Cover
The cover of the Pod mattress is where you'll find the technology. There are actually sort of two covers. There's a standard mattress cover the secondary cooling/heating cover that zips on top. We'll talk more about how it works in the Temperature section below. From a feel standpoint, the top of the cover feels soft and stretchy.
We wondered if we would be able to feel the water channels underneath the top cover. We could feel them with our hands if we really prodded the top of the cover, but when laying on the bed, we did not notice them at all. We did notice a slight crinkly sound when we moved on the mattress, but we did not find it bothersome or loud.
Comfort & Feel
There are three aspects that make up our assessment of comfort and feel. We call these "preference-based characteristics" because no rating here is better or worse – rather, the attributes that are most desirable to you will be determined solely by your personal preferences. We apply the same classification standards to each mattress so you can more easily compare apples to apples.
Softness ( what’s this )
Keep in mind that what mattress companies call “firm” or “soft” is a purely a preference. All mattresses should be supportive and promote healthy spinal alignment. Whether a mattress is fluffy and squishy (what mattress companies call soft or plush), or less so (what companies call firm), is purely down to your personal needs and preferences.
Not sure what softness is best for you? Take our Mattress Match Quiz and find out.
| Softness Level (1=Least Soft, 9=Most Soft) |
4 | Medium Firm |
Cushioning Depth ( what’s this )
This refers to how deeply you sink into the mattress or feel cradled or hugged, versus a feeling of floating on top of the bed.
While the foam of the mattress is very soft, the cover is not. So while you are on your back or stomach, you sink into the mattress somewhat, but not too much. Overall we would call it about average among mattresses.
On your side, you notice the lack of conformance due to the rigidity of the cover. So this is not a mattress that's going to hug your curves.
| Cushioning Depth (1=Shallowest, 9=Deepest) |
5 | Average |
Responsiveness ( what’s this )
Responsiveness refers to how quickly a mattress recovers its shape after being compressed. When you press your hand into the mattress, for instance, then remove it, does it take several seconds for the mattress to return to flat, or does it recover immediately?
The Eight Sleep Pod mattress does contain a couple of inches of memory foam, but you have to focus pretty hard to notice it. When our tester laid on the bed, he eventually noticed a little bit of that melting feeling that comes from memory foam, but not much.
All-foam mattresses typically absorb bounce, and we certainly noticed that here. There's some surface bounce owing to the more rigid cover, but when our tester dropped his weight on the bed, he noticed almost no bounce at all.
| Memory Feel (1=Least, 9=Most) |
5 | A little |
| Bounce (1=Least, 9=Most) |
3 | Very little bounce |
Back Support & Pressure Relief
The two things that you should always be sure to get from your mattress are spinal alignment (commonly thought of as "back support") and pressure relief. Unfortunately, no mattress will deliver these two things equally well for all sleepers. In particular, spinal alignment and pressure relief capabilities will vary across sleepers with different weights, body shapes, and sleep positions. To help you determine how this mattress will perform for you, we break down our spinal alignment and pressure relief assessments by sleeper type.
In our evaluations, the Eight Sleep Pod performed much better for back and stomach sleeping than for side sleeping, particularly in terms of pressure relief.
Spinal Alignment
The key to good back support is maintaining proper spinal alignment while you sleep. This means that the mattress should hold your spine in roughly the same position it's in when you're standing. The ability of a given mattress to do this will generally depend on your weight, sleep position, and body shape.
Here is how we break down the spinal alignment of the Eight Pod mattress:
| Weight | Range | Back Sleepers | Side Sleepers | Stomach Sleepers |
| Lighter | <150 lb | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Average | 150 to 200 lb | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| Above Average | 200 to 250 lb | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| Heavier | >250 lb | 8 | 7 | 6 |
Back Sleepers:
While our 200-lb. tester was on his back, he felt well supported by the Pod. His hips sunk into the mattress enough that the mattress pushed up into this lumbar area to create excellent support and a neutral spine. We felt that back sleepers in a wide range of sizes and weights would also experience very good spinal alignment on the Pod.
Side Sleepers:
From a spinal alignment perspective, we felt the Pod did a good job, particularly for average and lighter weight sleepers. For heavier sleepers, as we often do with all foam mattresses, we had some concerns that hips and shoulders might just keep sinking into the mattress, but still we thought spinal position while side sleeping would be at least good for most people. However, pressure relief is typically more important for side sleepers, and we had some concerns there.
Stomach Sleepers:
As with side sleepers, we thought most stomach sleepers of average weight or lighter would be well suited to the Pod mattress, though we had concerns for heavier stomach sleepers, whose hips might sink too much into the bed, creating arching in the spine.
Pressure Relief ( what's this )
When a mattress pushes back against your body with too much force in a concentrated area, the result can be pain, soreness, loss of circulation, excessive tossing, and other problems. In general, such "pressure points" are of greatest concern for side sleepers, since that's the position in which your body's weight is distributed over the smallest surface area. To find the right mattress for your needs, keep in mind that the pressure-relieving capabilities of any given mattress will vary depending on the sleeper. Factors like your weight and body shape (e.g., broader shoulders and/or hips) will determine how far you sink into the mattress, and the pressure relief offered by that mattress will vary widely at different depths.
Here's how we sized up the pressure relief of the Eight Sleep Pod mattress:
| Weight | Range | Typical Curves | Extra Curvy |
| Lighter | <150 lb | 5 | 4 |
| Average | 150 to 200 lb | 5 | 4 |
| Above Average | 200 to 250 lb | 4 | 3 |
| Heavier | >250 lb | 4 | 3 |
Other Features
Beyond the preference-based characteristics of comfort and feel, and the body matching for spinal alignment and pressure relief, a mattress will have a number of other attributes that can make it a better or worse choice for you. We call these "priority-based characteristics" because they are areas in which a mattress can be better or worse, but that will have differing amounts of importance to each sleeper. So, determining how much importance to give to these features will be entirely a matter of your own personal priorities. As always, we apply the same ratings standards to each mattress so you can more easily compare apples to apples.
Motion Isolation ( what’s this )
If you are easily disturbed by a partner changing positions or getting in and out of bed, motion isolation will be a priority for you. We test this in two ways. First, we place a bowling pin upright on a small piece of glass on one side of the bed. Then we drop a bowling ball, as well as the full weight of our tester, on to the other side of the bed. Observing what happens with the bowling pin gives us good clues as to how well this mattress isolates motion.
| Motion Isolation |
9/10 | Excellent |
Temperature ( what’s this )
THE selling feature for the Eight Sleep Pod is its temperature features. It's really more of a 'system' that just a mattress, comprised of the mattress itself, the mattress cover, a console unit (Eight calls it the "Hub"), and the app, which lets you control the temperature. The thermal console is about the size of a small paper shredder or humidifier. It does make a small amount of noise; we did not find it disturbing or bothersome, and the connector hose is long enough that you can move the console further away from the mattress itself if you desire.
How it works
Under the soft top of the mattress cover is a vinyl layer that includes small channels -- as you can see in the photo below. The Hub unit pumps either cooled or heated water through these channels, allowing you to raise or lower the temperature of the mattress to a temperature range of 55 degrees to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. The free app (iPhone or Android) allows you to set the temperature on the fly, or set up scheduling to raise and/or lower the temperature at bedtime, through the night, in the morning, etc. The system is dual-sided, so each person of a couple can set their own preferences (each person would have the app on their phone) for their side of the mattress.
The Hub will need to plug into a wall outlet, and it will need to be filled with distilled water and hydrogen peroxide (both available at any drugstore). The system will alert you when more water needs to be added. You'll need to connect the Hub and app through your home's WiFi network, and it's also compatible with home automation systems like Alexa.
Once set up, the Hub console unit takes over, pumping warn or cool water through the mattress's vinyl layer to created your desired temperature.
Is it effective?
You bet it is. Sleeping hot is a big concern for some people, and even if you don't have a history of sleeping hot, there are good reasons you might want to control the temperature of your mattress, whether for simple comfort preferences or a therapeutic benefit. In this respect, the Pod can function as both a cooling pad and a heating pad.
Usually when we talk about how cool a mattress feels, we talk about passive features (how deeply you sink, how dense the foams are) and features added by manufacturers like gel, charcoal, or phase change material intended to help draw heat from the body. But the Eight Sleep Pod is simply a game changer, in a completely different class.
With the app, we set one side of the bed on its lowest setting (55 degrees) and the other side on its highest setting (110 degrees) and sat in the middle of the mattress. Literally one side of our tester was super cold and the other was super hot.
If sleeping hot is something that's effected you in the past, or if sleeping cooler is important to you for health benefits (most experts say the idea sleep temperature is around 65 degrees), then the Pod lets you dial that in very precisely.
And we can see benefits to the warmer settings too. In our testing, we enjoyed setting the temperature just a bit warmer to take the 'chill' off the bed in winter. But at higher temperatures, the mattress can work like a whole-body heating pad, which might feel good if you have fatigue or aches and pains that benefit from the application of heat.
The solution that Eight Sleep has come up with simply as far more impact, and more sustained impact, that any other temperature-regulating scheme we have seen.
| Temperature Rating | 10/10 | Exceptional |
Pod App and Sleep Tracking
The functions of the Hub are controlled via your phone with a free app from Eight Sleep. You can of course control the bed's temperature, but you can also set up scheduling, having the Hub change the temperature throughout the night if you prefer. There's even a quiz that can help you decide what your optimal temperature setting might be.
For couples, each person would download the app on their own phone and have their own set of controls.
The cover and app also function as a sleep tracker, with data about your sleeping habits and tendencies. It can play sounds to help you sleep, and provide all sort of other sleep-related information.
We found the app easy to use and intuitive. The sleep tracking and informative features are part of an included membership called Eight Sleep Plus, free when you buy the Pod mattress.
Edge Support ( what’s this )
Edge support is important if you like to sit on the side of the bed, or if you tend to sleep along the edge. It wasn't the best with the Eight Pod. When sitting, you can see how the side collapses. Our testing didn't feel unstable, but the edge didn't have much sturdiness to it. When laying, our tester felt himself starting to lean off the bed, and it got worse the longer he laid on the edge and started to feel the memory foam 'melting' under his body.
Overall, we're sure the Eight Pod would be fine if you occasionally sit or lie on the edge, but it certainly was not the best.
| Edge Support Rating | 6 /10 | Pretty good |
Ease of Repositioning ( what’s this )
If you tend to move and change positions a lot over the course of a night, ease of repositioning will be a priority for you. We found the Eight Pod bed to really shine in this area. Our tester had no trouble at all moving around or rolling into another position.
| Repositioning Rating | 9 /10 | Excellent |
Green Features ( what’s this )
For mattress shoppers concerned with the use of natural materials, sustainable manufacturing practices or the like, we offer our subjective evaluation of any efforts taken by the company to make the mattress more green, healthy, or safe.
| Green Rating | 3 /10 | Fair |
Adjustable Base Compatibility ( what’s this )
We tested the Eight Sleep Pod on our standard adjustable base and it performed extremely well, with very good conformance to our base, and no annoying bunching of the cover. There was a little bit of lifting at the foot, but this is common with a new mattress, and we expect the mattress would relax over time.
| Adjustable Base Use Rating | 9 /10 | Excellent |
Price, Value & Longevity
How Much Does an Eight Sleep Pod Mattress Cost?
Prices shown are list prices. Remember that GoodBed keeps our site current with the best available discounts on all online mattresses, many of which are exclusive discounts for our readers.
Eight Sleep also offers discounts to military, first responders, and teachers.
What Are You Getting?
The Eight Sleep Pod is the most effective mattress solution we've seen for those who sleep hot. You're getting an 11" all-foam mattress, an electronic Hub console, a water cooled/heated mattress cover, and a sleep tracker/control app. Right now, it's entirely unique on the market.
How Long Will the Eight Pod Mattress Last?
This is a tough one. As for the mattress itself, the foams used in it are pretty standard polyurethane foams; we've seen better foams and we've seen worse, so our expectation for the mattress is pretty good -- around average -- in terms of longevity. The big question mark is the electronics. It's hard for anyone to say how long any Chinese-made electronic item will last, and even harder when the item is unique in the marketplace. Theoretically, the console and cover could be replaced if they fail before the mattress does, but that would be at extra cost if out of warranty.
Overall Value
If you're a person that's had trouble with sleeping hot, or someone that wants the sleep benefits of being able to cool your mattress to an optimal temperature, the Eight Sleep Pod sits in a unique position. While the mattress itself -- four layers of poly foam -- would not justify the price tag, the ability to exactly control your mattress's temperature is hard to put a price on. The Eight Pod delivers on its core value, so assuming that's a priority for you, we would certainly say the Pod is a good value.
| Value Rating | 7 /10 | Good |
Other Factors to Consider
Delivery
- Free delivery to the door
Eight Sleep includes free delivery, which is not unusual among its competitors. Delivery is by common carrier like FedEx, who will deliver the boxes to your door. Note that the system comes in two or three boxes; one for the mattress and others for the electronic parts.
Returns
- 100-night trial period
- Full refund within trial period
Eight Sleep offers buyers a 100-day trial period for the Pod, which includes return shipping should you choose to return it. See: Eight Sleep return policy
Warranty
- Warranty Length: 10 years for the mattress, 1 year for the technology
- Indentation Coverage: 1” and above
