Eight Sleep Pillow Review: My Experience with a Cooling Memory Foam Pillow

Pillows are hard to shop for: too firm, and your neck hurts in the morning. Too soft, and you’re waking up out of alignment. And if you’re a hot sleeper like I am, most pillows just make things worse, no matter how they feel.

That’s partly why I was so interested in the Eight Sleep Air Pillow, which uses memory foam and temperature-regulating gel to stay cool during the night. After giving it a shot and sleeping on it for a while (and making my husband more than a little jealous), I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the Air Pillow, including how it feels and performs, my personal pros and cons, and who I think it’s best for.

What Is the Eight Sleep Pillow?

The Eight Sleep Air Pillow is a breathable memory foam pillow that’s designed to pull heat away from the body while also allowing air to flow through, keeping your head cooler throughout the night.

It comes with its own zippered, fitted case that’s incredibly soft and smooth to the touch, but you can put your own pillowcase over it if you prefer. I recommend keeping the zippered case on regardless, because the pillow itself is not washable.

Note that Eight Sleep’s Air Pillow is completely different from their Pod Pillow Cover. While the former is a memory foam pillow with a zippered washable cover, the latter is a technology-rich cover that slips over your own pillow, leveraging the full Eight Sleep system to circulate water over the pillow in order to cool (or warm) it. This is important to note because the pillow comes in at $199, while the cover is a whopping $1,049 — and requires the even more expensive Pod system.

I opted to try just the pillow for a couple of reasons.

First, I just really needed a new pillow since the one I’d been using was at least 15 years old. I know, I know… it was long past time to replace it. But my old pillow was easy to wash whenever I needed to, and I suppose I’m just a bit lazy.

But the other reason was electricity. I live in a very old house, and the power situation in my bedroom is less than ideal. Since I already have my lamp, alarm clock, and other gadgets, I figured the simpler option made the most sense.

My Hands-On Experience with the Eight Sleep Pillow

First Impressions

I wasn’t entirely sure I’d enjoy using a memory foam pillow of any sort. Many years ago, my husband and I purchased a Tempur-Pedic mattress, and a set of memory foam pillows came with it. 

I hated them. They were way too thick and too firm to be comfortable, especially for someone like me, who prefers a softer landing surface for my head.

But the construction of the Eight Sleep Air Pillow is surprisingly thin in comparison. And although it’s dense, it’s very, very soft and conforms to my head’s position (and sleep) like it was made just for my body and sleep habits. 

For back and side sleepers, the Air Pillow offers comfortable alignment and support for your head, neck, and shoulders. 

Being a stomach sleeper, I almost always fall asleep in a position where one leg is pulled up near my hip while the other is straight, and I have one arm stretched upward beneath my pillow and head, with the other curled up near my chest. I move a lot throughout the night, and I often wake up on my back, starfishing after my early-rising husband gets up for the day.

Despite my wacky habits, the pillow molded to my needs quite nicely, and I didn’t wake up feeling like I’d slept on my neck wrong. When I wake up in starfish formation in the morning, I’m just as comfortable as I was when I fell asleep on my stomach.

Temperature Control

Even though there’s no active cooling in the Air Pillow, it stays weirdly cool to the touch, even after I’ve been lying on it for a while.

It just never seems to get hot. This means that if you move your head at all during the night, any position will feel naturally cool, so there’s no need to flip it until you find just the right spot.

While the Air Pillow comes with a fitted zippered cover, I put a thin pillowcase over it as well so it matches the rest of my bedding. That said, I’m not sure how effective the pillow would be if you were to put a thick pillowcase over it (or one that isn’t made from a breathable material). Even the best cooling materials don’t work as well if they’re covered up by heavy fabrics that block air flow or absorb heat.

Construction

This is a much newer design compared to the original “Carbon Air Pillow” that Eight Sleep used to offer. When I was first looking into the pillow, I came across several reviews for that older model, but that one looked bulkier, used a carbon-infused foam, and had a completely different (Tencel) cover. The Air Pillow, on the other hand, uses memory foam and temperature-regulating gel to allow heat to flow away from the body as your head is resting on it.

The cover is quite nice as well; I think you could get away with using it without a pillowcase if you really wanted to, though I wouldn’t. It’s also perfectly fitted to the pillow, so much so that it took me a minute to actually find the zipper. 

Feel & Firmness

Being as dense as it is, I really didn’t expect the Air Pillow to be as soft as I found it to be. If I had to describe it, I would classify it as “softly medium-firm.” It conforms to your head and body like a glove, no matter what position you sleep in. Especially for stomach sleepers like me, it’s incredibly supportive without being rigid.

The texture of the pillow itself is beyond smooth, with absolutely no detectable lumps in the memory foam. When your head presses against it in any position, the material just cradles it perfectly.

Care & Maintenance

The Air Pillow is not washable, although you can spot-clean the surface if needed. It does come with a fitted black case that easily unzips, though, so you can wash and dry that when you do laundry.

You can absolutely put your own pillowcase over the Air Pillow (and should), but I would recommend choosing a case that’s made from natural fibers and has as thin a weave as possible.

Look for:

• Cotton
• Silk
• Modal
• Linen
• Bamboo
• Hemp
• Eucalyptus (Tencel or Lyocell)

Wool is another option, too, provided you don’t have a sensitivity to it the way I do.

Pros & Cons

As much as I love my Air Pillow from Eight Sleep, there are pros and cons to think about before you purchase one for yourself.

Pros:

• The construction is soft and moldable, and it provides a lot of airflow to help your body stay cool as you sleep.
• The form-fitting zippered cover can be easily removed for machine washing and drying.
• It’s available in Queen or King sizes.
• It’s considerably less compared to the Eight Sleep Pod Pillow Cover.
• It comes with a 30-night risk-free trial, a 5-year warranty, and free returns if necessary.

Cons:

• It can be expensive compared to other memory foam pillows.
• The pillow itself is not washable; spot-clean the surface only.
• It doesn’t actively cool the same way Eight Sleep’s Pod Pillow Cover will.
• There’s no Standard size available.

Who Should Get the Eight Sleep Air Pillow?

The Eight Sleep Air Pillow is best for those who need a cooling pillow that doesn’t absorb or trap body heat, whether they’re hot sleepers in general or they’re dealing with hormonal fluctuations that are causing hot flashes or night sweats.

I’d say it’s great if you:

• Don’t need a pillow that can actively change or adjust its temperature between warm and cold.
• Want a simpler cooling pillow solution that doesn’t require a separate hub (and the associated cost).
• Prefer a memory foam-based construction that’s dense yet surprisingly soft.
• Want a risk-free, 30-day trial, with free returns if it doesn’t work out.

As a tech-free solution for hot sleepers, I think the Air Pillow from Eight Sleep performs exceptionally well. It’s super comfortable, and I find that it fulfills its promise of heat absorption in a big way.

It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, especially if you don’t like the feel of a memory foam pillow. But since it comes with a 30-day sleep trial, I think it’s worth exploring if you value a good night’s sleep as much as I do.