In-depth Comparison (2024): Chamberlain Down Dual-Chamber Pillow vs. Pillow Cube Pro Pillow

Down and Feather

Have you ever been surprised by how nice the pillows were in a luxury hotel or resort? As a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite member for a few years in a row, I've stayed at many hotels, and the Chamberlain Down Dual-Chamber Pillow reminds me of some of the best hotel pillows I've experienced. It's made with the same type of design as the hotel pillows, featuring a down chamber on the outside wrapped around a feather chamber on the inside. I enjoy the satisfying puff of air from the down layer that allows me to "sink" into the pillow, and the feather chamber on the inside gives the pillow more structure than a typical down pillow. I tested three down and feather pillows for this review, and the Chamberlain Down pillow is by far the highest quality in my opinion.

Down pillows in general have been prized as luxury items for centuries. Down pillows function by trapping air inside the pillow. The air provides loft for the pillow, and the escaping air provides the buoyant sensation as the sleeper lies down. This makes down pillows different from pillows made with other materials, which provide loft through the material itself rather than trapped air. Feathers don't trap air as well as down, but they do provide loft through their structure thanks to the hard quill. Most pillows use a combination of down and feather since down can be very expensive, and having some structure can be an advantage to prevent the pillow from going flat over time.

The Chamberlain construction quality shows in two ways. First, the seams of the pillow are double-stitched, which prevents feathers and down from escaping the pillow. In contrast, the Puredown pillow is single-stitched along the seams. The Pacific Coast Double DownAround pillow has double-stitching, but the one I purchased has feathers sticking out of the stitching, as shown in the picture below. This is important because escaping down clusters might allow the pillow to go flat over time, and clusters in the air may cause unwanted sneezing.

Second, the Chamberlain Down pillow uses the aforementioned dual-chamber construction that wraps a layer of down on the outside, keeping the sleeper insulated from the feathers. This is the same build used in luxury hotel pillows. In fact, while multiple pillows that I tested for this review claim to be "hotel-style" pillows, the Chamberlain Dual-Chamber Pillow is the only one that reminds me of the pillows I've used at high-end hotels. Many years ago, I traveled for work, staying at hotels such as the Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, and Intercontinental, so I've become all too familiar with hotel pillows. The down layer on the outside prevents the sleeper from feeling any of the quills from feathers in the inner chamber, which results in the feeling of sleeping on air. The Chamberlain Down pillow has a substantial layer of down to achieve this effect. While I have felt quills in other down pillows, I do not feel any quills in the Chamberlain Down Dual-Chamber Pillow.

By comparison, the Puredown pillow, which is only a single chamber, mixes down and feathers together, and I can feel the quills in the pillow when I lie down. The Pacific Coast Double DownAround pillow is also a dual-chamber pillow, but when I lie down, I can still feel the quills. Even though the stated proportion of down is the same as the Chamberlain Down pillow, the Pacific Coast Double DownAround pillow uses 550 fill power down according to the Pacific Coast website at my time of purchase, while the Chamberlain Down Dual-Chamber Pillow uses 600+ fill power. In down terminology, a higher fill power indicates larger down clusters, which are better at trapping air. As a result, when I lie down on the Chamberlain Down pillow, the layer of down holds my head buoyant, but I sink straight into the feathers with the Pacific Coast pillow.

Like all down and feather pillows, the Chamberlain Down pillow will require fluffing in the morning. Fluffing just pumps the air back into the down clusters. At nicer hotels, fluffing typically happens during evening turn-down service. I find that my Chamberlain Down pillow is comparatively better at maintaining its air compared to the other down and feather pillows I have, so I don't mind fluffing when I sleep on it.

I classify the firmness as soft, but it's important to note that while the pillow feels soft, there is a substantial amount of material inside. When I lay my head down, I sink slowly but considerably into the pillow. Because the pillow has so much material, I still get that buoyant support. It's still not enough support for me to side-sleep comfortably, but the pillow is very comfortable for sleeping on my back or stomach. If you want a pillow that disappears underneath, this pillow has too much material for that to happen, but if you want a soft pillow that gives a slow-motion sinking sensation without completely disappearing, then this is the pillow to get.

For anyone searching for a luxury pillow similar to the ones found in high-end hotels, I highly recommend this pillow. The Chamberlain Down Dual-Chamber Pillow provides that signature sensation of sleeping on air, and it's great for back-sleepers and stomach-sleepers. I put this pillow in my guest bedroom, and at least half my guests comment on the Chamberlain pillow or ask where they can get their own.

Finally, this pillow is only available on chamberlaindown.com, which can sometimes run out of stock. I reached out to see if they sell on other marketplaces, but they told me that they tightly control their distribution. Sites like Amazon tried taking me to different pillows that did not have the same quality. If you're looking for a hotel-style pillow, I would recommend being patient and buying when you see Chamberlain Down in stock.

Solid Memory Foam

I do not like sleeping on the Pillow Cube Pro Pillow, and I would not consider purchasing it or any other cube-shaped pillow again. The Pillow Cube advertises its unique shape (a cube or a rectangular box in the case of the Pro Pillow), but in my opinion, there is a reason why other pillows aren't shaped like a box, and it's not because no one else realized it was possible. Instead, it's because our necks and shoulders don't connect in sharp angles, so regular memory foam pillows have a curve instead of an edge. When I use the Pillow Cube, the sharp angle digs into my neck.

The Pillow Cube Pro Pillow is a solid memory foam pillow in the shape of a rectangular box. The pillow is available in a 4-inch, 5-inch, and 6-inch size. The website, as of my time of purchase, advertises that the different sizes allow the pillow to perfectly fit the pillow gap, but the website also recommends the 5-inch option for everyone between 5'4" and 6'3". Since that is a wide range of heights and body types, I was already skeptical that the pillow would fit perfectly. As expected, now that I've tried the pillow, I can confirm that the 5-inch pillow doesn't fit my shoulder gap perfectly. Though the 5-inch starting loft is a relatively low starting loft, because the foam is incredibly firm and doesn't compress when I lay my head on it, the effective loft of the pillow feels relatively thick. My neck ends up angled uncomfortably when side-sleeping. In general, the 1-inch gap between sizes is the same as the size difference between a size 6 shoe and a size 9 shoe (for both men and women), so I would expect many people won't be able to find a perfect fit. Instead, for side-sleepers, I recommend looking at an adjustable pillow like the Saybrook or Coop pillows, which can be micro-adjusted to the perfect fit.

I consider the shape of the pillow a downside as well. The boxy shape makes the pillow worse for back-sleeping and stomach-sleeping because I can feel the corners dig into my neck. Though the pillow is designed for side-sleepers, the way the pillow affects back-sleepers and stomach-sleepers is worth noting because many people switch among the positions even if they favor side-sleeping. Even for side-sleeping, the edges don't improve the experience for me. Instead, I would prefer the corners to be rounded out, which would result in the same shape as a normal memory foam pillow.

The Pillow Cube foam feels much firmer than the Weekender memory foam, which already feels much firmer than the Tempur-Pedic memory foam. I consider the Tempur-Pedic memory foam extra soft, the Weekender memory foam extra firm, and the Pillow Cube memory foam off-the-charts-firm, applying unwanted pressure against my ear and jaw when I use it. The Pillow Cube has a removable zippered cover, and taking it off reveals the grey foam inside. The foam reminds me of the industrial foam used to pad furniture in moving trucks or the foam used in gymnasiums.

Putting the cover back on is a daunting challenge. Imagine the difficulty of fitting a duvet cover on a duvet. The corners are always annoying to fit into the cover. Now imagine there are eight corners instead of four corners, as well as eight edges that also need to fit into the proper place in the cover. The most difficult part, though, is getting the foam into the zipper opening in the first place. The zipper sits along the long edge of the pillow, and even though the long edge measures 24 inches, I measure the zipper opening at only 19 inches in length. As a result, the challenge is to fit an ultra firm 24 inch by 12 inch by 5 inch block of foam through a one-dimensional line-shaped zipper opening that measures 19 inches long.

If you want a pillow that is as firm as possible, then the Pillow Cube might be an option, but I would recommend trying the Weekender first because the Weekender memory foam is already very firm. If you want a pillow designed for side-sleepers, I would recommend looking at an adjustable pillow like Saybrook or Coop.

Update (1 year later): I tried the newest version of the Pillow Cube Pro, and it seems they updated the firmness of the foam from much too firm to medium firm. They also updated the zipper opening for the cover to wrap around. These are welcome updates for this pillow. Unfortunately, at the new firmness level, the pillow is now too thin when I lay my head down because it has more give. The pillow went from angling my head upward to angling it downward. They advertise that side-sleepers need a pillow that fits the shoulder gap, but this pillow does not solve the problem. If you are a side-sleeper, you need a pillow that is adjustable to fit your shoulder gap. Adding a right angle does not solve anything.