclusions
For most sleepers (side, back, and combination), our team highly recommends the Dosaze Contoured Orthopedic Pillow. The quality of the foam, the innovative shape, and the cover are all best in class. And if you don’t like it, you have 60 full days to return. That being said, you can try any of the pillows on this list and see for yourself, hopefully risk free (well except for a few!).
