Sleep is an integral part of your health, but how much quality sleep are you getting? If you often wake up with head or neck pain, or experience a general feeling of malaise throughout the day, your pillow might be to blame.
Choosing the best pillow for you sleeping position, along with knowing how many pillows you should sleep with will significantly improve your in-bed comfort. If you're unsure whether yours is up to the job or not, there's a simple test you can do at home to figure it out.
To help, we asked Dr Verena Senn, neurobiologist and Head of Sleep research at Emma Sleep , to share her advice on all things pillow-shaped.
How to test if you're sleeping on the wrong pillow
When you're sleeping on the wrong pillow for your sleep style, you could be at risk of neck pain and posture issues. Thankfully there's an easy way to tell if yours suits you or not.
If you have a family member or friend nearby, Dr Senn says you can ask them to check your head, neck and spine while your head is resting on your pillow. You could also set up your phone or camera to take a photo of yourself lying down.
This is what to look for, according to Dr Senn: "Imagine a flat, horizontal line running up along the center of your spine. Your head should neither be above nor below your spine." If your bodyline curves or bends, then it's time to find a pillow that offers the support you need.
How many pillows should you sleep with?
"There is no one size fits all when it comes to the number of pillows," says Dr Senn. "Rather it's about figuring out the right size and number for your body." For some sleepers a single pillow will be sufficient, while for others two might offer the comfort and support they need.
The key thing to keep in mind is to ensure your head and neck are supported while in a neutral position, mitigating any stress on the seven vertebrae in your neck that can lead to pain and discomfort.
You'll also want to take into account the type of pillow you have. "If you have very thin pillows you might need more than one," explains Dr Senn, "whereas a large pillow may create un-alignment in your neck with just a single pillow."
How to pick a pillow and match it to your mattress
"When on the hunt for the perfect pillow, you should consider what type of sleeper you are," says Dr Verena. Knowing your dominant sleep style (side, back or stomach) will point you towards the ideal pillow.
How about sleepers who find themselves very hot at night? Dr Verena says the material of your pillowcase should be made with a breathable fabric – think cotton or copper – to allow heat to flow from your head into the atmosphere.
Here are Dr Verena's recommendations for each sleep style:
Sleeping on the best mattress will only do so much for your sleep quality if your pillow isn't holding up its end of the bargain. "When choosing a pillow, it’s always worth considering the type of mattress you have, as different mattresses provide varying levels of support," says Dr Senn.
Your mattress should support your whole body – hips, shoulder, head, and legs. Adding the right pillow will allow it to work in harmony with your bed to provide proper alignment and all-around comfort so you wake up refreshed.
Dr Senn emphasizes that "your pillow plays just as important a role in improving your sleep quality as your mattress." Spend some time testing out pillows of varying firmness and materials to find the right one, many come on a risk-free trial of at least 30 days too, so you'll have time to get acquainted.
Hopefully, even with such a small change, you'll be sleep better than ever. An easy way to tell is how you feel when you wake up - are you refreshed or tired and sore? You can also use one of the best sleep trackers to monitor your progress.
This article is part of TechRadar's Sleep Week 2022 (running until Saturday 19 March), a week-long celebration of all things slumber. We'll be bringing you proven techniques and tips to help you sleep better, and have rounded-up all the top-rated tech to transform your sleep.
GTA 5 on PS5 and Xbox Series X is actually worth buying again
I may have misjudged GTA 5 on PS5 and Xbox Series X, as it turns out Rockstar’s second console remaster of its 2013 open-world epic might be the best way to experience Michael, Franklin, and Trevor’s disturbingly violent and intertwining stories to date.
I wasn’t expecting to be impressed by GTA 5’s graphics – especially when I’ve also played the game on PC and enjoyed running over pedestrians and causing all sorts of chaos at frame rates that sit far above 60fps.
However, GTA 5 ’s new lighting engine is what struck me first. It has a transformative effect on almost every element of the game, and it’s hard to imagine what the bustling streets of Los Santos were like without it. From the neon-lit signs at night to the searing hot sun that hangs in the sky over Vespucci Beach, I've found myself awestruck at times at just how aesthetically pleasing it all looks.
Whether the impressive lighting model is a consequence of GTA 5’s ray tracing is unclear, though. Despite flicking between Fidelity, Performance, and Performance RT modes, which thankfully can be done on the fly, I didn’t notice a massive difference with ray tracing turned on or off. Other than the stark contrast between 30 and 60fps, which really helps combat the high input lag present in Rockstar’s games, each graphic mode looked great to my eye. Frame rate has also been rock solid in Performance RT mode so far, something which I feared would suffer.
Face lift
The resolution in all three graphic modes is also razor-sharp. GTA 5 on PS5 and Xbox Series X benefits from the new high-resolution textures which help breathe new life into the scenery and materials of Los Santos often grimy setting. It also appears as though the game’s color palette is more vibrant than before, though that might just be a consequence of how the PS5 uses a slightly lower gamma level than the PS4 .
It’s not just the graphical enhancements that help GTA 5 feel fresh again, though. The shorter load times are extremely welcome on console, as it now takes less than 30 seconds to load up GTA 5’s story mode – a massive improvement over the minute and a half wait we were subjected to on PS4. That’s still not quite as snappy as we’ve come to expect from other games this generation, but the speedy SSD in the PS5 does help ease the frustration of failing and waiting to restart a mission.
Sense of danger
GTA 5 also benefits from PS5-specific features on Sony's platform, such as haptic feedback and adaptive triggers , a feature that’s sorely missing on the Xbox Series X version of GTA 5. While not everyone’s a fan of Sony’s clever controller, I absolutely love the difference the pad’s haptics and triggers can make, especially to games I’ve already played before. The controller lets you feel the rumble of your car engine, the screech of your tires, and the rough terrain of Los Santos’ off-road, desert areas. It just makes Rockstar’s frighteningly detailed world a little more convincing.
Even the DualSense’s lightbar – a feature which I never thought I’d praise – furiously flashes red and blue when you’ve obtained a wanted level, and switches to green, blue, and orange, depending on which of the three protagonists you’re controlling. It’s something that was present on PS4, but due to the DualSense’s forward-facing and more prominent lightbar, it’s far more impactful this time around.
All of these changes might not sound like much individually, but they add up to reinvigorate a game that was, undoubtedly, ahead of its time. You only need to play something like Cyberpunk 2077 to get a poignant reminder of just how incredible and alive Rockstar’s open-worlds feel compared to the competition. It’s not even close.
It’s a steal
It would have been nice for a game as old as GTA 5 to get a free update, but it’s currently available for the surprisingly low introductory price of $9.99 / £8.75 / AU$ 14.99 on PS5 , though it’s slightly more expensive on Xbox Series X at $19.99 / £17.49 / $29.97. That’s a shame for Xbox Series X/S owners, particularly as the game is arguably more feature-rich on PlayStation 5 due to the extra bells and whistles the DualSense controller provides.
It’s worth noting that this offer is only available until June 14, so if you’re even remotely curious about playing GTA 5 again, I’d recommend snapping it up now. After June 14, the game will cost $39.99 / £34.99 / AU$ 59.95, which isn’t nearly as tempting.
Is GTA 5 Enhanced Edition really the best version?
As fantastic as GTA 5 Enhanced Edition is, you still can’t mod the game like you can on PC. If you have the know-how and capable hardware, GTA 5 can be modded to look nearly photorealistic. However, GTA 5 on PS5 and Xbox Series X is the most approachable version of the game, and I think it’s enough of a step up over the vanilla PC version to justify its fourth release. Although please don’t re-release it again, Rockstar. Four times is more than enough. Just keep working on GTA 6 , please.
Despite being adamant that nothing could tempt me back into the seedy world of Los Santos, particularly as I’d already picked up Rockstar’s open-world epic on PS3, Xbox One , and PC, I have nothing but good things to say about this remaster from the short time I’ve played.
I’ve never denied that GTA 5 is a fantastic game, but I can’t comprehend how it’s still so good after all this time. It wouldn’t have sold a bajillion copies if it wasn’t, of course, so don't be shocked if it tops the best-seller list on PS5 and Xbox Series X for many months to come.
GTA 5 also has a huge online community, an area of the game which I never truly explored. That might be enough reason for some players to return to GTA 5, but I’m honestly just glad the game didn’t turn out like the disastrous release of the GTA Trilogy: Definitive Edition . The less said about that, the better.
Ms Marvel trailer reveals curious change to hero's embiggen superpowers
Ms Marvel has finally received a release date – and it's coming to Disney Plus on June 8, 2022 .
Revealed alongside the superhero show's first trailer, the Marvel Phase 4 project follows in the footsteps of other recent MCU TV shows, including Loki , in releasing on a Wednesday. Ms Marvel will mark the fan favorite character's live-action debut in the MCU, and comes just nine years after she broke new ground for Marvel – Khan becoming the first Muslim superhero in the comic giant's history.
Check out the official teaser trailer for Ms Marvel below:
A six-episode series, Ms Marvel will star newcomer Iman Vellani as Khan, a 16-year-old High Schooler who must learn to balance her family, school, and superhero life when she becomes imbued with cosmic powers.
In a press release, Disney and Marvel provided an official synopsis for the forthcoming MCU show: “Ms. Marvel is a new, original series that introduces Kamala Khan, a Muslim American teenager growing up in Jersey City. An avid gamer and a voracious fan-fiction scribe, Kamala is a Super Hero mega fan with an oversized imagination – particularly when it comes to Captain Marvel.
"Yet Kamala feels invisible both at home and at school – that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life gets better with super powers, right?"
The last line of the TV series' synopsis, plus Ms Marvel's first trailer, suggests otherwise. The near-two-minute long trailer shows Kamala holding off armed personnel and some mysterious individuals at various points, which shows she'll have her work cut out for her throughout the series.
Vellani is joined by a supporting cast including Matt Lintz as Kamala's High School friend Bruno, Aramis Knight as the vigilante known as Red Dagger, Rish Shah as Kamran, and Yasmeen Fletcher as Nakia.
Here's that all-important date again, just in case you need a reminder: Ms Marvel will launch exclusively on Disney Plus on Wednesday, June 8.
Analysis: Marvel and Star Wars prepare for a Disney Plus showdown
It seems that the rumors were true, then. On Thursday, March 10, we reported on the possibility that Ms Marvel would go head-to-head with the next Star Wars TV show on Disney Plus – i Obi-Wan Kenobi 's standalone adventure.
With Ms Marvel's launch date now set for June 8, that'll put it in direct competition with the Jedi Master's own six-part series. Obi-Wan will premiere on Disney Plus on May 25, but its final four episodes will be released on the same day as Ms Marvel's first four entries – a launch date strategy that Disney, Marvel, and Lucasfilm haven't attempted before.
As we previously suggested, some Star Wars fans won't care for Ms Marvel's arrival on Disney Plus. Similarly, there will be Marvel fans who have no interested in Star Wars. In that sense, releasing the two shows simultaneously shouldn't be as big a problem as some may have believed.
Sure, there are bound to be Disney Plus subscribers who will want to catch both shows. Those who plan on watching Ms Marvel and Obi-Wan, though, can simply view one after the other. Streaming services give us freedom to consume content as and when we please so, while it initially looks like the TV series will compete with each other, they aren't really.
Still, it'll be fascinating to see how this experiment plays out. As we mentioned, we've never seen projects from two of Disney's heavy hitting franchises launch in the same period, so we're intrigued to find out whether they can co-exist. If Obi-Wan and Ms Marvel prove to be major successes, we could see future Star Wars and Marvel TV series, including Secret Invasion and She-Hulk , simultaneously arrive on Disney Plus from here on out.
For more Marvel-based content, check out the first reactions to Moon Knight . Alternatively, read up on The Bad Batch season 2 , the next instalment in the animated Star Wars TV series, or The Mandalorian season 3 .
