Emma Pillow Review UK – 2022

Emma has quickly developed into one of the most well-known mattress companies within the UK. They first stormed onto the scene in 2015 when their Original Mattress won Best mattress of the year. Since then they have seemingly gone from strength to strength. Their biggest achievement being the Emma Original being the best-awarded mattress within the UK. Collecting accolades from well-known bodies such as Which? And Good Housekeeping.  They have now moved onto different areas of the market. Introducing the Emma pillow.

Emma itself is a German company so the design takes place in Germany but all of their products are manufactured within the UK. Having been extremely successful with their memory foam mattress. They have adopted a similar approach with the pillow and also used memory foam at the heart of its design.

While better known for their Original mattress than any of their other products. The Emma mattress company also offers a small range of other products. These include a hybrid mattress and a mattress protector along with the pillow. 

Emma aims to help keep products locally produced and support local communities. Included with the product are free delivery and a simple returns system. It has a lot of upside on first sight. The pillow certainly seems like another top quality product from Emma and finding the right pillow can always be a challenging situation. As a result, we have created a detailed breakdown to see if it lives up to the claims.

Product information

Firmness:

Medium-Firm

Adjustable:

Yes

Material:

Foam

Size:

70 x 40cm

Height:

Adjustable (11cm as standard)

Weight:

1300g

Delivery:

Available next day through Amazon/Free delivery ordering direct with Emma.

Construction and Materials

The design of the Emma pillow is very sleek and modern. The cover features a grey separating line around its edge and the cover has visible pores that increase breathability. This fits in well with the general design of the pillow and makes it a very stylish addition to the bedroom. Despite this, it is always recommended to use a pillow cover with it.

The construction of this pillow is what sets it slightly apart from its competition. It features a three-layer memory foam build. Each of these is removable and changeable, however. This gives you plenty of different options to try out to find the one that suits you exactly. Everything from feeling to height can be changed to allow the pillow to suit the widest range of people possible.

We have broken down each layer to see what each one adds to the pillow and who it will suit them best.

Layers

1. Cover Layer

The cover of this pillow is made from a typical blend consisting of 98% polyester and 2% elastane. This gives it a soft, yet stretchy and well-fitting finish no matter how many layers you are currently using. This also increases the breathability of the pillow. Preventing heat retention which leads to overheating as you sleep.

This cover can be easily removed and machine washed, allowing you to keep it clean and fresh with relative ease. It should be washed at a low temperature. Ideally 40°C.

2. Airocell Foam Layer

The top layer of this pillow is by far the softest and is primarily the comfort layer of the pillow. The Airocell foam allows you to sink comfortably into the pillow and this foam features lots of space for increased airflow. This increases the breathability of the entire pillow and helps combat any overheating problems.

3. Supportive Cold Foam Layer

Inside the middle of the pillow is the firm inner core. This is a cold foam layer designed to provide a great amount of support. It works well with the other softer layers and provides the support that some sleeping positions require. As with all of the other layers, it can be removed if you prefer a softer pillow. The cold foam aspect of this layer works well to combat overheating and the difference can be felt when touched.

4. Visco-Elastic Memory Foam Layer

The bottom layer of this pillow is made from Aa visco-elastic memory foam. It is what is found in more traditional memory foam mattresses. It offers medium level support and gives an excellent moulding effect. Although this has traditionally had problems with overheating. The above layers have plenty of features to help combat overheating and breathability issues and you can tell that it makes the difference. It mixes well with the other layers to give a great interchangeable pillow to suit most needs.

Comfort, Support and Sleep Quality

The variable layers within this pillow mean that you can find a combination to suit your preferred firmness. One thing to be noted is that the high-quality materials which are used within the pillow give a great feel and no combinations will give the uncomfortable feeling of sinking too far into the pillow and leave you feeling unsupported.

The extended trial period that this pillow comes with allows you to extensively test out each layer of the pillow. If you feel it is too high or low then a layer can be changed to suit your needs. It can take some time to get used to this new height so you should give yourself at least a few nights to test it out. As you begin to get used to the pillow then the benefits will be felt. Giving you more restful, longer sleep. Allowing you to wake up feeling refreshed. 

Due to the modular, changeable nature of this pillow. All types of sleeping positions will be suited to this pillow. Each sleeping position has slightly different needs however and this is typically the setup they will be best suited to.

Heat retention is a well-known problem among memory foam products. To help minimise this in the pillow, Emma has added in breathable materials which greatly increase the amount of heat that can dissipate from the pillow. If you have had problems with overheating in the past this is still something to keep in mind, however, especially if you only end up using the bottom layer of the pillow.

Back Sleepers

Sleeping on your back, you would want a mid-height pillow. This would mean only choosing two of the three layers to sleep on. Keeping to this general rule will avoid unnecessary strain on the neck and back while giving you a good level of comfort and support. It will depend on personal preference which these would be and should be experimented with a bit to get the most out of the pillow.

Side Sleepers

Sleeping on your side generally needs more support than the other sleeping positions. As a result, it would be recommended to use all three of the layers if you mainly side sleep. This is because to minimise the strain of your neck and promote good spine alignment then a higher than usual loft is needed for the pillow. This will allow you to prevent aches and pains in your neck and back and sleep comfortably.

Stomach Sleepers 

If you mainly sleep on your side, then one or two layers of the Emma pillow should suit you well. It may take some different variations before you find the one that suits you best, however. Stomach sleepers generally want a very little loft in their pillow. Having it too high will cause unnecessary strain on the neck and back, leaving you open to waking up with aches and pains.

Trial and Guarantee

Emma has recently doubled their trial period for this pillow to 200 nights. This is extremely generous and almost unheard of in the pillow marketplace. It certainly suggests extreme confidence in the quality of the pillow to be able to offer this.

Delivery

Emma offers free delivery with all orders of their pillow. The returns process is also simplified and easy to use. So if you decide that the pillow is not for you then it can be sent back for a full refund.

When the pillow is first delivered there may be a slight off-gassing smell on the pillow. This is completely normal in memory foam products and you just need to leave it to air for a few hours. The smell should have mostly dissipated within a few hours/days.

Our Verdict

On the whole, this pillow is a very interesting offering from Emma. They have translated their success from the mattress across well, giving a high-quality product at a reasonable price. 

Being able to change the pillows firmness and loft gives you an excellent opportunity to figure out what suits you best and greatly improves the chance you will enjoy using the pillow.

At the mid-range price point then it is difficult to criticise this pillow too much. With the generous trial allowing you to experiment with all of the different variations then it is worth a try.

It seems as though Emma has developed a pillow which is both well made and fit for purpose. Its innovative modular design brings some much-needed change to the UK pillow market and hopefully it is the first of many like this. While the price may be off-putting for some people, the versatility of this pillow cannot be overlooked. 

To conclude this review I believe that this pillow will be an excellent fit if you are looking for the following:

• An adjustable pillow which can be changed to better suit you.
• A pillow at the fore-front of the pillow market in terms of technology used.
• A pillow by a well-known brand which has a reputation for great service.

Last update on 2024-11-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API