Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-Cloud Dual Cooling Pillow, Queen, White

Why it's worth it

The TEMPUR-Cloud puts cooling gel on both faces, so the mid-night pillow flip that hot sleepers already do actually gets you somewhere. It's the foam pillow we'd suggest to someone with neck pain who refuses to give up that sink-in feel.

Memory foam has a heat problem baked into its structure — dense, closed cell, very good at holding warmth. No surface treatment fixes that completely. What Tempur-Pedic does here is put cooling gel layers on both sides, which doubles your usable cool surface and makes flipping the pillow a real strategy rather than a hopeful gesture. Owners describe it as noticeably cold on first contact, sometimes almost too cold.

If neck pain is your primary problem and heat is secondary, this ordering makes sense. TEMPUR-Material contours precisely to your head, neck and shoulders in a way that shredded fill and latex don't quite replicate. Multiple owners describe waking without neck pain for the first time in weeks. You're trading some thermal performance for pressure relief, and for some people that's obviously the right trade.

From our review of 8 cooling pillows for hot sleepers, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +Memory foam has a heat problem baked into its structure — dense, closed cell, very good at holding warmth
• +If neck pain is your primary problem and heat is secondary, this ordering makes sense
• +It's a medium profile at 6.4 inches, which works across sleeping positions rather than favoring one

What to know

• –The solid TEMPUR core still holds more heat than latex, a grid, or adjustable shredded fill
• –There's no fill adjustment
• –The gel layers lose some effectiveness over years of use