Is the cult £100 Simba Hybrid Pillow worth the investment? I put it to the test

Would you spend over £100 on a pillow? Fans of the Simba Hybrid Pillow certainly would, with this pillow now amassing over 25,000 reviews on the Simba website and achieving an average customer rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.

Why is it so popular? Well, its cult following largely comes down to the fact that this pillow is customisable. It's filled with what the brand dubs 'Nanocubes' (more on those later) which you can add or subtract from the pillow to raise or lower the pillow's height according to your sleep preferences. 

Pillow height is a key factor in finding the best pillow for your sleep style as it's the make-or-break component that determines whether a pillow creates good spinal alignment. 

Ideally, whether you sleep on your front, side, or back, you want a pillow that supports the head and neck so that there's one continuous line between your spine and the crown of your head. A pillow that lifts your head too high or allows it to drop too low will form 'kinks' in your neck that can lead to neck pain, so finding the right pillow height for your sleep style, and your body frame, is the key to creating the best position for a good night's sleep.

An adjustable pillow fill seems like an obvious solution to this problem, but it's a bit of a rarity in the pillow world, which is what makes the Simba Hybrid Pillow so popular. But how would this pillow fare in practice? Myself and my partner put it the test to find out.

Simba Hybrid Pillow review

Specifications

• Construction materials: Cotton and polyester
• Product size: H adjustable x W70 x D45cm
• Care instructions: Cover is machine washable at 40°C. Tumble dry on low heat.
• Manufacturer sleep trial: N/A

How I tested

Richard Jones

I’m Richard, a writer and editor who specialises in health and wellness. I’m especially interested in sleep, and how it affects general health. For this review, myself and my partner tested the Simba Hybrid Pillow, sleeping on it for several weeks to test out the pillows comfort, support, breathablity, ease of care, and its impact on our overall sleep health in that time.

My sleep stats:

• As a 6 foot tall side sleeper I tend to need a high loft pillow that matches my shoulder width in order to keep my head and neck well aligned
• Prefer to sleep with two firm pillows and on an incline due to allergies (hayfever, dust) and breathing problems
• Can get neck and back pain if pillows aren’t firm enough

My partner's sleep stats:

• A 5ft8 side or front sleeper who tends to use two pillows when side sleeping

Construction

The Simba Hybrid pillow is constructed from two main layers, a cotton outer quilted with cushioning microfibre that features a breathable mesh around all four sides, and an inner pillow that unzips and is filled with lightweight foam 'nanocubes' (which we’ll tell you all about in the next section).

The outer cotton layer comes from Better Cotton Initiative sources, which promote better standards in farming for workers and the environment, and one side of this cotton outer is equipped with 'Stratos® finish', something the brand describes as 'cool-touch' technology which aims to deliver a cooler sleep.

Unique selling points

The main factor that makes the Simba Hybrid pillow stand out from the crowd is what the brand dubs its 'Nanocube® technology'. 

In practice, this is basically lots of little blue foam cubes that are housed within an inner pillowcase within the pillow. This pillowcase can be unzipped which allows you take out or add more Nanocubes to your pillow in order to customise its height to your exact preferences. Need more loft? Add more cubes. Want the pillow to feel softer and be lower in height? Take those cubes out.

This seems like a bit of an obvious idea once you think about it, but very few pillows offer this feature, and as pillow height is a key factor in finding the best pillow for your sleep style, it makes the Simba Hybrid pillow a very versatile option that suits a lot of sleepers.

Now, the process of actually adding or removing the Nanocubes can be a bit fiddly and you’ll likely drop a load of cubes on the floor like this reviewer did. Having said that, the pillow does comes with a little bag designed for storing your unused cubes, and once you've got the pillow to your exact requirements, you shouldn't need to alter it too often.

What type of sleeper does it suit?

A key factor in the Simba Hybrid Pillow's popularity is that its customisable height makes it suitable for a wide range of sleepers. 

A front sleeper looking for a thinner pillow just needs to take out a large chunk of Nanocubes in order to drop the height, while a back sleeper is likely to want to remove a few Nanocubes to turn it into a mid-loft pillow, and a side sleeper can stuff the pillow full to raise their head as high as they need to for the neck and spine to be in good alignment. 

You can also buy extra Nanocubes if needed to make the pillow really full for a firmer feel.

However, in practice, I turned out to be someone for whom the Simba Hybrid Pillow isn't quite suitable. I'm a side sleeper with a 6 foot frame and fairly wide shoulders which means I need a high, dense pillow that lifts my head in line with my neck. So, for me, even with all the Nanocubes stuffed into the inner compartment, I still found this pillow too low and too soft for side sleeping as it allowed my head to sink down too low. 

Luckily, Simba also offers the Simba Firm Hybrid Pillow, which I loved, and which is designed specifically for us side-sleeping firm pillow lovers who need more height.

That said, my partner, who is a side sleeper with a smaller frame, found that the Simba Hybrid Pillow was one of the most comfortable pillows she's slept on. She's usually a two pillow side sleeper, and found that with the Simba Hybrid Pillow under her head she could sleep with just one pillow for the first time ever.

How comfortable is it?

This is a squishy pillow which soft pillow fans will adore, however, if you like a firmer feel then you may find the Simba Hybrid pillow too soft. 

As mentioned, I'm a side sleeper who is firmly in the 'firm pillow' camp and I found I sank in to this pillow too much. However, my partner loved the feel and found the squishy, sink-in feel akin to that of 5-star hotel pillow.

Unlike a feather and down pillow, we also found that the Nanocubes meant the Simba Hybrid Pillow retained its shape well, so there was no need to keep plumping it to get the pillow back into shape. 

How breathable is it?

This is predominantly a synthetic pillow that uses polyester microfibre and foam cubes for cushioning. As both of these materials are forms of plastic, that could mean that the pillow lacks breathability as synthetic materials can tend to reflect heat back towards the sleeper leading to a hot and sweaty head if you sleep warm. 

However, Simba uses various technologies to combat overheating. Firstly, the pillow's cover is made from cotton, a natural material that offers better breathability than a polyester cover would, and one side of this outer cover also features Simba's 'Stratos® technology' which is designed to offer better heat diffusion. 

Secondly, Simba says that the foam Nanocubes used in the interior help airflow compared to solid foam, and better airflow means heat can dissipate away from the head.

Thirdly, the mesh border around the pillow is also designed to help air to circulate.

In practice, I certainly found this pillow more breathable and cool than your ordinary synthetic pillow. Although I did find I needed to make sure I was sleeping with the side that has the 'Stratos' technology next to my head. 

However, I found the natural materials in the Woolroom Deluxe Washable Wool Pillow I usually sleep on to be marginally more cooling and breathable, and our tester who usually sleeps on a feather and down pillow found the Simba Hybrid Pillow definitely reflected back more head heat in comparison.

Is it good for those with allergies?

As a synthetic pillow, this is certainly going to help those with allergies who wish to stay away from a feather fill. The cover is also machine washable at 40°C which will help prevent dust and dirt build up.

I myself have a number of allergies, including hayfever, which were kept firmly at bay while using the Simba Hybrid Pillow. 

On a separate note, foam can often be made out of harsh chemicals but the squishy foam Nanocubes in the Simba Hybrid Pillow are certified to CertiPUR® requirements, so they contain no heavy metals like mercury or lead. This won’t eliminate all the bad things in the air inside your home, but it will help you avoid bringing more into your home.

Will it help with snoring?

Natural back sleepers are usually the worst culprits when it comes to snoring. Lying on your back makes the base of your tongue and soft palate collapse to the back wall of your throat, causing a vibrating sound during sleep. 

Sleeping on your side may help prevent this, and the Simba Hybrid Pillow is a good option for people looking to switch from a back to a side sleeping position to aid their snoring as you can adjust the height of the pillow to your needs – as long as you don't have particularly wide shoulders to accomodate. 

So effectively what is really going to help sleepers of all positions when it comes to snoring issues is the adjustability offered by the Simba Hybrid Pillow.

Care instructions

As mentioned in the section about allergies, the pillow cover is machine washable at 40°C. However, this is only the cover – not the inside of the pillow. It’s also worth noting that the pillow cover can also be tumble dried on a low heat. 

Verdict

The Simba Hybrid Pillow is an investment, and at first it's hard to see how it's going to justify its price tag. But, once you realise the versatility that's offered by its adjustable height, its high price tag becomes a little more palatable. 

My partner isn't the only one to love this pillow, it's also proved a hit with multiple members of the Ideal Home team who each praise its customisable fill and are fans of its softer feel. 

If you want a synthetic pillow because of allergies or because you want to avoid the animal byproducts used in a wool or feather and down pillow, then this is also one of the few synthetic pillows to really make efforts towards creating a cooler and more breathable sleep. 

In my opinion, it doesn't offer as a cool a sleep as a wool or feather and down pillow does, but the 'Stratos finish' and the efforts to increase airflow within the pillow do pay off and help to combat the overheating that often goes hand-in-hand with synthetic bedding.

If you're a side sleeper with a wider frame, then this pillow might not be high enough for you, and if, like me, you prefer a firmer pillow, the Simba Hybrid Pillow may well prove too soft. 

However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a versatile pillow with a great deal of worthwhile sleep tech going on. Overall, I think that does justify its premium price point, and for many sleepers this could well be the perfect pillow.