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The average adult spends about a third of their life sleeping. That’s roughly 25 to 30 years, or about 227,000 hours. With this much time spent in bed, it makes sense that you’d want to make every minute count, and one of the best ways to do that is by focusing on improving our sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene refers to the habits we develop during our sleep routine that promote consistent, high-quality sleep. This usually involves little tasks, like dimming lights, no screen time before bed, creating the perfect room temperature, and avoiding stimulants before bed. As a Sleep Science Coach, I know the importance of quality sleep. This can affect many areas of your life, such as your overall physical health, emotional well-being, and even your mental health.
If all you’re looking for is a cooler surface to sleep on, you may benefit from something simple, like a more breathable mattress pad or cooling sheets. But if you’re looking for something more advanced to really improve your overall sleep, a new sleep system might be precisely what you need.
The Best Orion Sleep System Alternatives
- Best overall: Eight Sleep Pod 5
- Best budget: BedJet3 Cooling System
- Best for couples: Chili Pad Doc Pro
- Best mattress cover: Sleep Number DualTemp Cooling Mattress Layer
How to Find the Right Sleep System
Finding the right sleep system for you will depend on your ideal sleep environment and lifestyle. Maybe you are a hot sleeper and desperately need something to keep you cool at night. Or, you may prefer detailed insights on your sleep so you can make adjustments to optimize your bedtime routine.
Some things to ask yourself when choosing a system are:
- Do I need cooling, heating, or both?
One of the first (and arguably most important things to consider is whether temperature regulation is an issue for you, and how. Many people identify as hot sleepers, which typically means you retain heat or sweat a lot at night. If that’s the case, you need a system that focuses on cooling. The opposite would go for cold sleepers.
- Do my partner and I need each side to be separate?
Sharing a bed doesn’t have to be what makes or breaks your relationship. Most people will find they have different sleep needs than their partner. If you resonate with that, you would benefit from dual-zone sleep systems, where each side can be adjusted to meet your individual needs.
- What’s my budget?
Set a realistic budget in advance to help you narrow down your options. Knowing the types of features you are most interested in enables you to avoid overspending on a system you may not actually use to its full advantage.
- How important are analytics to me?
Do you want insight into how you’re sleeping? Well, some sleep systems track metrics like sleep duration, sleep quality, heart rate, and even breathing patterns, which are typically available through an app. It’s important to note that these are typically the most expensive systems and tend to require subscriptions to continue using the service, but I think they can be worth the investment if you want that visibility.
First, How Does the Orion Sleep System Work?
The Orion Sleep System analyzes your sleep patterns to maintain your ideal temperature throughout the night. It pairs with your regular mattress, so you don’t have to buy an entirely new bed. The system comes with a smart cover and a control tower that hydro-cools in real time. If you sleep with a partner, the dual-zone temperature controls are a nice feature that lets you both sleep at your ideal temperature. The system also includes Orion Intelligence, which provides AI-powered sleep metrics and temperature.
To use Orion Intelligence, you need to pay $21 a month. However, the membership gives you unlimited access to:
- AI-powered sleep temperature adjustments
- Daily insights and recommendations for improving your sleep
- Custom schedules for bedtime and sleep
- A wake-up alarm
- Early access to new products and features.
Unfortunately, it’s billed yearly at $250. However, the total price of $2,575 does include a year of Orion Intelligence.
One thing that makes me wary of the Orion system is that it just hasn’t been around for that long. They make some lofty promises about improving sleep quality, but they don’t yet have the track record to back it up.
If you prefer a more established sleep system or one that works a little differently than the Orion, below are my top picks for Orion sleep system alternatives.
The Best Orion Sleep System Alternatives: My Picks
Best Overall: Eight Sleep Pod 5
The Eight Sleep Pod is one of the most advanced sleep systems available on the market. The system features the hub and cover that goes on your mattress, and there are a few optional pieces you can add to your system: the base that goes between your frame and mattress, the blanket, and the pillow cover. Of course, all of that tech comes at a premium price, and this is an investment for sure.
Like the Orion system, the Pod personalizes sleep on each side of the bed, creating an ideal temperature for partners with different sleep preferences. The cover provides cooling or warming and is available in a dual-zone configuration, allowing each side to be controlled separately. It also offers real-time adjustments based on your current heart rate and sleep cycle, which, as a Sleep Science Coach, I find to be incredibly valuable information for optimizing your sleep hygiene. Also like the Orion system, the Pod uses water as power to provide consistent, accurate temperature control.
Unlike the Orion system, Eight Sleep has been around for more than a decade. That’s given them plenty of time to improve their product and their app, including fixing a leaking issue in one of their earlier models. The current system, the Pod 5, is the fifth version of their sleep system.
The optional base offers unique features, such as zero-gravity mode and auto-snore detection, which is one of my favorite features. The base will actually elevate automatically when it detects snoring, which can help reduce the sound or even stop it entirely. The Pod is the most expensive system on this list, but it offers payment options through Affirm and is HSA/FSA-eligible.
- Price: $5,348
- Cooling type: Active
- Cooling method: Water
- Trial: 30 nights
- Warranty: Five years
Pros
- Built-in alarm to wake you up
- Automatic temperature controls
- Sleep and health tracking
- Phone-free button controls
Cons
- Annual subscription required for some features
Best Budget: BedJet3 Cooling System
The BedJet3 Cooling system works best if you’re looking for a no-frills method to a cool night’s sleep. The system uses forced air instead of water. The BedJet comes with a remote control and an app that lets you view and adjust the temperature and fan speed. The temperature ranges from 66 to 104 °F (19–40 °C). One perk I love about using the BedJet is that there is no subscription. It’s just a simple fan that creates gentle airflow through the included sheet. When I tested the BedJet3, I noticed that the system makes noise, but I found it quite pleasant, like white noise.
One downfall I experienced with the BedJet is that, because it uses forced air, if your room is already warm, the air blowing into the sheet won’t be very cool. This may make it difficult to achieve an optimal temperature for your preferred sleep routine. Our bedroom always seems to be quite hot, even with the AC on. I found that the BedJet didn’t cool as much as I would have liked, but my husband thought it was the perfect temperature. Overall, I believe it is a decent option if you need a budget-friendly, easy-to-use system.
- Price: $699
- Cooling type: Active
- Cooling method: Air
- Trial: 60 nights
- Warranty: Two years
Pros
- Fast cooling and heating
- Fits under most beds
- Controlled via phone app
- Budget-friendly
Cons
- Uses room temperature for cooling; hot rooms may make it ineffective
Best for Couples: Chili Pad Doc Pro
If you’re looking for an alternative to the Orion without the price tag, I would recommend the Chili Pad Doc Pro. Like the Orion or the Eight Sleep Pod, this system offers a dual-zone option that lets you heat and cool both sides separately, making it ideal for couples with different sleep preferences. My husband gets cold very easily, whereas I sweat immediately if the room is even one degree too warm, so this system would be perfect for us. The app features programmable temperature changes and buttons, but if you prefer analog, there are convenient buttons on the base of the units. Not only is the price lower than that of other advanced systems on this list, but the Chili Pad Doc Pro doesn’t have ongoing subscription fees to add to the yearly cost of ownership.
However, one downside for me is that the price is for a half-queen, meaning you will have to buy two separate systems for each side. This would double the price and add an extra unit under the bed, which takes up a decent amount of space. We already have very little space in our room, so this would be a nuisance for me.
- Price: $1,299 (Half-Queen)
- Cooling type: Active
- Cooling method: Water
- Trial: 30 nights
- Warranty: One-year limited
Pros
- Dual control for each partner
- Whisper quiet at 41-46 dBA
- Wide temperature range (55 to 115 degrees)
Cons
- Requires 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only
- Needs monthly maintenance
Best Mattress Cover: Sleep Number DualTemp Cooling Mattress Layer
The Sleep Number DualTemp Cooling Mattress Layer offers a simpler system than the Orion’s. Whereas the Orion system offers hydro-powered cooling and heating and automatically adjusts the bed’s temperature throughout the night based on its analysis, the Sleep Number system uses active air technology to chill or warm your side of the bed. You have to choose a temperature range, and it will blow air through the layer, similarly to how the BedJet works. It works particularly well if you have basic cooling or warming needs and don’t care too much about sleep insights and “smart technology.” The Sleep Number system sits between the mattress and fitted sheet and works with virtually any bed. It’s a solid option for anyone who doesn’t want all the bells and whistles of a more expensive, advanced sleep system, and it comes from a reputable company with a well-known name.
- Price: $1,099.99 (Half-Queen)
- Cooling type: Active
- Cooling method: Air
- Trial:100 nights
- Warranty: One-year limited
Pros
- Only covers one side of the bed
- Works for heating and cooling
- Automatic shut off
Cons
- Some reviewers note connection issues with the remote
Final Thoughts
Choosing the right sleep system for you will primarily depend on your needs and budget. If you want to invest in sleep hygiene and care about analytics to improve your overall performance, I recommend the Eight Sleep Pod 5. If you still want some tech features, but don’t want to break the bank, the Chili Pad Doc Pro would be a great fit, especially if you only need something for one side of your queen mattress. If you’re looking for the most basic option to start your new journey to improving your sleep, the BedJet3 would be my recommendation. First, figure out your needs, goals, and most realistic budget. It may seem like a lot to spend thousands on something you’ll only experience while asleep, but considering how long we are sleeping in our lifetime, it’s probably worth the investment.