Nanu Review
A pillow built to order from a short questionnaire, which is the most direct answer anyone offers to the problem that makes pillow buying a lottery.
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Verdict
A pillow built to order from a short questionnaire about how you sleep, which is the most direct answer anyone offers to the problem that makes pillow buying a lottery. Height is what decides whether a pillow works, and it depends on things only you know.
Buy it if
You do not know your loft, you have bought several pillows that did not work, and you want the decision made from your inputs.
Avoid it if
You already know exactly what suits you and want the cheapest version of it.
See the current Nanu offer
Nanu builds pillows to order from your answers. The trial is 30 nights.
No code needed. The discount is applied automatically at checkout. Opening the site in a new tab.
Nanu on Amazon UK
Widely listed. Buying direct is what gets you the made-to-order option.
No code needed. Prices on Amazon change frequently, so check the seller and the returns terms before you buy. Opening in a new tab.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Made-to-order pillow |
| How it works | A short questionnaire sets the fill and height |
| What it asks about | Sleeping position, build, and firmness preference |
| Trial | 30 nights, which is ordinary for a pillow and thin for a made-to-order one |
| Washability | Check the specific construction before ordering |
The scores
The most direct answer to the hardest problem in pillow buying.
More than a supermarket pillow, less than repeatedly replacing the wrong one.
The height you set is the height you still have at 4am.
Good, assuming you answered the questionnaire accurately.
Depends on the fill specified. Check before ordering if you sleep hot.
Built from your inputs rather than from a shelf category.
Machine washable, so the pillow itself gets cleaned rather than just the case.
30 nights, which is ordinary for a pillow and thin for something built to your answers.
Answer the questionnaire accurately, which is harder than it sounds
The output is only as good as the inputs, and most people get two of the questions wrong.
Sleeping position. Most people move between positions across a night and are wrong about which one they spend most of it in. The practical test is the position you wake up in, since that is usually where the longest stretch was spent, not the position you fall asleep in.
Mattress firmness. This one gets left out entirely and it changes the answer. The softer your mattress, the further your shoulder sinks into it, and the less pillow height you need to keep your neck level. If the questionnaire asks, answer honestly about your current mattress. If you are about to change mattress, wait until afterwards.
Shoulder width. The gap a pillow has to fill is created by your shoulders. Broad shoulders and side sleeping together need considerably more height than most people expect.
Made to order is not the same as adjustable
Worth separating, because they solve the same problem differently and one is more forgiving than the other.
Made to order sets the height from your answers before the pillow is built. If the answers were right, you get a better fit than anything off a shelf. If they were wrong, you are into a returns process.
Adjustable, such as a layered or removable-fill pillow, lets you change the height after sleeping on it, as often as you like, for the life of the pillow.
Adjustable is the more forgiving of the two, which is why Simba's Hybrid and Emma's layered pillow score well here. Made to order is better if the answers are right and the fill suits you, because you are not carrying spare layers you never use.
The trial is what has to carry made to order, and nanu publishes 30 nights, free of charge. That is the ordinary pillow returns window rather than the long one this page previously credited it with, and on something built to your answers it is the weak point. Answer the questionnaire as carefully as if there were no trial at all.
Check it with the ten minute test
Whatever arrives, verify it rather than assuming.
Lie down in the position you actually sleep in and stay there ten minutes so the pillow settles. Then have someone look at you from behind. Your neck should be a straight continuation of your spine: tipped up means too high, dropped means too low.
Thirty seconds of someone looking beats a fortnight of guessing, and it is the only reliable way to assess a pillow. Give any change a week, because necks adapt slowly and the first two nights are not representative.
A correction worth making
Commonly repeated, and wrong
Pillows are sold by fill material and by broad categories such as soft, medium and firm, and the specification that determines whether one works is height, which depends on sleeping position, shoulder width and how soft the mattress underneath is. No shelf category captures that combination, which is why so many people own several pillows that did not work. A pillow built from those three inputs, or one whose height can be changed afterwards, is the only approach that addresses the actual variable.
Should you buy it?
Yes if you have bought pillows that did not work and you want the decision made from your inputs rather than from a shelf category. Answer the questionnaire carefully, particularly about your current mattress.
If you would rather be able to change it afterwards, buy an adjustable pillow instead. Both solve the same problem and adjustable is the more forgiving version.
Where this sits
Other pages on this site that bear on the same decision.
Questions people ask
What decides whether a pillow works?
Height, which depends on sleeping position, shoulder width and how soft your mattress is. No shelf category captures that combination, which is why so many people own several pillows that did not work.
What do people get wrong on a pillow questionnaire?
Two things. Sleeping position, because most people move between positions and are wrong about which one they spend most of the night in, so use the position you wake up in. And mattress firmness, because a softer mattress means you need less pillow height.
Is made to order better than an adjustable pillow?
Adjustable is more forgiving, because you can change the height after sleeping on it. Made to order gives a better fit if the answers were right, without carrying spare layers you never use. The nanu trial is 30 nights, which is ordinary rather than generous, so the answers matter more than the safety net.