Is the Eight Sleep Pod 4 worth it? We tested the smart cooling mattress cover to find out

The Eight Sleep Pod 4 is a smart mattress cover designed for sleepers who want to achieve the best quality sleep and learn more about what happens to their body throughout the night. 

Our top picks in this year's best mattress guide for all sleepers offer ultimate comfort, outstanding support and an all-round exceptional sleep experience. But Eight Sleep pods level up your sleep through more high-tech methods. The brand uses advanced technology to track your sleep metrics and help you improve the quality of your ZZZs through sleep data insights. 

After testing the Eight Sleep Pod 4 for a week, we can see why it's the sleep companion of many celebs. We've been sleeping soundly and learning more about how our bodies behave throughout the night.

A queen size of the Pod 4 is down to $2,549 (was $2,649) and, based off previous sales, we're not likely to see the Pod 4 drop any lower in this year's Black Friday mattress deals. So if you're looking to upgrade your sleep with a helping hand from technology, it's worth investing sooner rather than later. Here's our first impressions of the Eight Sleep Pod 4, plus who we recommend this specialist bed system to and who should avoid it...

Eight Sleep Pod 4: Price

• The Eight Sleep Pod 4 is a premium buy, but there's currently $100 off 
• It comes with a 30-night trial and a two year warranty as standard
• Requires an Autopilot app monthly subscription

Eight Sleep is the brand behind some of the best smart beds out there and they have a price tag to match their technical expertise. There's a reason they are a brand connected with the likes of Andrew Huberman and Elon Musk. A queen size Eight Sleep Pod 4 has an MSRP of $2,649, which sometimes drops to $2,449 when the brand runs sales. Here's the MSRP of all sizes available (UK prices are the same in GBP):

• Full: $2,449
• Queen: $2,649
• King: $2,849
• Cali King: $2,849

Discounts, especially big ones, are rare at Eight Sleep — it is a trailblazing sleep tech brand after all. You must expect a price tag to match its reputation. While they are more pricey than smart beds like the Sleep Number c1, Eight Sleep smart bed systems are not as expensive as others (Tempur-ActiveBreeze, we're looking at you). It is also the middle model in Eight Sleep's current smart bed suite. 

Where Eight Sleep can rack up the cost, though, is with extras. When shopping any Eight Sleep pod, you must also budget for a separate mattress (if you require a new one) and the monthly subscription to access your sleep analytics and experience the full functionality on offer. This subscription starts at $17 per month and is essential to make the pod worth the investment. Without it you can only manually adjust temperature and can't access any sleep tracking.

But if you're looking to get top-quality sleep, or if overheating is ruining your sleep, we recommend investing in an Eight Sleep Pod 4 — after all, undisturbed, restorative sleep is priceless.

Eight Sleep Pod 4: Design

• The Pod 4 includes a smart mattress cover and connected Hub 
• It fits over a 10" to 16" mattress 
• It does not include a mattress, but you can add one to your order or use your existing one

The Eight Sleep Pod 4 is a water-based smart cooling system comprised of a smart mattress cover and a control Hub. The cover is made from a soft black material and fits over your mattress like a fitted (albeit thick) sheet. The Hub dimensions are 16" (L) x 7" (W) x 17" (H), so be sure there's space for this to fit alongside your bed. 

You can upgrade to the Pod 4 Ultra if you want an adjustable bed base included. This base fits between your mattress and bedframe and allows you to elevate your feet or head to reach your desired comfort.

Back to the Pod 4: Water pipes run through the mattress cover and are connected to the Hub to heat and cool as needed. Thermal sensors track your temperature throughout the night to make sure you don't break a sweat or get the chills. Meanwhile other sensors installed throughout the cover track your sleep and health.  

If you rather a phone-free bedroom setting, there is a touch sensitive pad on the side of the mattress cover where you can manually control temperature along with the built-in thermal and vibration alarm. Although you will need to set the alarm time through the app.

The Pod 4 is compatible with any 10" to 16" mattress of the corresponding size. You can add Eight Sleep's 11" 5-layer medium-firm mattress to your order for an extra $1,899 (was $1,999) or use an existing one.

Eight Sleep Pod 4: Comfort

• The dynamic contouring surface gives extra cushioning
• We recommend pairing the pod with a quality mattress
• Upgrade to a smart bed base for customizable comfort

As the Eight Sleep Pod 4 isn't a mattress in itself but rather a mattress cover, it doesn't have a significant influence over the comfort of your bed. The cover will only feel as comfortable as the mattress beneath it, so a high-quality, supportive mattress is essential to getting the best sleep experience out of the Eight Sleep pod.

If you're happy with the comfort of your current mattress and it isn't showing signs of wear, you can simply fit the Pod over the top. If you're looking to give your sleep space a complete overhaul, we recommend checking out our best memory foam mattress and best hybrid mattress guides to find the mattress that will support your sleep style and body type. Hot sleepers in particular should make sure their mattress has good airflow. 

That said, becoming part of your sleep surface, the cover does contribute a little to the overall feel of your bed and is designed to give a dynamic contouring surface. Adding cushioning to the mattress, we found it helped pressure relief and gave a plusher, more comfortable feel.

Eight Sleep Pod 4: Performance

• The Pod 4 features state-of-the-art temperature regulation
• You get a nightly sleep reports and sleep score
• It is relatively straight forward to set up and connect

To complete our hands-on review we followed the testing process in our mattress methodology, adapting it to features of this smart mattress cover. We tested comfort, temperature regulation, sleep tracking, connectivity and setup. Here's how we got on... 

Temperature regulation

Automatic temperature regulation and adjustment on each side of the bed is one of the main selling points of Eight Sleep's technology, promising to keep even the most disagreeable couples comfortable throughout the night. The Eight Sleep Pod 3 earns a spot in our guide to the best cooling mattresses you can buy, and the manufacturers say the Pod 4 builds on this already impressive cooling power. 

Our tester used the manual climate controls to warm the pod when they first got into bed on chilly November evenings. However, you can set a specific bedtime on the app and your pod will cool down at this time because a drop in temperature signals to your circadian rhythm that it is time to sleep.

Throughout the night, the pod measures your body temperature, room temperature and takes into account your local climate to keep you at an optimal sleeping temperature. Our tester sometimes wakes up hot and flustered in the night, but on the Eight Sleep pod they slept comfortably all night long. Plus, the thermal alarm function means the pod warms up come morning to help you wake up, helping you create a consistent sleep routine.

We recommend hot sleepers ensure the mattress they pair with the pod scores highly in temperature regulation to get the most comfortable sleep.

Sleep tracking

From the brand on a mission to get to create a bed that can diagnose you, the Eight Sleep Pod 4 is a leading model in the sleep fitness industry. It tracks everything from your temperature to your heart rate, sleep cycles and snoring. This data is collected throughout the night and you can access it via the connected Autopilot app.

We found it interesting seeing how our sleep score differed from night-to-night depending on what we did during the day and how well we followed our nighttime routine. There is a segment in the app where you can input details about alcohol and caffeine consumption, as well as whether you had a late meal or took any sleep supplements, to really get to grips with how these things impact your sleep.   

Setup

We recommend setting about an hour aside to set up the Eight Sleep pod. The mattress cover is delivered in vacuum packed plastic inside a bag with handles, making it easy to carry upstairs. The hub is delivered in a separate box and is light enough to easily carry. 

There is a sticker indicating the top left corner, so you can't mistake which way the cover fits over your mattress. You must then feed the water tube down the top end of your bed making sure it isn't twisted. 

This tube is attached to the Hub, which fitted neatly between the bedframe and our other bedroom furniture. However, it is quite a bulky bedroom accessory I would rather do without. Once fitted snug over your mattress, you can turn on the Hub and complete the setup through the Eight Sleep app.

Connectivity

The pod must be connected to WiFi and Bluetooth. We didn't have any issues connecting it to either, but it is worth making sure you have strong internet connection in your bedroom for a smooth-sailing setup.

The Eight Sleep app takes you through setting up and connecting your pod step by step, making it hard to go wrong. You can also sign up to the Autopilot subscription through the app.

Eight Sleep Pod 4: User reviews

The Eight Sleep Pod 4 is endorsed by sleep experts, tech experts, celebrities and leading media titles. Neuroscientists Andrew Huberman and Matthew Walker are users of the Eight Sleep pod and have joined the brand's Scientific Advisory Board to help them progress in sleep science. Elsewhere, users credit the pod for helping them understand how stress and anxiety impacts their sleep.  

Common drawbacks that creep up are the expense and the fact you have to pay for app subscription, the long set-up process and the bulkiness of the Hub. 

Should you buy the Eight Sleep Pod 4?

Buy the Eight Sleep Pod 4 if... 

✅You sleep hot: The pod regulates your temperature through the night and adjusts independently on each side of the bed so you can sleep peacefully.

✅You want to learn more about your sleep: The pod tracks your sleep analytics and health data to produce sleep reports that help you understand more about your body. 

✅You want to regulate your circadian rhythm: Temperature fluctuations tell the body clock when it is time to wake up and go to sleep. The pod cools at bedtime and heats up in the morning to help you fall asleep and wake up on time.

Don't buy the Eight Sleep Pod 4 if... 

❌You're not tech-savvy: This is a smart bed and using all its smart features requires an understanding of smart phone connectivity and sleep tracking metrics.

❌You're shopping on a budget: This isn't a one time purchase and the Eight Sleep Pod 4 along with the monthly subscription fee can become costly, plus discounts aren't very generous.

❌You're looking to upgrade your mattress: The Pod 4 isn't a complete mattress and it won't improve a sagging, unsupportive mattress. You will have to buy one separately.