The Pod 4 smart mattress cover by Eight Sleep promises better sleep through personalised temperature control and smarter tracking – but is it worth the price?
We all know that recovery is important if we want to get the best from our workouts. And while foam rollers and massage guns can help prep you for your next session, there’s nothing better than a good night’s sleep. Sleep tech has become a booming industry and Eight Sleep is at the forefront of this. The innovative sleep tech brand, which was founded in New York a decade ago, quickly gained popularity for its cutting-edge mattress covers designed to track and optimise sleep through personalised temperature control.
The Pod 4 is the company’s latest offering and aims to improve overall sleep quality thanks to the use of some nifty AI tech that makes use of your sleep data to not only monitor but also actively enhance sleep quality in real time through personalised temperature adjustments.
Building on the success of its predecessor, the Pod 3, the Pod 4 sports a redesigned tubing system for improved comfort as well as promising a quieter operation and some new app features. But do these really help to improve your sleep? With such a hefty price tag, the Pod 4 needs to deliver on its promises to justify the investment. Over the past few months, I’ve been testing it to see if it really can improve my sleep the way it claims.
Men’s Fitness verdict
As long as you don’t lose sleep over the eye-watering cost, the Pod 4 delivers a smart sleep experience that few products can match.- Improved temperature control
- Enhances the comfort of existing mattresses
- Detailed sleep tracking insights
- Expensive even before subscription is factored in
- Set-up can be tricky
Why you can trust Men’s Fitness
At mensfitness.co.uk, every product is rigorously tested by our team of experts. Lee Bell, a tech and fitness reviewer, has spent months using the Eight Sleep Pod 4 and incorporating it into his nightly sleep routine. From comfort to sleep tracking, he assessed everything to determine whether this high-tech mattress cover lives up to its claims.
Eight Sleep Pod 4 features
The Eight Sleep Pod 4 sticks to a similar setup as the Pod 3, which Men’s Fitness reviewed last year. It consists of a smart mattress cover and a hub that controls the water-cooled temperature system. The cover fits over your existing mattress, while the hub sits next to or under your bed (if it will fit), pumping water through the tiny tubes built into the cover to either cool or warm the surface based on your preferences (or time of year).
One key improvement over the Pod 3 is the redesigned tubing system. On the Pod 3, some users reported being able to feel the tubing, especially stomach sleepers, which wasn’t ideal. The Pod 4 addresses this with a more refined design that makes the tubing practically undetectable under the mattress cover. If anything, the cover seems to improve the overall feel and comfort of the mattress underneath, adding a deeper softness that you sink into without losing all firmness altogether. This is a big win, in my opinion. The cover also feels soft and luxurious to the touch, which is pretty important for a product at this price point, I think.
Eight Sleep Pod 4 design
However, like the Pod 3, the hub is still a bit bulky. And while it’s quieter than before, you can still hear some operational noise, especially during the initial cooling or heating process. You do get used to this sound, though. After the first week or so, I stopped hearing it and has now become part of the ambient sound of my bedroom at nighttime.
Another (slight) niggle is the set-up process. While it’s slightly better than the Pod 3, the Pod 4 is a bit of a faff to install, and can take some time and effort. For example, you need to connect the hub to the cover via three covered tubes and fill the hub with distilled water. Plus you have to find somewhere for all the tubing and cables to go without it looking unsightly. Nevertheless, the Eight Sleep app guides you through the process, but syncing the system to your WiFi and getting everything calibrated can take some patience. At least you do only have to do it once.
It’s also worth noting that while the Pod 4 enhances overall comfort for most people, it does slightly alter the feel of your mattress. The tubing, though less noticeable than in the Pod 3, can still change the sensation of your bed, especially for side sleepers who may feel a slight firmness. If you’re sensitive to this, it’s something to think about. However, if temperature control is your priority, these small changes are easily outweighed by the benefits.
Eight Sleep Pod 4 performance
The performance of the Eight Sleep Pod 4 is where this innovative device truly shines. Much like the Pod 3, the dual-zone temperature control is easily one of its most impressive features. Whether you and your partner have different temperature preferences or you want to use the Pod 4’s Autopilot feature to adjust temperatures throughout the night automatically, the system adapts to your needs with a snap of the fingers.
I should also note that the temperature control is noticeably more efficient in the Pod 4 than it was in the Pod 3. The redesigned tubing system doubles the cooling power, which hot sleepers will definitely appreciate. I found the Pod 4 quickly brought the bed to my ideal temperature in about 10-15 minutes. And for those nights where I wanted to sleep cooler, the system was able to maintain a comfortable coolness throughout the night, without the fluctuations I noticed in the Pod 3.
Ease of control
Another new standout feature is the tap control, which allows you to adjust the temperature without having to open the app on your phone. Two taps will cool the bed and three taps will warm it. It’s a super simple but intuitive addition – one that I didn’t think I needed until it was there. It’s especially useful in the middle of the night when you don’t want the bright screen of your phone waking you up.
Like its predecessor, the Pod 4 is also a powerful sleep tracker that monitors biometrics including heart rate, respiratory rate and time spent in different sleep stages (light, deep and REM). The app then provides a Sleep Fitness Score based on these metrics. Over time it will learn your preferences, adjusting the temperature automatically to maximise your sleep quality. It’s an amazing feature that I found worked amazingly over the two-or-so months that I’ve used it.
The Pod 4 also includes a snoring detection feature, which adjusts the temperature if it senses snoring. This is so useful for those who share a bed, ensuring one person’s snoring doesn’t affect the other’s sleep score (an issue reported with the Pod 3). The system even works alongside an adjustable base (if using the Ultra edition of the Pod 4), changing your sleep position to reduce the snoring even more. Although this comes at an additional cost, naturally.
Pros and cons
The Eight Sleep Pod 4 takes all the strengths of the Pod 3 and takes it to a whole new level, adding worthwhile innovations such as more powerful cooling power and quieter operation as well as genuinely useful tools like tap controls. It’s clear that Eight Sleep has listened to user feedback and refined the experience.
The Autopilot feature also works brilliantly, automatically adjusting temperature throughout the night to ensure you have the best night’s sleep possible, and then giving you an overview of how exactly it did this with a deep insight report the following morning. In fact, everything about this device is impressive. Well, except for the cost – both initially and ongoing.
The Pod 4’s high price tag and app subscription fee are likely to be massive turn-offs for the majority of people, even those who suffer from bad sleep. While it could prove a significant and worthwhile investment for those serious about improving their sleep, the Pod 4’s £2.7k initial cost and £150-plus ongoing annual running fees will prove a hard pill to swallow.
Still, if the costs aren’t enough to put you off, the Eight Sleep Pod 4 will not disappoint. This high-tech sleep system is hard to beat.
How does it compare?
When comparing the Pod 4 to its predecessor, the Pod 3, the first thing you notice is the improvement in the cover’s tubing design. Its improved cooling efficiency also make the upgrade worth considering, especially for hot sleepers. While the Pod 3 introduced game-changing sleep tech with temperature control and sleep tracking, the Pod 4 runs with these innovative features, delivering a quieter and more comfortable sleep than the Pod 3 ever could.
Compared to other competitors such as the SleepMe ChiliPad, the Eight Sleep Pod 4 offers more advanced tracking features. However, with its higher price, it’s way more expensive than other temperature-control mattress systems currently on the market.
How could the Eight Sleep Pod 4 be better?
While the Pod 4 is an improvement over its predecessor, there are still some areas where it could be refined. The bulky hub is one of them. The unit is still rather large and cumbersome, and finding a place in the bedroom where it can sit unobtrusively is near impossible. Also, reducing reliance on the app’s subscription model would make the Pod 4 more accessible, especially after paying a such a premium price. Simplifying the setup process would also be a welcome change, too, as the initial installation can feel like quite the job.
Should you buy the Eight Sleep Pod 4?
If you’re looking for the most advanced sleep tech on the market and are willing to make a significant investment to get your hands on it, the Eight Sleep Pod 4 is the best out there right now. The combination of precise temperature control, which learns your preferences to improve your sleep, alongside detailed sleep tracking insights and smart features like snore detection and tap controls sets it apart from anything else on the market.
If you’re on a budget, it’s hard to justify the Eight Sleep Pod 4. Especially considering the monthly subscription fees (of £14 per month) for the more detailed sleep insights on top of the already-very-expensive initial purchase costs. For those upgrading from the Pod 3, the improvements are great, but probably not differentiating enough to warrant the upgrade.
And those who are prepared to fork out whatever it costs to get the best sleep ever? The Pod 4 is hard to beat.
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