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If you’re someone who struggles with body temperature fluctuations while falling asleep or deals with restless sleep night after night because you run hot, or cold, or both, you’ve probably heard of the Eight Sleep Pod when researching solutions.
I recently put the Eight Sleep Pod 4 system to the test and I’ve got to say that I don’t think I’ll ever sleep without it.
It’s changed everything for the better.
What is the Eight Sleep Pod?
The Pod is a complete climate control smart system for your mattress. It features a fitted cover that conducts heating and/or cooling across the entire surface and also monitors your biometrics overnight to make adjustments, providing the most tailored sleep experience possible.
My Experience With The Pod 4 From Eight Sleep At A Glance
- It did not alter the feel of my existing memory foam mattress, and I could not feel any part of the “water grid” the cover uses to conduct the climate control. From what I’ve read, this is an upgrade over the Pod 3.
- Being menopausal and usually running hot, the first night I slept using the Pod, my initial setting was -3, which equates to 74ºF or so. For me, that was perfect; I highly recommend starting “small” with the setting changes so you don’t put yourself into a freezer (or an oven).
- The Pod 4 hub is nearly silent after it’s set up and running, even when it’s resting on a wood floor, as mine does. I originally planned to do a decibel test on it, but the ambient noise in my room (and from cars passing through the neighborhood) is way louder than the Pod 4 hub. I don’t even notice it running.
- The water hose that connects the hub to the cover is pretty long. You need to make sure it isn’t kinked or twisted tightly in any way when you set everything up, but it’s long enough to arrange the placement of the hub based on your needs, whether you want it right next to your bed or on the other side of a nightstand.
I’ll tell you everything you need to know about my experience with the Pod 4, including the setup and installation process, how it works, and most importantly, whether it’s effective.
(Spoiler alert: It totally is.)
The Arrival And Setup Of The Pod 4 From Eight Sleep
So I’m not sure what I was expecting, really, but it wasn’t something this large:
Yes, that’s the entire Eight Sleep Pod 4 system. It came bundled together with black plastic straps, with the smaller box secured on top of the larger; I’m not Hercules, so I cut the ties and moved them separately.
(Pro tip: If you can’t lift heavy things or have many stairs between your front door and your bedroom, separate the boxes or get help carrying them where they need to go.)
The smaller box contained the hub, the control base for the entire system, and the larger box contained the mattress cover. Once both were opened, the most important piece involved scanning the QR code on the “welcome” card, as it takes you to the step-by-step instructions in the app.
On that note, I recommend downloading the app first, just so you’ve got it on your phone and ready to go when you start the setup. The app takes you through everything, literally step-by-step, which makes the whole process infinitely easier.
Honestly, the hardest part about it was locating our convoluted WiFi password so I could copy and paste it in the app and connect the hub to our internet.
The Pod 4 setup process, from start to finish, took about 50 minutes or so. The TL;DR version for those curious:
- Hub setup (pairing to the phone and connecting to WiFi)
- Putting the cover on the mattress
- Connecting the cover to the hub
- Priming the system with water (ideally distilled, although I used reverse osmosis); mine took two tank fills to complete on a queen-size cover
- Final setup of general sleep preferences, including the side of the bed you sleep in if you share it
- Optional: sending an invite to your partner to set their side’s preferences later on
It seems like a lot, but every step is a “page” in the app process, so it really does guide you through all of it piece by piece. This is brilliant, especially for folks who feel overwhelmed reading through manuals. You’re only ever dealing with the current step you’re on right now, if that makes sense.
Once everything is situated, the Eight Sleep app offers a “Test Run” feature that takes you through the process of making temperature adjustments and using the built-in vibration alarm.
By the time you’re done, you feel like a pro.
The water hose is fairly long, and I opted to place the hub on the other side of my nightstand:
It looks nice, plus it’s out of the way. I’m weird when it comes to furniture placement and symmetry, so I really didn’t want to move my nightstand farther from the bed to squeeze the unit between them if I could help it. Loving the setup here!
My Experience With The Pod 4 Sleep System
I’ve tried other sleep climate solutions in the past (I’m looking at you, BedJet), and was underwhelmed when it came to full-bed temperature control and comfort.
While you feel “instant” temperature changes with a BedJet, which uses forced air to alter the climate beneath the fitted sheet and bedding, the Eight Sleep Pod is considerably more subtle.
But it’s also infinitely more effective.
When I first lay on the mattress after everything was set up and I was going through the test run, I didn’t feel anything immediate when adjusting the temperature. I sat up, thinking something was wrong.
And that’s when I noticed it… a subtle cooling sensation directly under my butt, right where I was sitting. I laid back down, and soon after, felt that same noticeable temperature change wherever the mattress pressed against my body. The cover itself didn’t seem to feel especially cold to the touch, at least at the setting it was on (-2, around 76–80ºF), but my body felt the effects with its weight against the mattress.
It’s a strange experience at first, not gonna lie. Normally, a mattress warms as you lay on it and it “soaks up” your body heat. To feel the surface stay cool, and consistently so, no matter how long you’ve been laying there or how you move, is straight-up weird, in a good way.
When I sleep, I love to be buried underneath covers regardless of the season. I just do. I turn into a caterpillar, tucked deep inside a cocoon spun from whatever my sheets and quilt happen to be made of.
And that’s problematic these days, since I’m also in the throes of menopause. I get snuggly under my blankets, and five minutes later, I’m kicking them off because I’m sweating. Then I get cold after a little while, bundle back up, get hot again, kick them off, lather-rinse-repeat in a never-ending cycle of I-can’t-get-comfortable-to-save-my-life-and-I’m-never-gonna-sleep-again.
The Pod 4 from Eight Sleep has been a game changer.
Not only does it maintain a set temperature based on my needs, thanks to the Autopilot feature, but it lets me remain cozy underneath my blankets while my body stays cool against the entire surface of the mattress.
The first night I slept with the Pod, I worried that a chilly sleeping surface would leave me too cold to fall asleep. Menopause aside, I usually get cold easily. Which makes me a walking (or sleeping) conundrum, I know.
That particular night, I was feeling pretty warm, so I turned my setting to -3 (around 74ºF). It was perfect. I was able to keep my blankets over my body the whole night through, and I didn’t have a single hot flash.
Not one.
I never felt “cold” either. Just perfectly comfortable. The entire night. Granted, the Autopilot feature kicked in as the hours passed (unbeknownst to me, since I was asleep), but I slept like a rock.
Eight Sleep Pod Temperature Settings In Degrees
I guess the Eight Sleep app previously had the option to show its settings as degrees, but that seems to only be available if you had that in place before March 1, 2025. I wanted to have a better idea of what the approximate degree “translation” was, so I looked it up (and now I’m sharing it with you):
| 8 Sleep Pod Setting | Fahrenheit | Celsius |
| -7 to -10 | 55–65°F | 13–18ºC |
| -5 to -7 | 66–71°F | 19–21ºC |
| -3 to -4 | 72–75°F | 22–24ºC |
| -2 to -1 | 76–80°F | 25–26ºC |
| 0 | 80–82°F | 26–28ºC |
| +1 to +2 | 83–88°F | 29–31ºC |
| +3 to +4 | 89–94°F | 32–35ºC |
| +5 to +7 | 95–103°F | 36–39ºC |
| +8 to +10 | 104–110°F | 40–44ºC |
The Autopilot feature is a subscription, one that is mandatory for the first year, although you can access a free trial from the moment you first set up the Pod 4 if you don’t have it in place yet.
As of this writing, the Eight Sleep Autopilot membership options are:
- Standard, $17 a month ($199/year)
- Enhanced, $25 a month ($299/year)
- Elite, $33 a month ($399/year)
Autopilot adjusts the temperature of your sleep surface automatically based on several factors: your sleep history, temperature preferences, your biometric data while you sleep, real-time ambient temperature in the room, and even local weather.
Basically, it adjusts to your body’s needs and does it in a way that you barely notice it at all, aside from waking up after having a great night of sleep.
The next day, you’ll get a notification and an update with how your sleep was over the previous night:
If you’re sharing your bed with a partner, as I am, all you need to do is invite them (through the app) and they can set up their side of the bed however suits them. One Autopilot membership allows up to two users.
Another great feature is the Pod 4’s vibrational alarm, which you can set for whatever time you’d like to wake up in the morning. When the alarm goes off, you’ll feel a buzzing vibration beneath your body, sort of as if someone left their phone on vibrate and it’s inside your mattress. The sensation isn’t violent or extreme, but it’s a subtle vibration that, paired with a warming surface temperature that tells your body it’s time to wake up, really works.
And I’m someone who usually has to hit the snooze button 80 times before I finally rise. (My family totally loves that. It’s their favorite morning soundtrack, playing on rotation every nine minutes.)
I haven’t tested the full range of temperatures yet, mostly because the weather is currently too hot to even attempt to see how the bed feels at +10 (110ºF), but I’m betting the warmth is going to be amazing in the winter… or even for sore muscles anytime of year.
As a bed cooling system right now, I can’t imagine there being any better option out there.
Eight Sleep Pros:
- Provides climate control across the entire surface of your mattress, offering single or dual-zone adjustments.
- Whisper silent operation after it’s set up. (System priming makes a bit of noise as the water pushes into the grid in the cover, but once primed, it’s quiet as a mouse.)
- Autopilot manages your climate based on many factors to promote your most restful night of sleep.
- An optional vibration alarm is a gentle but effective way to wake up in the morning.
- The cover doesn’t change the firmness or feel of your existing mattress.
- The water hose that connects the hub to the cover is long enough to accommodate your bedroom furniture setup in multiple ways based on your needs.
- The app is incredibly easy to use, and the set-up process for the system is broken down into simple steps that you follow one by one until it’s ready to go.
- The app will send you a daily notification telling you all about how your previous night of sleep was, including a sleep score, duration, information about your sleep phases, how many temperature adjustments it made, and so much more.
- If you’re not sure whether it’s for you, Eight Sleep offers a monthly rental option so you can try it.
- It is FSA/HSA eligible.
Eight Sleep Cons:
- The Pod is definitely one of the more expensive climate control options for your sleep surface.
- An Autopilot subscription is required for the first year of use, although there are three tiers to choose from. The lowest is $17 a month; the highest is $33.
- There is no rent-to-own option currently. You can either rent, finance, or buy.
Final Thoughts
I’m absolutely loving my Pod 4, and I think it’s only going to continue to get better with time. I know the price tag is pretty hefty, but for everything it provides and how well it works, I can’t recommend it highly enough.
If you struggle with temperature control while you sleep, whether you run hot or cold or fluctuate back and forth as I unfortunately do, the Eight Sleep Pod is more than worth the expense. It really is.