In this Emma Premium Cloud Pillow review, I put one of the brand's bestsellers through its paces to see how it compares to the best pillows on the market.
In a nutshell
The Emma Premium Cloud Pillow, as its name might suggest, is a part of Emma's premium pillow range.
It's packed with fluffy microfibre polyester, which I found gives it a cloud-like medium-soft feel. I usually sleep on a feather and down pillow, and the Premium Cloud does a good job of mimicking the feel of down, but with a slightly denser and more supportive structure.
The bonus of that synthetic filling is that this pillow is also fully machine washable and quick to dry – good news for anyone with allergies. It's just a shame Emma doesn't seem to use recycled polyester in its products, unlike most of its competitors
As a box-wall design, the Premium Cloud pillow is best for side sleepers, as the built-in side panel helps to maintain a good height throughout the night. Even better, it's height-adjustable, with two inserts that you can add or remove to create a pillow that better fits the space between your ear and the mattress.
The only downside (beyond its fairly expensive £80 price tag) is that I found it too high for back sleeping, so if you're a combination sleeper, this may not be the best option for you.
However, overall, I really enjoyed the Emma Premium Cloud pillow's pairing of height and marshmallowy softness. And the fact that the pillow comes with a 30-night sleep trial is very useful for testing it out before you commit.
If you usually sleep on your side and don't like a firm pillow, I think this is one of the best pillows for side sleepers who prefer a softer feel beneath their head.
Emma Premium Cloud Pillow review
Specifications
- Best for: side sleepers
- RRP: £80
- Heights available: 1, but it's adjustable
- Dimensions: H adjustable x W50 x L70cm
- Feel: medium-soft
- Materials: cover: polyester, inner: microfibre polyester
- Care instructions: machine-washable at 40°C, low tumble dry
- Manufacturer sleep trial: 44 nights
Comfort
This is a microfibre pillow, which means it's filled with soft and fluffy combed polyester. I found it feels nicely squishy and marshmallow-like, which is great news if you're a fan of a softer pillow, like me.
I usually sleep on a feather and down pillow, and I found the Emma Premium Cloud to feel very similar, with the bonus that there are fewer concerns about animal cruelty to worry about, and the microfibre fill is easier to wash. But more on that later.
It's also a 'box edge' pillow, which means that it has side panels that create a higher loft.
A box-wall pillow is perfect for side sleepers, as when we sleep on our side, we need a pillow deep enough to fill the gap between our ear and the mattress in order to keep our head, neck, and spine well aligned, and the box design helps to create that height.
Another bonus for side sleepers is the fact that this pillow's height is adjustable. This is helpful because we all have different-sized body frames, so what is the right height pillow for one side sleeper won't necessarily be the right height for another.
Unzip the padded cover of the pillow, and there are two thin inserts inside. I kept both inside the pillow to start with, but soon found that it made the pillow feel a little too high for me as my neck was arching upwards a little.
I removed the first, and then the other, and this pillow was soon the exact right height for me to sleep comfortably on my side.
Emma's isn't the only adjustable pillow on the market; there's also the Simba Hybrid Pillow, which offers similar adaptability by way of foam 'nanocubes' that can be added or removed to adjust the pillow's height.
The Simba Hybrid is perhaps the more versatile option, as you can create any height pillow you want. In contrast, the Emma Premium Cloud only offers three height options. However, in practice, I appreciated the simplicity of Emma's design. There was less mess and faff in adjusting it, and I found the inserts easier to store.
Overall, I really liked the Premium Cloud's combination of height and marshmallowy softness. If you're a side sleeper who doesn't like a firm pillow, this is a great option.
Temperature regulation
Emma says that the Premium Cloud pillow uses 'Outlast® technology' that 'actively manages heat by absorbing, storing, and releasing it'. This means the pillow's fabric is coated in a natural wax that aims to maintain a balanced and comfortable sleeping temperature throughout the night.
I'm a hot sleeper, and I usually find I overheat sleeping on (or under) synthetic materials, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this wasn't the case with the Cloud pillow.
I didn't find it quite as cool to sleep on as my usual feather and down pillow, but I found it far cooler than most memory foam pillows, and cooler than a lot of polyester and microfibre pillows I've tested.
Ease of care
One of the good things about this pillow is that it's fully machine washable. A lot of pillows that contain memory foam can't be washed, and only the cover can be put through a rinse cycle.
But because the Emma Premium Cloud pillow is made from polyester, that means the entire thing can be popped into the washing machine at 40°C, which could be good news for anyone with allergies.
The pillow can then be line-dried or tumble-dried on a low heat setting, and because of polyester's quick-drying nature, neither takes long to do. You might just find you need to redistribute the filling after washing, as I found it tended to clump together a little unevenly.
Sleep trial
Another good thing about this pillow is that it comes with a 30-night sleep trial that allows you to test out whether the Emma Premium Cloud offers you a comfortable night's sleep before you commit to keeping it.
That's important, because pillows aren't one-size-fits-all, and what suits one person can be very different from what suits another.
The only downside is that, unlike most other retailers, Emma doesn't give a lot of detail on what happens to products returned via its sleep trial. Brands like Simba commit to recycling or repurposing items that are returned, but Emma is less transparent about how unwanted goods are given a new life.
Value for money
The Emma Premium Cloud Pillow costs £80 at full price. That kind of price ticket isn't unheard of in the world of pillows, although I do think it's quite steep for what is essentially a polyester-filled pillow.
When it comes to the best fillings for a pillow, polyester is usually the most affordable option, and this price point is more reminiscent of premium feather and down.
I was also a little disappointed by my first impressions of the Premium Cloud. Just like the Emma Original Hybrid Pillow I recently reviewed, it's delivered boxed and vacuum-packed in plastic, so initial impressions are a little underwhelming considering this pillow's luxury price point.
Aside from the plastic packaging – not the most environmentally-friendly decision – I was also disappointed that the polyester filling and cover aren't made from recycled fibres.
This does seem to be an area Emma is falling a little short in comparison to its competitors, with most bedding brands now making far more effort towards sustainable manufacture. If I'm paying £80 for a pillow, then I'd much prefer to invest in an option that's making greater efforts to reduce its environmental impact.
However, when I removed the packaging, the Cloud pillow soon expanded to its full size, and I did find it really comfortable to sleep on.
Plus, its adjustable height is still a rarity in the world of pillows, and I found it made a big difference to my sleep comfort.
The brand's main competitor, Simba, offers the adjustable Simba Hybrid Pillow for £109. In comparison, the Emma Premium Cloud Pillow offers slightly less flexibility in its adjustability, but if one of its three height options suits you, at nearly £30 less, it could be a great buy.
Overall, if this pillow ends up being the right fit for your body – and therefore offers you a better night's sleep – that could make it well worth its price. And the good news is you do get that 30-night sleep trial to give it a test drive before you commit.
How I tested
In order to test out the Emma Premium Cloud Pillow for this review, I slept on it for a week on my own bed.
During the testing period I rated its comfort, temperature regulation, and ease of care, and took into consideration its price point and any sleep trials on offer before giving it a score out of five.
