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5 of the best pillows 2020 and 2021
Is there anything more confusing and less interesting than shopping for pillows?
Here’s my attempt to simplify things a bit, along with five of the best pillows in the UK based on reviews, awards, specification and value for money.
There are two main types of pillow. Of course, there are subcategories and less popular alternatives if you’re really interested, but most of us are basically picking between these two:
I’ve picked out five highly rated pillows made from a range of materials and have included some cheaper and some more expensive ones. There are some frequently asked questions about buying a pillow at the bottom of the page, if you're really interested...
Here’s my attempt to simplify things a bit, along with five of the best pillows in the UK based on reviews, awards, specification and value for money.
There are two main types of pillow. Of course, there are subcategories and less popular alternatives if you’re really interested, but most of us are basically picking between these two:
- Natural pillows (most are filled with a mix of feathers and down from either geese or ducks) - £15 to £200ish
- Synthetic pillows (usually filled with microfibres/hollowfibres which are fluffy and soft or ‘memory foam’ which is more solid with a hugging/sinking feeling) - £5 to £100ish
I’ve picked out five highly rated pillows made from a range of materials and have included some cheaper and some more expensive ones. There are some frequently asked questions about buying a pillow at the bottom of the page, if you're really interested...
1. Silentnight Hotel Collection Pillow - Pack of 2 - £15 (synthetic pillow)
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These Silentnight 'Hotel' pillows are a decent choice if you sleep on your back and want a reasonably priced synthetic pillow. Synthetic pillows might not impress your posh friends at a dinner party, but they are good value and I’d also question why you are discussing pillows at a dinner party.
They’re made by Silentnight, which is probably the biggest name in the UK mattress market. The official blurb suggests that you could use two of these if you’re a side sleeper. The aim is to keep your spine nicely aligned whilst asleep, so you need a firmer or thicker pillow if you mostly sleep on your side, whilst you need a thinner or softer pillow if you mostly sleep on your back or front. At the time of writing these pillows were getting much better customer reviews than most similarly priced synthetic pillows (4.4/5 after thousands of reviews). Overall, the Silentnight brand was scoring a very respectable 4.2/5 on TrustPilot when we checked. The filling of the pillow is 'hollowfibre', which is similar to the stuff that you get inside a big fluffy synthetic duvet. It’s not as posh or expensive as natural fibres like duck or goose feathers/down but it is good for people with allergies as it doesn’t collect dust so easily. A similar alternative to hollowfibre is a 'microfibre' pillow (£16 for 2) which is made from the same synthetic material but is less dense so that it feels softer. Most guides I've read on the subject say that microfibre is softer and warmer and feels more like feathers/down whilst hollowfibre is more breathable and cooler. |
These pillows are synthetic and great very positive reviews
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Similar alternatives:
- Silentnight has a good value microfibre pillow called 'Just Like Down' (about £16 for 2). The idea is that it feels softer and less dense than a hollowfibre pillow.
- If you mostly sleep on your side, a slightly firmer alternative is offered by Soak & Sleep, where you can get a medium/firm synthetic pillows for £40. The Soak and Sleep brand was scoring 4.7/5 on TrustPilot when we checked whilst this pillow was scoring 4.6/5
- If you mostly sleep on your front, I would take a look at these soft pillows from Soak and Sleep which use similar materials (£30 for two). The pillows were scoring 4.6/5 on Amazon when we checked, whilst the Soak & Sleep brand was scoring 4.7/5 on TrustPilot.
2. The Emma Pillow - £62 (synthetic pillow)
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There are now a few pillows which offer a trial period, so you can avoid the lottery of buying online or the annoyance of trying pillows out in store (usually still in their plastic wrapping which hardly gives a proper experience).
Some home trial pillows are made with microfibre fillings which is a synthetic material which aims to feel similar to feather and down (e.g. Dormeo Octasense Pillow, £50 or Eve Sleep's Snuggle Pillow, £49). Others are made with memory foam or a combination of different foams (e.g. The Emma pillow, £62 or Eve Sleep's Memory Foam pillow, £59). I struggled to find home trial pillows made with genuine feather and down. Most pillows with a trial period are made by companies I’ve never heard of, but Emma has a good reputation for its mattress so the Emma Pillow is worth a look. You can buy it direct from Emma or via Amazon. It comes with a whopping 200 night trial and is made from three layers including memory foam, so it won’t be to everyone’s taste. Memory foam offers consistent support and it doesn’t gather dust in the same way as natural pillows can do, although a lot of natural pillows have special covers to reduce allergy issues. Emma reckon that this pillow is ‘suitable for all types of sleepers, whether you are a side sleeper, back sleeper or tummy sleeper’. At the time of writing the Emma Pillow was scoring 4.1/5 from reviewers on Amazon whilst the Emma Mattress brand was scoring 4.6/5 on TrustPilot. |
The Emma pillow comes with a 200 night trial, so you can return it if you don't like it
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Other pillows offering a trial period include:
- Tempur – posh brand of memory foam style pillows which come in ‘classic’ shapes or an ‘ergonomic’ shape, 30 night trial - £99. They're sometimes a bit cheaper from John Lewis & Partners but I don't think you get the trial period.
- Eve Sleep - popular mattress brand which also makes three different memory foam and microfibre pillows with a 14 night trial. The brand overall scores 4.6/5 on TrustPilot - £39-£59
- Dormeo Octasense Pillow – a microfibre pillow with two sides which offer different levels of comfort - £50, 60 night ‘comfort trial’. Score of 4.2/5 on Amazon when I checked
3. Amazon Basics Fresh Memory Foam Pillow - £30 (synthetic pillow)
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An alternative to a synthetic hollowfibre or microfibre pillow is a memory foam pillow, like this good value one from Amazon Basics.
Memory foam is still a synthetic (i.e. man-made) material but it feels much more solid than hollowfibre and gives a supportive feel after the initial sinking sensation. Memory foam type material was originally developed to keep astronauts cosy before being developed for mattresses and pillows. Some people don’t like the feeling of memory foam whilst others like the way it gives consistent support. A few guides I’ve read suggest that a memory foam pillow goes well with a memory foam mattress. Admittedly, Amazon Basics aren't known as a memory pillow brand but it was scoring 4.5/5 from more than 400 reviews when we checked, so it’s not to be sneezed at. The cover comes off and is machine washable. One common complaint with memory foam is that it can make you feel too hot. This one is double sided, with a cooler side for summer and a warmer side for winter. Alternatively, there is a 'cooling-gel' version of the same pillow which aims to overcome the heat issue. |
This cheap Amazon memory foam pillow scores well with customers
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Similar alternatives:
- As mentioned earlier, the posher end of the memory foam pillow market is led by Tempur. They were the original company to use memory-foam type materials and they are still a big name in the market. Their memory foam pillows are about £100, but they get decent customer reviews on John Lewis & Partners and on Amazon. If you buy it from Tempur you can try out the pillow for 30 days. A Tempur pillow would certainly impress the neighbours if you can casually drop it into conversation (for example “would you mind taking a parcel in for us from John Lewis, we’re expecting our new Tempur pillows to be delivered”).
4. Snuggledown Hungarian Goose Down Gentle Support Pillow - £49 (natural pillow)
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This Snuggledown pillow made from natural materials ticks a lot of boxes for the price. It’s a soft pillow, so would be most suited for people who sleep on their fronts.
The main differences between cheaper and more expensive natural pillows are to do with the ratio of feathers to down (the down is the more expensive and softer bit). Goose down tends to be more expensive than duck and there is also some variation in price depending on where the goose comes from – by which I mean which country it comes from rather than whether it had a tough upbringing. This Snuggledown pillow is 80% goose down, which is very good for the price. Having a few feathers gives a pillow a bit more ‘structure’ so you won’t find many pillows which are 100% down. The goose is from Hungary, which seems to be good according to most guides I’ve read (apparently ‘Siberian geese’ are sometimes actually from China). It’s also machine washable and was scoring 4.3/5 from 1900+ customers when I checked. |
A natural pillow like this one should be more breathable than a synthetic pillow
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Similar alternatives:
- If you mostly sleep on your side then you will probably want a medium or a firm natural pillow instead, such as this John Lewis & Partners Natural Collection Hungarian Goose Down Firm Pillow or the Medium Version (both £75)
- If that’s a bit over budget, there’s a £30 John Lewis & Partners natural pillow. The difference is that it is mostly filled with feathers rather than down and that the goose is ‘Siberian’ which isn’t as good as Hungarian or Canadian geese according to most guides I’ve read.
5. Soak & Sleep Supreme 100% Canadian Goose Down Pillows - £145-£190 (natural pillow)
**Soak & Sleep discount code: 20% off when you sign up to the Soak & Sleep mailing list**
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If you’ve recently had a lottery win and are looking for luxurious things to spend your money on, then take a look at the Soak & Sleep 100% Canadian Goose Down pillows.
For the upgraded price (compared to the natural pillow at #4 on this list) you get a higher proportion of goose down, which creates a softer pillow. Customer reviews were at a very impressive 4.7/5 when we checked. Soak and Sleep also get very positive reviews as a brand, with an average of 4.6/5 on TrustPilot from more than 16000 reviews. According to their website, 'in 2017, Which? voted us as the UK'S No.1 pillow brand'. |
The softest natural pillows have a high proportion of down
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Frequently asked questions about buying a pillow
Which is the best type of pillow?
So which is best? Natural or synthetic pillows?
You might assume that the most expensive pillows are the best, but it’s not quite that simple.
Natural pillows are snugger and breathable and tend to feel softer, but they are more likely to gather dust so they aren’t as good for allergies. Generally, you pay more for a natural pillow with a high proportion of ‘down’ (the soft bit of the bird is under the wings). You also pay more for goose feathers than duck usually. Feathers are cheaper than down, but some people like a combination of the two as the feathers give a bit more shape and structure to the pillow.
Synthetic pillows are usually cheaper and are better at not filling up with dust and other unpleasant stuff over time. Most synthetic pillows are either hollowfibre or microfibre. Hollowfibre is more breathable and cooler whilst microfibre is finer and warmer and feels a bit more like a 'natural' feather and down pillow. You can also get a memory foam synthetic pillow which feels completely different and allows your head to sink in.
Some guides I’ve read suggest that memory foam pillows last longer than microfibre or natural pillows, but I haven’t found anything definitive.
I’ve also read guides which suggest that if you’ve got a memory foam mattress, it’s a good idea to get a memory foam pillow.
You might assume that the most expensive pillows are the best, but it’s not quite that simple.
Natural pillows are snugger and breathable and tend to feel softer, but they are more likely to gather dust so they aren’t as good for allergies. Generally, you pay more for a natural pillow with a high proportion of ‘down’ (the soft bit of the bird is under the wings). You also pay more for goose feathers than duck usually. Feathers are cheaper than down, but some people like a combination of the two as the feathers give a bit more shape and structure to the pillow.
Synthetic pillows are usually cheaper and are better at not filling up with dust and other unpleasant stuff over time. Most synthetic pillows are either hollowfibre or microfibre. Hollowfibre is more breathable and cooler whilst microfibre is finer and warmer and feels a bit more like a 'natural' feather and down pillow. You can also get a memory foam synthetic pillow which feels completely different and allows your head to sink in.
Some guides I’ve read suggest that memory foam pillows last longer than microfibre or natural pillows, but I haven’t found anything definitive.
I’ve also read guides which suggest that if you’ve got a memory foam mattress, it’s a good idea to get a memory foam pillow.
Which is the best pillow for back sleepers, side sleepers and front sleepers?
There’s some variation about what you should look for based on how you sleep. The aim is to keep your spine straight whilst you’re asleep so generally speaking:
Everyone moves around a bit, but if you don't have a particular preference for how you sleep then you are probably best to go for a medium firmness pillow.
Please take note that I have no training or expertise in back care. This is just the summary of what I’ve picked up from reading numerous pillow-related guides online.
There’s also something called 'fill power', which sounds a bit like a 1990s darts player. It’s complicated and duller than a conversation with a spatula, but the gist of it is that pillows are given a score and that higher scores are better.
- front sleepers/stomach sleepers need a softer and thinner pillow
- back sleepers also need a softer and thinner pillow
- side sleepers generally need a thicker or firmer pillow
Everyone moves around a bit, but if you don't have a particular preference for how you sleep then you are probably best to go for a medium firmness pillow.
Please take note that I have no training or expertise in back care. This is just the summary of what I’ve picked up from reading numerous pillow-related guides online.
There’s also something called 'fill power', which sounds a bit like a 1990s darts player. It’s complicated and duller than a conversation with a spatula, but the gist of it is that pillows are given a score and that higher scores are better.
