In-depth Comparison (2024): Saybrook Adjustable Pillow vs. Sleepgram Adjustable Pillow

Shredded Memory Foam and Polyfiber Mix

The Saybrook Adjustable Pillow is by far the most comfortable pillow I've tried, and it's the only pillow that stops me from tossing and turning at night. I used to think that it was normal to wake up periodically to shift my weight, but because the Saybrook pillow can adjust to the exact loft (height level) I need to cradle my head in place, I no longer wake up in the middle of the night to move my pillow around. I'm amazed by how much deeper my sleep is with the Saybrook pillow, and I wake up more well-rested in the morning. It's also the perfect combination of softness and firmness. I'd describe the consistency as firm enough to support my head but also soft enough so that it doesn't hurt my ears or jaw. I'm obsessed with the Saybrook pillow, and I use it as my personal pillow now.

The Saybrook pillow is one of three adjustable pillows I tested that use a combination of shredded memory foam and polyester fiber in the filling. The shredded memory foam can be removed or added back in to adjust the loft, and the polyester fibers smooth out the fill material so that lumpiness isn't an issue. The pillows can be unzipped for easy access to the filling inside. For side-sleepers, the adjustable loft is a huge advantage. The key to finding a good pillow is finding the right loft and the right softness, and an adjustable loft takes care of one half the equation perfectly. I like these adjustable pillows in general, but I like the Saybrook pillow the most because of the high-quality fill material.

The Saybrook pillow distinguishes itself in the filling. Saybrook uses a blend called "Lion Down Alternative," and I find the pun pretty amusing. Compared to the other shredded memory foam and polyester fiber blends, Lion Down Alternative has a higher proportion of memory foam, and the overall feel of the pillow is more like a memory foam pillow. When I sleep on the other adjustable pillows in this review, I feel more like I'm sleeping on a polyester pillow. In addition, the Saybrook memory foam feels to me like it's the highest quality. Pieces of memory foam in the Wondersleep pillow feel hard and uncomfortable to me while the Coop memory foam feels more like regular foam in my opinion. The Coop foam reminds me of the foam used in Walkman over-the-ear headphones from the 80's (not necessarily uncomfortable, but it has a different, more mundane feel), while the Saybrook memory foam has the signature squish I've come to expect from memory foam. The high proportion of memory foam pieces combined with the slight amount of polyester fiber results in a medium softness / firmness. It cradles my head with ample support when I sleep on my side, and I don't find myself tossing and turning at night when I use it. At the same time, the pillow still feels soft enough to be comfortable when I squish it, and it isn't so firm that I feel pressure against my ears or jaw. I can still turn my head without feeling pushback while lying down if I want to, which isn't true for some of the firmer pillows.

In the past, I had tried low-cost shredded memory foam pillows off of Amazon that were in the $20 - $50 price range, and they almost made me give up on shredded memory foam pillows. The pieces of memory foam were hard and stiff, causing the pillows to feel lumpy. Many of them didn't have the polyester fibers mixed in, unlike the Saybrook, Coop, and Wondersleep pillows, and the lack of polyester fibers exacerbated the lumpiness. Some of the pieces of foam in these low-cost pillows were sticky or had a rind on them that made me suspect the foam was a byproduct of mattress production. The Saybrook pillow (and the Coop pillow) use all new foam, and these pillows don't feel lumpy. If you've tried $20 - $50 shredded memory foam pillows in the past and have been disappointed, I would give the Saybrook Adjustable Pillow a try. You'll probably be surprised how different the Saybrook pillow feels. If you haven't tried a shredded memory foam pillow before, I recommend avoiding the $20 - $50 pillows. These types of pillows are noticeably better in the luxury pillow price range.

The Saybrook pillow comes in a zippered tube that acts as a measuring cup for removing filling. The tube instructs sleepers to take out enough to fill the tube in order to have a thinner pillow. I appreciate the rough guidance on how much filling to remove for people who want a lower loft, though obviously everyone should make their own micro-adjustments to get the right loft for them. I personally took out enough to fill the entire tube for side-sleeping. I also appreciate that there is a place for me to store the extra filling in case I need it later. The downside for the Saybrook is that it doesn't come with an additional bag of filling, while Coop provides an extra bag. However, this isn't a deal-breaker because I'd guess most people won't use all the filling. In addition, I measure 3.6 lbs of filling inside the standard-sized Saybrook pillow and 3.2 lbs of filling inside the standard-sized Coop pillow. The extra bag of Coop filling brings its overall weight to 3.7 lbs, so the total amount of filling for both pillows turns out to be very similar based on my measurements.

For back-sleeping, I use the same amount of fill as side-sleeping with the Saybrook pillow. When I sleep on my back, I don't need the thickness to match my shoulder size, and instead, I care about giving my neck support while making sure my head doesn't get pushed too forward. The tolerance range for the loft is higher when I sleep on my back. The loft I use for side-sleeping works for back-sleeping on the Saybrook pillow as well.

The Saybrook pillow uses a removable cover made of bamboo fabric. The fabric has a slight sheen, and the texture sits halfway between silk and knit wool. Out of all the pillow covers, I enjoy the Saybrook and Tempur-Pedic covers the most.

Overall, the Saybrook pillow has really impressed me, and I've been obsessively recommending it to all my friends and anyone who will listen. I like the adjustability and the quality of the filling. I like the way the bamboo cover feels against my cheeks. Sleeping on this pillow, I feel refreshed in the morning without any jaw pain or neck pain. It's been a long journey, but I've finally found the perfect pillow.

Update (8 months later): I've been sleeping on the Saybrook Adjustable Pillow for a while now, and it still sleeps like new! I'm very happy with the quality and durability of this pillow. I fluff this pillow in the dryer on a no-heat, gentle setting once every 2 months like the instructions say, and the pillow stays at the loft I want. I attribute this to the high-quality memory foam material.

Polyester Fiber (Down Alternative)

The Sleepgram Adjustable Pillow is an extra soft polyester fiber pillow with a thick starting loft. Though nominally adjustable based on the pillow-in-pillow design that allows the sleeper to keep or remove two layers of inner pillows, I wouldn't consider the Sleepgram pillow fully adjustable because of the softness, which limits its appeal for those who want more support, and the inability to do micro-adjustments. The Sleepgram pillow can be a good option for stomach-sleepers, but I would not recommend it for side-sleepers and back-sleepers.

The Sleepgram pillow uses a pillow-in-pillow design similar to the Casper pillow. In fact, when I first unboxed the pillows, I thought they were the same pillow with different logos. However, on a closer look, I found three main differences. The first difference is the softness of the pillows. Both pillows have the same starting loft, but my head sinks in more when I sleep on the Sleepgram pillow compared to the Casper pillow. The Casper pillow is already so soft that my head sinks significantly, so I was surprised that the Sleepgram pillow had even less support. Even though the Sleepgram pillow starts at 10 inches of loft by my measurements, my head sinks so far into the pillow that I feel even less support than I get from pillows that start at half that loft. I would guess the difference between the Casper and Sleepgram softness comes from the friction in the polyester fibers. The Sleepgram polyester fibers glide very smoothly against each other, almost like silk strands. This means that the material appears to move to the side when I lay my head on the pillow. The Casper polyester fibers are also soft in terms of firmness, but they aren't as soft in terms of friction. Because of the softness of the Sleepgram pillow, I'm unable to get the support I need for side-sleeping, and this is one of the reasons I wouldn't consider the Sleepgram pillow fully adjustable.

The second difference is the number of inner pillows. The Sleepgram pillow has two inner pillows while the Casper pillow only has one. Nevertheless, the total starting loft is the same across the Sleepgram and Casper pillows as far as I can measure, so the Sleepgram inner pillows are individually thinner than the Casper inner pillow. I find this to be an advantage for the Sleepgram pillow because it does allow for more configuration options. Sleepgram labels one inner pillow with a blue tag and the other with a red tag. The instruction booklet that comes with the pillow says that the inner pillow with the blue tag is softer than the one with the red tag, so you can get different firmness levels by keeping different configurations of the two inner pillows. Because I can't get the support I need for side-sleeping on the Sleepgram pillow even with both inner pillows loaded inside, I tend to prefer stomach-sleeping when I use it. For stomach-sleeping, I'll remove the inner pillow with the blue tag. Though I appreciate the configuration options, I still prefer the ability to micro-adjust with the Saybrook and Coop pillows.

Finally, the zipper on the Casper pillow that I purchased feels significantly easier to operate for me compared to the zipper on the Sleepgram pillow that I purchased. This contributes to my overall perception that the Casper pillow has higher quality construction. The zipper on the Sleepgram pillow regularly stalls when I try to operate it.

For stomach-sleepers who might want to try out different loft levels on the softer end of the spectrum, the Sleepgram pillow can be a good option. For side-sleepers and back-sleepers, I'd recommend other options, especially if you want to feel your head supported by your pillow.