Review: Resmed N30i Mask

I've been using the ResMed Swift FX nasal pillow for the last 7 years without a complaint. It's cheap, easy to work, and I can buy parts off Amazon at a low price, eliminating the need to go through DME providers or insurance. The ResMed N30i, however, came with a 30 day money back guarantee, and promised a whole new level of comfort nusing a new "nasal cradle" system, so I decided to give it a shot.

The kit comes with 3 different cradle sizes, and a card that you stick under your nose in front of a mirror to figure out which size you should use. It's important to use this or your nasal cradle will leak. The mask itself is very comfortable, and in fact, quite a bit more comfortable than my old Swift FX in normal conditions. There's nothing shoved into your nostrils, and you don't have to tighten it so tight because the design is such that however you choose to move in bed, you won't jiggle it loose. It was so comfortable that I thought I was going to give up the Swift FX for sure.

Then I caught a 'flu from one of my kids. That's when the cradle-style didn't work out. With the Swift FX, because the pillows are shoved into your nostril, you have a complete flow of air shoving through the gigatons of mucus being generated  by your nose during a night's sleep, and is in fact, the only way I can sleep through a 'flu (and sleep, as you all know, is very important to recovery from infections).  The N30i by contrast, just started leaking, and leaking huge amounts, so much so that I woke up and switch masks before sleeping.

It's clear that even if I could use the N30i in superior comfort during "normal times", I'd still have to keep an alternate mask around for 'flu time (or other times when my nose decides for no reason whatsoever to generate gigatons of mucus), and that's not practical for what looks likely to be a high allergy season spring.

I sent back the N30i. I think it could be a great improvement for those of you who have good noses. Mine, however, need the abuse the Swift FX provides.