ResMed AirFit F30i Full Face Mask

The ResMed AirFit F30i covers the nose and mouth like any full face mask, but draws its air from the top of your head instead of the front of your face. The seal sits below the nostrils and the tube leaves at the crown, so nothing crosses your view.

The frame is soft silicone and hollow, so it doubles as the airway between the elbow and the cushion. SpringFit lets it stretch and settle back as you shift in bed, which is what holds the seal when you roll over at three in the morning.

Key Features:

• Overhead connection: The connection sits on top of your head and turns a full circle, so the tube never lies across you.
• Clear view: The UltraCompact cushion seals below the nose and never touches the bridge, so glasses and reading stay possible.
• Flexible frame: The hollow SpringFit frame carries the air and gives as you move, returning to shape rather than pulling the seal.
• Comes apart at the top: Squeeze the tabs and the tube pulls away, so a trip to the bathroom does not mean unstrapping.
• Magnetic clips: Magnets in the lower straps pull them into the frame, which makes fitting in the dark straightforward.
• Matched kits: Cushions come in Small, Medium and Wide, frames in Small, Standard and Large, ordered together as one unit.
• Quiet venting: Vents in the mask front and the elbow spread exhaled air rather than sending a jet at your partner.

The AirFit F30i is ideal for patients who need full face coverage, who feel closed in by a mask across the bridge of the nose, or who move a lot in their sleep. It is especially useful if you read or watch television in bed.

Why the tube goes over the head

On a conventional full face mask the hose meets the mask somewhere between the chin and the bridge of the nose. Everything downstream of that point has to be managed: it swings when you turn, it drapes over the bedding, and it sits inside the field of view.

Moving the connection to the crown takes the hose out of that space entirely. It leaves upward and runs behind the headboard, which is also why the mask can be worn while reading or wearing glasses without the tube intruding.

What the cushion touches

The UltraCompact cushion wraps the mouth and tucks up under the nostrils. Nothing rides on the bridge, on the cheekbones, or along either side of the nose, which is unusual for a seal that still has to cover two airways.

That matters because the bridge is where skin lies directly over bone, and it is the single most common place a full face mask leaves a mark. Taking the seal off that ridge removes the problem rather than padding it.

How the SpringFit frame behaves

The frame is not a rigid arch holding the cushion at a fixed distance. It is soft silicone with a hollow channel running through it, so it delivers air and absorbs movement at the same time.

When you turn onto your side, the frame deflects and returns instead of levering the seal away from your skin. A rigid frame passes that force straight into the cushion, which is where a two in the morning leak usually starts.

Picking a frame and a cushion

These are two separate measurements. The cushion is sized on the width across your nose and mouth. The frame is chosen by the length and shape of your head, since it has to reach from the crown down past your cheeks.

ResMed sells the two as matched kits and not as a free grid, so the selector offers only the pairings that ship together. A Standard frame suits the large majority of faces and covers all three cushion widths, which makes it the sensible starting point.

Taking it off in the night

The elbow at the crown is a quick-release fitting. Two tabs squeeze together and the hose separates from the frame, leaving the headgear and the cushion sitting where they were.

Reconnecting is a push until it clicks. Because the strap tension is never disturbed, the seal you had before you got up is the seal you come back to, and there is nothing to re-adjust in the dark.

Here's everything that comes in the box.

• AirFit F30i frame (Small, Standard or Large)
• Plush fabric headgear with magnetic clips
• Quick-release elbow with vent
• UltraCompact cushion (size-matched)