Sound Asleep PillowI’ll wager next to none, but then again, people might start saying it when you stroll up to them and mention yours not only plays music, but plays it from any MP3 player you have around, including the legendary iPod. We look at the first such pillow; the Sound Asleep.  If the name sounds familiar it might be because the Gadget Show (Mondays in the UK, Channel 5) have been giving them away in their most recent competitions, but not just because the concept is inherently geeky, but because the product is inherently good. For a starting point, the pillow itself is actually rather comfortable, much better than some of the cheap ones I’ve been laying my head onto the last few years, and it gives good support for my head-and-neck shape. It might be slightly harder than pillows some (rather more well off than myself) people use, and at £20 a pop you might have been expecting a bit more comfort. It hooks up to your MP3 player of choice courtesy of what looks suspiciously like an auxiliary cable (don’t worry, this is included, I know how hard it is to find one of these cables normally), and you use everything on the player as per usual. The sound is played from within the pillow itself, with what sounds like a mono-speaker on one side. However, this sound plays much better when laid on the unit, as it reverberates throughout the pillow adding a slight stereo effect, so don’t be put off from the tinny noise you get when not resting on it. The whole concept of listening to something to get to sleep is lost on me as I need silence to doze off. Alas, not only do other people find it useful, I actually found listening to podcasts or audiobooks when tucked-up in bed to be quite enjoyable! A good idea, nice gadget, and a rather pleasant pillow, all boxes ticked? I think so. Rating: 92% |
