Review: Azurec U-Shape Inflatable Neck Pillow

Product Link: Azurec U-Shape Inflatable Neck Pillow
Vendor: MTgalaxy
Price: $12.99
Color Available: Blue, Brown, Green, Red 

The Azurec U-Shape pillow is very similar to the Sea to Summit Ultralight Aeros Pillow Traveller.  While this isn't exactly the same as STS and may skimp on some minor details, the price savings is huge in comparison

Pros:

• Comfortable, soft but firm
• Small size and very easy to carry especially for plane travel

Cons: 

• Deflation valve tough to open when deflated

Package Includes: 

• Azurec U-Shape Inflatable Pillow
• Stuff sack

The Azurec U-Shape Inflatable Neck Pillow arrived as a stuff sack thrown into the shipping box.  Attached to the stuff sack is a Azurec card that tells you there is a warranty to the product.  So even though this says Azurec, on the stuff sack it shows "Naturehike".  

Naturehike is a company that sell hiking, climbing, camping and outdoor sports products.  So it looks like Mtgalaxy purchase the Naturehike product and re-branded it Azurec.  This really doesn't affect anything but might be slightly confusing if you weren't prepared for it.

On the stuff sack is the cord lock that's holding the sack opening close.  Upon moving the cord lock aside and opening up the top, you can see the rolled up blue pillow.  The sack is very similar to the STS except that STS made their sack a similar color as the pillow.  I think Naturehike didn't do that for cost savings benefit.  It is cheaper to mass produce a single color instead of making multiple colors.  I would definitely have preferred if they did matching color sacks though. It just looks better!  There's a strap on the side of the sack that you can attach a rope or carabiner to hang against your backpack.

Opening up the sack bag, the pillow was rolled up tightly inside.  Once unrolled, you can see the Naturehike name on the right side of the pillow whereas STS has it at the top.  The wording from Naturehike uses a lighter color while the STS dark black fonts.  On the back of the pillow is where you'll find the inflate/deflate valve on the upper left hand corner.  
 

  
The valve is a two tier system.  Pull open the first tab and you'll find the inflate hole.  For this pillow, I was able to pull open the inflate valve with little effort.  But I couldn't open the deflate valve and didn't want to force it in fear of ripping the valve apart.

The Azurec valve is a bit different from the STS valve but this was not a deal breaker.  I didn't mind that its not as easy to open as the STS pillow's valve.  For me,  it's still very easy to both inflate and deflate the Azurec pillow.  

I was able to inflate the pillow to firm in five deep breathes.  The good thing was in between blowing into the hole, air did not leak out while I was in between breathes.  The Azurec pillow did not feel as soft as the STS pillow but it does come in close behind and I felt was much better than other inflatable neck pillows.  With neck pillows I like it really firm so it can support my head as it rolls to the side.  With this pillow adjusting firmness to what I need was easy and painless. 

The Azurec did loose some air after about 10 hours.  Since I couldn't measure air, the air loss is just a feeling of it not being as firm.  I'm not saying it totally deflated but rather it wasn't at that super firm level as when I had originally gotten it to be.  I do think its pretty normal for inflatable pillows to lose air after extended use and top up is necessary in most cases.  Thankfully topping up the pillow is pretty  easy.  Just open up the inflate valve and breathe into it again. 

So next thing to test was the ease of deflating the pillow.  I find that pulling on the deflation valve was much easier after the pillow is inflated.  I was able to get it open on the first try without applying much force.  It literally deflated in the space of two seconds. 

To repack the deflated pillow wasn't difficult.  You can either follow the original fold line or fold it in halves, then quarters etc.  I do warn that you should NOT close the deflate valve yet, because there is still a small amount of air in there that will get pushed out when you roll up the pillow.  So wait till you roll it up as much as possible before closing the valve up.

Overall, I love this Azurec pillow and think this is a very good substitution for the STS pillow especially since its at least half the price of the STS version.  I like that the form factor is so small and easy to throw into your bag, purse etc for plane travel.  Inflating and deflating the pillow literally takes less than 30 seconds.  You can take it out and inflate as you are waiting for plane to take off.  And on the reverse you can deflate it as we wait to leave the plane.  

Product Link: Azurec U-Shape Inflatable Neck Pillow
Vendor: MTgalaxy
Price: $12.99
Color Available: Blue, Brown, Green, Red 

Disclosure: I received this Azurec U Shape Inflatable Neck Pillow for testing purposes.  I'm not obligated to write positive reviews so my opinions are based on actual usage of the product.