In depth: v shaped pillows explained
What 5,000 Argos reviews can and cannot tell you
The Habitat V pillow's 5,133 reviews make it one of the most reviewed bedding products at Argos. With that many, the 4.5 average and 90% recommendation rate are stable: a few more good or bad reviews will not change them.
What reviews cannot tell you is how the pillow compares with others side by side, because each reviewer usually owns only one. That is why we compare averages and recommendation rates across pillows rather than relying on any single review.
Reviews also skew towards early impressions. A pillow that feels great in the first week may flatten by month six, and few buyers come back to update their review. Look for reviews that mention how long the reviewer has used the pillow.
For the six pillows here, the review count ranges from zero to more than five thousand, which is why the number of reviews carries as much weight as the average in our scores.
We also note when a retailer page shows too few reviews to count. On this page, three of the six pillows fall below our threshold of ten, and that is stated in each of their assessments.
Silentnight against Habitat: two strong choices, split by details
On 14 November the Silentnight cost £15 and the Habitat £16, both at Argos. Both are hollowfibre, both come with a pillowcase and both can be machine washed at 40°C.
The Silentnight adds a zip off pillowcase, tumble drying for the whole pillow and a two year guarantee, and its average rating is a little higher. The Habitat has fifteen times as many reviews and is longer, which suits sitting up against a hard headboard.
If washing and guarantee matter most, choose the Silentnight. If you want the pillow with the longest track record or need extra length, choose the Habitat. Either is a sound buy.
Both were in Argos's range on the assessment date, so you can usually check one in a store before buying, which is rarely possible with pillows sold online only.
For a couple, buying one of each is a reasonable answer: the Habitat for the person who sits up against the headboard to read, the Silentnight for the person who needs to wash it often, at a combined cost of about £31.
Looking after a V pillow so it keeps its shape
Plump a hollowfibre V pillow daily by shaking it and pushing the filling back into the arms. The point of the V, where you lean, flattens first.
Wash it as the label says, usually at 40°C, and dry it completely before use; hollowfibre that stays damp inside can smell. Tumble drying on low with a couple of tennis balls helps restore loft, where the label allows it.
Replace it when it no longer springs back after plumping. For a pillow used daily, that may be within a year or two.
A pillow protector, if you can find one in a V shape, keeps the pillow itself cleaner between washes and extends its life.
Rotate the pillow occasionally so the same spot does not take your weight every night; it spreads the wear across the filling.
Hollowfibre against shredded memory foam in a V pillow
Most V pillows are hollowfibre because it is cheap, light and washable. Shredded memory foam, used in the Pillow Factory bamboo V pillow, is heavier and moulds more closely, and it springs back more slowly when you lift your weight off.
For sitting up, the difference shows over hours rather than minutes. Hollowfibre tends to compress at the point of the V, where your weight rests, while shredded foam shifts around but keeps more of its volume.
For washing, hollowfibre wins. Memory foam usually cannot go in the machine, and the Pillow Factory memory foam pillow's washing instructions are not stated, so a removable cover becomes essential.
Our ranking favours the hollowfibre pillows because they have far more evidence behind them, not because foam is worse. If a foam V pillow builds up a solid review record, it could rank higher in a future update.
A firm hollowfibre V pillow is a middle ground. Pillow Factory describes its cheaper V pillow as firm, which may suit people who find soft hollowfibre too squashy, but with a single review there is no confirmation yet.
Price follows filling here: the memory foam V pillow costs about twice as much as the cheapest hollowfibre one.
Buying guide: choosing the right v shaped pillow
A V pillow is for sitting up and side sleeping, not for replacing your bed pillow
A V shaped pillow does a different job from an ordinary pillow. Its two arms wrap around your shoulders when you sit up in bed, so you can read, watch television or feed a baby without a pile of pillows sliding down the headboard. Lying on your side, one arm of the V can sit under your bump or between your knees while the point supports your head.
That is how most Argos reviewers describe using the two Habitat pillows and the Silentnight: as a back rest in bed, for reading, for nursing and during pregnancy. Few use them as their only pillow for sleeping on their back all night.
If what you want is a better pillow for sleeping, look at our separate comparison of bed pillows, where independent reviewers have assessed comfort. A V pillow is the right buy when you spend time sitting up in bed or need support in more than one place at once.
The shape also suits people who share a bed and want to sit up without disturbing the other person. A V pillow takes less room than three or four stacked pillows and stays in place when you lean on it.
Back sleepers can use the point of the V under the neck with the arms running down beside the shoulders, which some people find comfortable when propped up a little higher than usual. If you snore or have reflux and want to sleep slightly raised, a wedge pillow is designed for that job and holds an angle more reliably than a V.
A V pillow also works well on a sofa, where its arms stop you sliding sideways. The slimmer fleece Habitat suits that use particularly well.
For people recovering in bed for a few days, a V pillow can make long periods of sitting up more comfortable than stacked pillows, which slide apart. Follow any advice from your hospital or GP on positioning; we do not assess medical uses.
In short, buy a V pillow for the times you are awake in bed or need support in two places at once, and keep your regular pillow for the rest of the night.
Thousands of reviews are worth more than a perfect score from a handful
Owner reviews are the main evidence here, so how many there are matters as much as the average. The Habitat V pillow has 5,133 reviews at Argos averaging 4.5; the Slumberdown has 8 averaging 4.4. The averages look similar, but the first is a reliable picture of what thousands of buyers found and the second could change completely with a few more reviews.
We count reviews only above a threshold of ten, and we weight them by volume. That is why the Silentnight, with 342 reviews and a 4.6 average, ranks just above the Habitat despite having far fewer reviews: both have enough to be reliable, and the Silentnight's average and recommendation rate are slightly higher.
The percentage who recommend a product is a useful second figure. It ranges here from 91% for the Silentnight to 71% for the Slumberdown. A large gap between the average star rating and the recommendation rate can mean that buyers like the pillow but had a problem worth reading about.
Reviews in a maker's own shop are harder to judge than those at a large retailer. Pillow Factory's shop showed one review for the firm V pillow and none for the memory foam version on the assessment date, which is not enough to say how they perform.
Read the lowest rated reviews too. For hollowfibre V pillows, the most common complaint in reviews of this kind of product is that the filling flattens over time, and a pattern of that comment tells you more than a single five star review.
Check that reviews relate to the exact product. Argos groups some colours and variants together, and a retailer page may show reviews for an older version of a pillow under the same listing.
Our threshold of ten reviews is a minimum, not a guarantee. Twenty reviews averaging 4.8 still carry less weight than three hundred averaging 4.5, because a few unusual buyers can move a small average a long way.
The recommendation rate is also a quick filter when you browse. Anything under about 80% deserves a closer look at the negative reviews before you buy.
Finally, look at the dates of reviews where a retailer shows them. A burst of recent reviews tells you the current version of the pillow is what reviewers are describing, rather than one sold years ago under the same name.
Washable matters more than it sounds for a pillow you lean on every day
A V pillow used for sitting up in bed gets more contact with skin, hair and the occasional cup of tea than a bed pillow under a pillowcase. Being able to wash it properly is therefore a real advantage.
The Silentnight has the most complete answer: a zip off pillowcase, and a pillow that can be machine washed at 40°C and tumble dried, according to Argos. The plain Habitat V pillow is also machine washable at 40°C, with a cover suitable for tumble drying.
The fleece Habitat is the exception among the well reviewed pillows: Argos lists it as sponge clean only. One reviewer reported machine washing it anyway, but following the care label is the safer course, so expect to keep it clean with a removable pillowcase of your own.
The Slumberdown can be machine washed but its cover is not removable, so the whole pillow goes in the machine each time. For the Pillow Factory memory foam pillow, washing instructions are not stated on the product page.
Drying matters as much as washing. A large hollowfibre pillow can take a long time to dry right through, and the Silentnight and plain Habitat both allow tumble drying, which speeds that up. Air drying alone can take a day or more.
If a pillow cannot be washed, a spare pillowcase is the next best thing. Buy one that fits the V shape, or the pillowcase will bunch at the point and lose its tidy fit.
Check the care label when the pillow arrives, not just the listing. Listings and labels occasionally disagree, and the label is what the maker stands behind.
For households with pets, a machine washable pillow and cover is close to essential, since hair and dander build up quickly on anything left on a bed or sofa.
Wash a new pillow's cover before first use if it arrives smelling of packaging.
Size decides whether a V pillow wraps around you or just props you up
The pillows here range from the slim Habitat fleece at 80 x 30 cm to the Silentnight at 76 x 68 cm in the Argos listing, or 74 x 74 x 48 cm on Silentnight's own page. A wider V wraps further around the shoulders, which suits sitting up for long periods; a narrower one is easier to tuck between knees or use on a sofa.
The plain Habitat is the longest at 92 cm, according to Argos, which gives support from the lower back up when you sit against a headboard. That is useful in beds without a padded headboard.
For a single bed or a sofa, the fleece Habitat's 80 x 30 cm is the most practical size. In a double bed shared with a partner, a large V can take up more room than you expect, so measure before you buy.
Pillowcases are not standard for V pillows. The Silentnight and the plain Habitat come with one; if you want spares, check that the shop sells cases for that size.
The way you will use it decides the size you need. For sitting up in a double bed, the larger Silentnight or the long Habitat wraps around you; for lying on your side with the pillow between your knees, a smaller one such as the Slumberdown is easier to handle.
Dimensions listed by retailers sometimes differ from the maker's. The Silentnight is an example: 76 x 68 cm in the Argos specifications and 74 x 74 x 48 cm on Silentnight's own page. When it matters, check with the seller before ordering.
Pillow height matters too. A taller V props you up more steeply; a flatter one lets you recline further. Few listings state the height, so reviews that mention sitting angle are worth looking for.
A V pillow that is too big for your bed will end up on the floor; one that is too small will not support your shoulders. The middle sizes, around 70 to 80 cm across, suit most double beds.
Hollowfibre is cheap and washable; memory foam holds its shape
Five of the six pillows here are filled with polyester hollowfibre, which is light, cheap and usually washable. Its drawback is that it flattens with use, especially in the point of the V where you lean most. Plumping it daily helps.
The Pillow Factory bamboo V pillow is the only one filled with shredded memory foam. Memory foam moulds to your back and holds its shape better than hollowfibre, but it is heavier, cannot usually be machine washed and costs more.
Firmness is rarely stated. Slumberdown lists medium support and Pillow Factory describes its hollowfibre V as firm, but there is no common scale. Reviews are the best guide: look for comments on whether the pillow stays firm after a few weeks.
If you lean heavily on a V pillow for hours, for example while recovering in bed, a firmer filling will hold up better. For occasional reading, a softer hollowfibre pillow is fine.
Hollowfibre also suits people with feather allergies, since none of these pillows contains feathers or down. All six are filled with synthetic materials, according to their listings.
Weight is a small consideration. Argos lists the Silentnight at 1.1 kg; memory foam pillows are typically heavier, which makes them a little harder to move around a bed or carry to a sofa.
Fleece and microfibre covers feel warm and soft; cotton covers feel cooler. The Silentnight's 50/50 microfibre and cotton cover sits between the two, which suits most bedrooms year round.
If you are sensitive to heat at night, a cotton rich cover is the safer choice. Fleece suits a cool room or a sofa in winter better than a warm bedroom in summer.
Whatever the filling, a pillow that feels too firm at first often softens within a week or two of use, while one that feels too soft rarely firms up.
Pregnancy and feeding are the uses most reviewers mention
Many buyers choose a V pillow during pregnancy, to support the bump while lying on one side, and later for feeding, to support the baby at the right height. Argos reviewers of the Silentnight and Habitat pillows often mention both uses.
For pregnancy alone, a dedicated pregnancy pillow may suit better, because it is longer and supports bump, back and knees at once. Our separate comparison of pregnancy pillows covers those.
A V pillow's advantage is that it stays useful afterwards, as a reading or feeding support, and costs much less. The Silentnight at £15 costs a fraction of a dedicated pregnancy pillow.
For feeding, a pillow that can be machine washed is close to essential. The Silentnight and the plain Habitat are the two to choose for that reason.
During pregnancy, many people find that one V pillow is not enough on its own and add an ordinary pillow between the knees. That combination costs less than most dedicated pregnancy pillows and leaves you with two useful pillows afterwards.
For feeding, look for a pillow that is firm enough not to collapse under the weight of a baby and your arm. Reviews that mention feeding are the best guide here.
After the birth, the same pillow can support you while you sit up to feed at night, which is often when a V pillow earns its keep most.
Many buyers keep using a V pillow long after the baby stage, for reading or as a sofa cushion, which makes it one of the better value pregnancy purchases.
A guarantee is rare on a cheap pillow, so take it into account where it exists
Only two pillows here have a guarantee stated: two years for the Silentnight and one year for the Slumberdown, both according to Argos. For the other four, no guarantee is stated on the pages we read.
A guarantee on a pillow covers faults such as split seams or a broken zip rather than gradual flattening. It is still a sign that the maker expects the pillow to last, and it gives you a route back if the cover fails after a few washes.
At around £15, a pillow that lasts a year costs about 4p a night. Paying a little more for a washable pillow with a guarantee is a better use of money than replacing a cheaper pillow every few months.
Keep the receipt or order confirmation. Argos and most retailers need it for a guarantee claim.
Retailer guarantees and returns are separate. Argos, for example, has its own returns policy on top of the maker's guarantee, so check both if you are unsure whether a pillow will suit you.
If a pillow arrives vacuum packed, give it a day to recover its full size before judging it. Several reviewers of hollowfibre pillows mention that they look thin straight out of the packaging.
If a pillow does not match its description, for example a cover that is not removable when the listing says it is, that is a reason to return it under consumer law, separate from any guarantee.
Retailers' own brands, such as Habitat at Argos, often come with the retailer's returns policy rather than a separate maker's guarantee, which is why no guarantee is stated for them.
A two year guarantee on a £15 pillow is unusual, which is one more reason the Silentnight comes first.
Cheap V pillows are fine, but cheap and unreviewed is a gamble
Prices here are low across the board: from £12.99 for the Pillow Factory firm V to £24.99 for its memory foam version. The difference between the cheapest and the top pick is about £2.
With so little money at stake, the real question is evidence. The Silentnight and the plain Habitat have hundreds or thousands of reviews; the Pillow Factory pillows have one or none. Spending £2 more for a pillow thousands of people have used is usually the better choice.
If you do buy an unreviewed pillow, check the returns policy and the care instructions before you order, and keep the packaging until you know it suits you.
Several of the cheaper pillows are sold with descriptions that promise relief from back or neck pain or help after surgery. We do not assess those claims; a V pillow is a comfort product, and for pain you should speak to a GP or physiotherapist.
The memory foam option shows the trade off clearly. At £24.99, it costs more than any hollowfibre pillow here except the fleece Habitat, and it is the only one with no reviews at all on the assessment date.
If you want memory foam, wait for reviews to build up or choose a seller with a generous returns policy. With hollowfibre, the well reviewed options are cheap enough that the risk is small.
Buying two cheap well reviewed V pillows, one for the bedroom and one for the sofa, costs about the same as one unreviewed memory foam V pillow.
For most buyers, the safest path is simple: pick one of the two well reviewed, machine washable pillows at the top of the list, and keep the receipt.
