NEMO’s Fillo HQ Travel Pillow

There are plenty of travel pillows out there, and most of them are fairly uninspiring. Sure, you’ll buy one — for way too much — in the airport if you’re desperate, but if you have time to think ahead, shopping around will go a long way.

NEMO’s travel pillow — the Fillo HQ — leaves a lot to be desired. The company specializes in pillows, pads and sleeping bags, so it’s safe to say these folks are the expert in sleeping on the go, but you wouldn’t know that from this product.

The Fillo folds up marvelously with a clasping mechanism that works better than other folding pillows. The pillow compacts down pretty well, so it should travel easily. It also rolls up so the fabric next to your skin is protected — no more gathering germs from the bathroom or the airplane. That’s where the positives largely stop.

The pillow is a bit different than most, in that it straps around your neck like a neck brace. The unique design claims to support your head better than most. But the interior pillow gets beat up from all the folding and doesn’t hold its shape. The design is anything but supportive, especially with a squished pillow inside. And it claims to adjust to different head and neck sizes, but I found it way too big. It doesn’t fit under my chin and the pillow, at its tightest cinch, is too loose to be effective. Overall, this is not worth the $50 price tag.