The Aeyla adjustable pillow has a lot of positive reviews from side sleepers, but during testing I discovered one major downside

This Aeyla Adjustable FOAMO Pillow review puts the brand's adjustable memory foam pillow through its paces to see how it performs compared to the best pillows on the market.

In a nutshell

The Aeyla Adjustable FOAMO Pillow is somewhat of a rarity in the pillow market. That's because you can adjust the amount of filling in this pillow to make it exactly the right height for your sleep needs.

I've only come across two other pillows with this degree of flexibility – the foam-filled Simba Hybrid Pillow and the wool-filled Woolroom Deluxe Washable Pillow. In contrast, the Aeyla FOAMO is a firmer pillow filled with memory foam and microfibre that give it a much higher loft.

That makes it a great option for a side sleeper. Especially a side sleeper with a broader frame who needs a higher pillow to fill the gap between their shoulder and neck.

You can remove more filling to make the Aeyla FOAMO suitable for a back sleeper, although I found it too dense for comfortable back sleeping. If you like a firm pillow though, this could be for you.

It's not perfect though. Unlike the Simba Hybrid Pillow which is filled with foam cubes, or the Woolroom Deluxe pillow which is filled with chunky wool fibre, the Aeyla FOAMO is filled with a mix of small memory foam chunks and fine strands of polyester microfibre. I found that made adjusting the filling a very messy affair.

The synthetic strands immediately spread into the air and covered my bed once I unzipped the inner pillowcase (and became stuck in the zip when I was trying to unzip and rezip it).

However, for some, this pillow could be the exact mix of high loft and firm density they've been searching for. A 30-night sleep trial also makes it easier to take that gamble. And if it works for you, you may be willing to overlook the downside of those annoying polyester fibres.

Aeyla Adjustable FOAMO Pillow review

Specifications

• Best for: side sleepers, back sleepers
• Materials: cover: 40% bamboo + 60% polyester, inner: memory foam + microfibre
• Dimensions: W50cm x L75cm x H adjustable
• Care instructions: unclear
• RRP: £89

Comfort

As you might expect from its name, the Aeyla Adjustable FOAMO Pillow is adjustable. That means that you can add or subtract filling to make the pillow the right height for your sleep needs.

This pillow arrives vacuum-packed, so it initially looks like a very disappointing and super-flat affair. However, within two minutes of unpacking it, it had magically expanded to its full height.

Once fully expanded, this is a really plump and dense pillow. According to Aeyla, its filling is a mix of 'medium-firm memory-foam and microfiber blend fill'. In practice, I found this meant it has a decent amount of squish, but still feels firm and retains its height well throughout the night.

At its maximum height, I measure this pillow to have a loft of around 20cm. So to my mind it's definitely a pillow for a side sleeper. It was too high for me fully stuffed, but that shouldn't have been a problem because the Aeyla is designed to be adjustable.

However, once I unzipped the outercase and attempted to unzip the inner case which contains the fill, I encountered my first problem. Namely that the loose strands of microfibre filling immediately got stuck in the zip which made unzipping it a process that required a lot of patience.

Those loose strands are super soft and silky, and no doubt a part of what makes the pillow feel as dense and plump as it does, but I soon discovered they were also super annoying.

Unlike the comparable Simba Hybrid Pillow where you get a bag to store the loose pillow filling you remove, the Aeyla FOAMO pillow offers no such solution. And I found it impossible to remove the filling without loose polyester fibres floating into the air and covering every available surface.

In fact, I'd only removed a handful of the stuffing before I nearly aborted my mission. I needed to remove a lot more to get it to the height I needed and the air was already full of loose synthetic fibres that were stuck in my throat, presumably from my breathing them in as they floated into the air whilst being disturbed.

I persevered for the sake of this review, but had I purchased the Aeyla pillow independently, I would have been packing it up to return at this point.

Admittedly you may only need to adjust the filling once, but when I tested the adjustable Simba Hybrid Pillow I found I adjusted the filling several times to tweak the loft slightly. I definitely wouldn't have wanted to deal with the mess the Aeyla pillow created by adjusting it multiple times.

However, once lowered, it fit the gap between my head and shoulder better and kept my head in alignment with my spine, although I still felt its domed shape didn't offer a lot of support to my neck. I prefer a box wall pillow for fitting snugly against my neck when side sleeping.

Lowered further, I could make it a good height for back sleeping. However, I found it too dense and firm in this sleep position and prefer a pillow with a little more squish. Similarly, even though it can be lowered into as thin a pillow as you wish, I found it too dense for comfortable stomach sleeping.

Temperature regulation

A common problem when testing memory foam pillows is that they tend to sleep warm, which can mean waking up with a very hot head in the night.

That's because memory foam is a very dense material that doesn't naturally allow any airflow. However, Aeyla addresses this issue in a few ways.

Firstly, the memory foam filling is broken up into loose chunks rather than one solid block which presumably allows for a little more breathability. Secondly, the brand uses gel-infused memory foam which is designed to offer a cooler sleep. Thirdly, the pillow is fitted with a woven bamboo and polyester mix cover which should also increase breathability directly next to the head.

In practice, that meant I did find the pillow cooler than many standard memory foam pillows I've tested. However, after a few hours of sleeping on it, the pillow still felt warmer than a feather and down or wool-filled pillow.

As memory foam pillows go though, the Aeyla pillow does perform better than many at temperature regulation.

Ease of care

The care instructions for the Aeyla Adjustable FOAMO Pillow are confusing. The product description on the website states that the pillow cover is machine washable, but the care label on the pillow itself advises against washing it.

Instead of washability, you do get a positive motivational quote though.

Sleep trial

A pillow is a difficult thing to get right. Our sleep position, body shape, and how firm our mattress is all affect which pillow feels best for us.

This is why a sleep trial is really useful. Aeyla offers a 30 night sleep trial on the FOAMO pillow, which should be plenty of time to tweak the adjustable filling and see if it's a good option for you.

Value for money

As of writing, the Aeyla Adjustable FOAMO Pillow retails at £89.00, which certainly isn't cheap, but it also isn't the most expensive pillow I've tested.

Overall, I think its price point is reasonable considering there aren't many adjustable pillows on the market. After all, an expensive pillow is worth it if it means you can find that elusive Holy Grail of a pillow that's just right for your body frame and sleep style.

Do I think its quality matches that price point? I'm less sure about that. I found the filling incredibly messy to adjust, and the loose fibres getting caught in the inner zip could mean that the zip doesn't last long.

Really, the sleep trial is this pillow's saving grace. That 30-night trial period makes it a safer bet to order and test out whether this pillow is right for you. If it is, it could be worth every penny.