We did a one month trial of the Eight Sleep smart mattress topper... Did we keep it?

As more people look for ways to optimize their sleep, tech-driven solutions like the Eight Sleep smart mattress topper are becoming increasingly popular. Known for its advanced cooling and heating features, personalized temperature settings, and sleep tracking, Eight Sleep promises to revolutionize how we snooze. But with a high price tag, is it really worth the investment? We tested the Eight Sleep Pod 4 in a one-month trial and here’s what we thought, including whether or not we decided to keep it.

The Set Up: Not perfect, but generally easy

The ordering, shipping, and delivery process went off without a hitch. The set up itself was fairly easy as well. The app provided clear set up instructions that walked us through each part of the process step-by-step. There are a few things you need to set up, including the mattress topper itself and the Hub, a refillable water tank at the heart of the heating and cooling system. All-in-all the set up only took about 30 minutes and some of that was idle time while the Hub filled the mattress topper with water.

The one issue came with setting up Autopilot, the “smart” part of Eight Sleep responsible for automatically adjusting your temperature. Autopilot is a subscription (more on this below) and required an activation code to enable. Despite already purchasing Autopilot, we did not receive an activation code. We could still complete the set up and test out most of the features without Autopilot, but this was still a pain point as we had to call customer service. Luckily, they were able to remedy the issue the next day. The support was actually some of the best that we’ve encountered - they were incredibly friendly and efficient. However, ideally we would have been sent the activation code and not needed the support.

The Feeling: Eight Sleep maintains the comfort of your mattress

When we said that the Hub fills your Eight Sleep mattress topper with water, you might have gotten concerned. Does the Eight Sleep feel like a water bed? The answer is absolutely not. The water system in the Pod 4 model is undetectable. You’d never know it was there other than the temperature changes. The Eight Sleep feels just like another comfortable layer on top of your mattress. If we had to describe any difference, it’s perhaps slightly on the firmer side. But overall, it is very soft and we didn’t notice a big difference from our Saatva mattress topper (which we still kept underneath the Eight Sleep).

The Features: Smart temperature control and more

One of Eight Sleep’s most impressive features is its ability to control your bed’s temperature throughout the night. You can customize different temperatures for each side of the bed, which makes it perfect for couples with different sleep preferences. Even better, you can adjust temperatures based on different sleep phases—start warm, cool down during the middle of the night, and warm back up as it approaches wake-up time. This level of control was a standout for us.

Another feature we enjoyed was the alarm clock, which uses gentle vibrations and temperature shifts to wake you up gradually. Instead of being jolted awake by a loud alarm, the bed’s temperature changes subtly wake you, making for a more peaceful start to the day. Waking up can be rough and we enjoyed this feature way more than we thought we would. Plus, not waking up your partner unnecessarily is a big plus.

The Eight Sleep also provides sleep tracking, which we tested alongside both an Apple Watch and a Fitbit. No sleep tracker is 100% accurate, but this one seemed fairly reliable and at least directionally matched the patterns of our other devices. However, we did notice that the Eight Sleep tends to report higher sleep quality.

Now, let’s talk about Autopilot, Eight Sleep’s smart mode that adjusts the temperature automatically based on your sleep patterns. Initially, we were unsure if Autopilot was doing anything at all. We got reports that Autopilot was improving our sleep quality but it wouldn’t say how. It would just say “20 Autopilot adjustments“ alongside claims like it “increased deep sleep 33%.” Then, things got very suspicious when Eight Sleep emailed us a sleep report.

You can see in these screenshots that these reports were for two users with different demographics, male vs female and age 36-45 vs age 26-35. Additionally, we each had different preferences set, one as a cool sleeper vs one as a warm sleeper. Now, granted these profiles were on either side of the same bed but we still expected to see different results. Instead, Eight Sleep reported the exact same adjustments and results for both of us.

However, we did receive a detailed report on Autopilot’s activity a few days later that was definitely customized. It seemed to be accurate and it definitely matched our preferences.

Perhaps Eight Sleep needed more time to learn our preferences for Autopilot to kick in. Or perhaps the Eight Sleep engineers are working to improve the product. You can see this is called out as a new feature but it’s unclear if this was just new to us or if this was new to everyone. Either way, it’s a huge improvement and instantly improved our trust with the product

All of the controls and sleep reports can be found in the Eight Sleep app. Generally, we find the app to be fairly intuitive and easy-to-use. However, one thing we don’t like about the app is that it takes a few hours after waking up for your full sleep report. Some insights are ready right away, but one notable exception is the Autopilot update. Maybe we’re spoiled by our other sleep trackers, but we find that immediate insights are pretty standard in this day and age.

The Results: How our sleep quality changed

We found the cooling feature to be particularly impressive. Heating technology seems a bit easier to get right, plus you can always throw on more blankets. It’s bringing down the temperature can be much trickier. But not anymore. The Eight Sleep can make it feel like you’re always sleeping on the cool side of the pillow and this was a huge for our sleep experience.

Interestingly enough, we have noticed a difference in our sleep quality but not in the way that we expected. Based on all the reviews we read, we assumed the Eight Sleep would most noticeably improve our deep sleep. Instead, we are finding that it’s our REM sleep that has improved! REM sleep is a critical factor for your mood, memory retention, and ability to learn. It’s often linked to dreaming and this is how we know for certain that we are getting more REM sleep than we did before. The REM sleep improvements are not just showing up in our trackers (as we mentioned above, we’re tracking our sleep with an Apple Watch and a Fitbit alongside the Eight Sleep) but we’re actually remembering significantly more dreams after a night on the Eight Sleep.

The Price: Eight Sleep is an investment

There’s no getting around it—Eight Sleep is a premium investment. The Pod 4 model is the latest version of the mattress cover with the integrated smart technology and is currently over $2000. If you opt for the Pod 4 Ultra model, which features an additional base for elevation, the price climbs to nearly $4000.

One important thing to note is that Autopilot requires an additional subscription. It’s pretty crazy to have an additional monthly fee on top of such a hefty price and this is probably our least favorite thing about Eight Sleep. Currently, Autopilot is $17 per month for the standard subscription, or $25 per month if you opt for the extended warranty.

The Verdict: So, did we keep our Eight Sleep?

After our one-month trial and lots of deliberation, we decided to keep our Eight Sleep smart mattress topper. The personalized temperature control, the gentle wake-ups from the alarm vibrations, and, most importantly, the overall improvement in our sleep quality made it hard to give up. It genuinely enhanced our sleeping experience, especially for a couple who constantly struggled with different temperature preferences at night. However, once we really understand our temperature preferences, we are considering canceling our Autopilot subscription and just manually customizing the Eight Sleep.

Although we were positive on it in the end, the Eight Sleep might not be the right solution for everyone. Especially if you’re a single sleeper or a couple with more aligned temperature preferences, you can probably just work on optimizing the temperature of your room at night. But if you’re someone who values a personalized sleep experience and wants to invest in a smart sleep system, Eight Sleep could be a game-changer.