[Product Review] AirFit P10 versus DreamWear

[cmk17]

This is a comparison.

The new DreamWear is more expensive -- around $109. The Dreamwear comes with a rubberized face mask and 4 pillows -- small, medium, medium wide and large. The pillows are made of the same rubberized material with an open hole away from your notes that loudly releases air. The hole under your nose is just that, a hole. It works for you or it doesn't. For back sleeper, no problem. Some side sleepers will need to reset the mask every time they move from one said to the other. The hose is on the top of your head. Once you lie down, you can almost forget about your hose for the rest of the night. That's fabulous.

The AirFit has been around longer and can be found for around $90. Mine was $99. I got the AirFit P10 for her which came with XS, S, and M sized pillows and gray and pink head strap. The air release in the face-mask is quiet. Very very diffuse and quiet. Every manufacturer should take note.

The Dreamwear is a heavier mask and has much more material around the face than the AirFit. But man is it comfortable. I had no bruises. None. No painful spots. None. That alone was awesome and I look forward to a time when more masks are like this.

When sizing the mask, I clearly needed a small pillow. The medium headset was fine. Unfortunately the hole in the small pillow closed for me for some/much of the night. No leaks but little air. I had to wiggle it around to get it to re-open. The next night I used the medium pillow and had a good night in terms of statistics -- but every time I turned over I had to figure out how to get it set back under my nose so that it stopped leaking. If I were a back sleeper (or even a motionless sleeper) it would  not have been a problem.

The AirFit let me sleep in any position without needing to re-align the pillows. And re-aligning the pillows took little thought and little time. Pop it out; pop it back. Yea, my nose was bruised the first night. And when I increased the size of the pillow, my nose was bruised again. But at some point, after the structureless form of the DreamWear, the simply structured AirFit P10 was a pleasure.

So here's my bottom line:
I love the simplicity of the AirFit P10. People have complained about the straps but I love the overall simplicity of the entire mask. It takes a minute to put on, and requires little to no re-arranging at night. I just sleep and roll around and sleep some more. The hose does wrap around my neck a bit. Luckily it hasn't been too tight. Sigh.

I love how there are no sharp edges anywhere on the DreamWear. While the structureless form will be perfect for some and not for others. If you rock and roll at night like I do, it's unlikely to keep you dreaming. The connection to the hose at the top of the head is fantastic. I paid no attention to the hose all night. Weird. The weight of the hose in the Airfit was noticeable after using the DreamWear. Oh well.

I plan to return the DreamWear despite all the positives, I just can't move around and breathe well using it.

Your mileage may vary.

Best,
cmk17

[cate1898]

Nice comparison review! I have used both but had too much leaking with the P10's and having to rearrange the pillows a bit when turning in bed, but I did not have the 'for her' version. I'm thinking after my insurance kicks in pending sleep doc prescribing final machine (I'm still on the loaner), I may purchase the P10's For Her to try again as I loved the simplicity of the headgear.

However, I'm thinking my primary mask will be the DreamWear when ordering my machine. I LOVE the hose attachment being at the top of the head. As you pointed out, no attention is required to do with the hose on this mask. I've had my best leak rate so far using this mask. And I've used the Swift FX and had better results with it than the P10's, perhaps because I was able to tighten the headgear where I couldn't for the P10's.

Once again, thanks for a great comparison review!

[ISnoreBadly]

cmk17 - I started with the P10 in July and switched to the DreamWear at the end of October. I had some of the same issues that you reported - when moving the pillows needed to be realigned - but have found that by tightening the headgear slightly it kept the pillow from moving around. Now I'm able to sleep on my side, my stomach, even my right side (which is facing away from my machine) without touching the mask at all. Every once in a while I'll need to push the straps down on the back of my head but rarely have to touch the pillow. Some mornings I wake up and am surprised that the mask is still on because I don't feel at it all!

I feel that I'm sleeping better with the DreamWear and I'm slowly getting to the point where I don't feel dead tired at the end of the day.

[cmk17]

Dear ISnoreBadly:

That's great. That was my hope/fantasy. Instead I called my DME and they sent me another AirFit P10 to replace the DreamWear. (The other AirFit I had purchased on my own.) Since I used the DreamWear, they left it with me. I may try it again sometime in the future but am generally having really comfortable nights with the AirFit P10.

Here's to sleeping well!

cmk17

[sonicboom]

I too gave the dreamwear mask a trial run. I'm not a fan of it at least as compares to the P10s. I found the noise and air volume coming out of the small rectangular nasal vent hole in the front of the cushion too loud and too much. It wakes me up a few times a night disrupting sleep. Although I had one 0.0 ahi night I didn't feel as rested as a solid night with the p10s. I'm going to keep it as an emergency backup though. The p10s are amazingly quiet and the results in terms of how I feel in the AM (the ultimate test) are unsurpassed.

[jetstreamblue]

I recently had a chance to trial the DreamWear mask for 3 nights. For background, I had been using the AirFit P10 for about 1.5 years previously. Before that, I briefly used an AirFit F10 full face mask before I realized I couldn't stand it and switched to the pillows. I have been quite happy with the P10 but wanted to try something new.

In-Store Fit:
When I trial fitted the DreamWear in store, I was almost immediately sure I would like it. It felt very comfortable on the face, especially not having anything sticking in the nose. I have a rather large head, so I needed the large size head gear for proper fit. The small size nose piece seemed to work well for me. In comparison, I use the large size pillows for the P10, and being one-size, I found the P10 headgear a tight fit on my head at first, but it loosens up over time. I also really liked the idea of the top connection port on the DreamWear and not having any hoses in front of me. Although I normally have a hose holder at home, when I travel I sometimes struggle a bit with finding a good way to route the hose. After trying it in store for 10 minutes or so, I was ready to purchase, but (fortunately) they didn't have the large size headgear in stock, so instead I took their trial mask home for a test.

Sleep Trial:
It became apparent to me quickly that the mask was not as good as I had been hoping once I tried to sleep with it. First, the noise is much more noticeable compared to the P10. You can hear both exhaust ports (the one on the nose piece, and the one at the hose connector). And it seems that the size air channels also conduct sound close to your ears. Second, I had air leaks every time I slept on my side and nudged the mask, unless I tightened the headgear to the point where it was no longer comfortable. Finally, I found that during the night, my face started getting hot since the silicon material of the headgear means the skin can't breathe on those areas. I slept poorly for all three nights, and on the third night, I finally gave up in the middle of the night and switched back to my P10.

Overall, I really wanted this mask to work, but was so disappointed it didn't. The concept is good, but for me at least, it seems the simplicity of the P10 is unbeatable. I'm still looking for a backup mask to wear when my nose is sore, but unfortunately the DreamWear won't be it.

[somnia16]

Do any of you have to use a chin strap with the P10s? If so , which have you found worked best?

[Crimson Nape]

Do any of you have to use a chin strap with the P10s? If so , which have you found worked best?

Out of 4 different types I've tried, the adjustable Ruby has worked the best for me.

For more information on chinstraps, go to the search link at the top of the page and enter chinstrap as the search term. You will find many threads on this site about them.

[MitchS]

The Ruby adjustable works very well for me, also. The one I use fits small, medium and large. It is the only style I have used so I can't tell you how it compares to others.

[PaulaO2]

Let's keep in mind that this is the Review Forum. This thread is here because it was a review between the two products. Let's keep it that way. If you wish to discuss other things further, start a new thread on the Main Forum. Else I'll have to, like, click stuff and move stuff and flex my hammer muscles. Sigh.