Cabeau Evolution Neck Pillow Review: My Go-to Long-haul Travel Pillow

I don’t fall asleep on planes without a trusted neck pillow–I just can’t get comfortable without my neck propped up. After testing a handful of pillows through the years, the Cabeau Evolution Neck Pillow is the one that still comes with me.

I picked it up actually in the airport before boarding a flight from Hong Kong back to NYC, and it came at the recommendation of my cousin Carolyn, a very frequent long-haul flyer. I wound up using it for every red-eye flight, multi-hour train ride and overnight bus since the day I bought it.

Why the Cabeau works for me

The high memory-foam walls sit right under my head on both sides, and keep my head propped up. The Cabeau basically helps my head avoid flopping. Have you ever had your head fall to the side during an airplane nap and wake up with an absurd neck-ache? That was me, before I landed on the Cabeau as the best solution for longer flights and quality naps.

The soft velvet-style fabric cover zips off for a quick wash between trips and I’ll be honest: I didn’t even know this for the first year I had it. I washed it a year after some really memorable (and far-away) vacations, and was delighted at how it came right out of the wash to hang dry, all clean.

The whole product compresses into the included pouch so it clips onto my backpack instead of taking up space inside.

Real travel use cases

• Long-haul flights: Sixteen-hour flights from Hong Kong to NYC are brutal, but the support from the Cabeau Evolution kept me asleep through turbulence, really loud passengers behind us and middle-of-the-night cabin announcements.
• Road trips & buses: The firmness helps on bumpy overnight buses in Southeast Asia, where the flimsy pillows provided by the bus company give me neckaches. I’ll also use my Cabeau if we’re doing some night driving down from New England to back home, while Dan is handling the driving itself.
• Hotel nights: When a hotel pillow is too flat, I flip the Cabeau upside down and use it as bonus lumbar support while catching up on emails or bedtime stories in the hotel bed.

What could be better

• The material on the outside of the pillow itself doesn’t really cool you off if you’re using it somewhere with no AC, but, Cabeau is always making new ‘cooling’ neck pillow products that I’d really recommend checking out.
• The packed size is still bigger than inflatable pillows; I clip it to my bag or backpack, but it flops around when I walk around the airport.
• In the first Cabeau model I owned, the Velcro strap that cinches it inside its travel bag to compress it started getting weak and coming off at the sides. I think there’s room for improvement there, if you plan to use the travel case.

Quick takeaways before you buy

• Structured memory foam keeps your neck aligned when you sleep upright, even if you’re juggling a small kid or a laptop.
• Removable cover survives dozens of washes without pilling, which is huge if you’re on back-to-back trips.
• Packs into its pouch with a strap that attaches to luggage, so it’s always within reach when boarding begins.
• The Evolution S3 upgrade adds “neck catch” straps, but the original Evolution is the sweet spot for price and comfort in my book.

The Cabeau Evolution is still my default neck pillow and the one I recommend in my lists of long-flight accessories and essential travel products for women. If you spot me boarding a long-haul, it’s clipped to my bag.