Eight Sleep Review: Inside the Pod 2 Pro Mattress
The Pod 2 Pro by Eight Sleep is one of the coolest mattresses on the market, literally! …And Figuratively. Packed with smart technology, such as dual-zone climate-control, sleep tracking, and smart home integration it is certainly one of the most innovative. Eight Sleep studies show that the Pod may provide up to 34% deeper sleep, up to 32% improved sleep quality, and up to 19% improvement in recovery (HRV).
In our Eight Sleep review, we look at the Pod 2 Pro mattress to discuss construction, smart technology features, and the best sleep positions. We’ll also cover purchase details such as pricing, sleep trials, warranties, and more. Let’s dive in.
- Last Updated: February 23, 2023
Eight Sleep Review Verdict
The Pod Pro by Eight Sleep is hands down the best mattress we’ve tested for cooling. It is also excellent for sleepers who struggle with being too cold throughout the night, or partners who have different temperature preferences. Whatever side of the spectrum you are on, maintaining an ideal sleep temperature is necessary for restful and restorative sleep.
The Pod Pro has greatly increased our sleep health allowing us to set our respective side of the bed with a temperature ranging between 55-110 degrees Fahrenheit. We’ve enjoyed the sleep tracking but particularly appreciate the gentle rise alarm clock which allows us to wake up without disturbing each other.
Eight Sleep Pod 2 Pro Quickview
Why We Love It –
- Dual zone cooling & heating allows you to customize your sleep temperature.
- Individual sleep tracking on either side of the bed allows partners to customize the sleep temperature independently on their side of the bed.
- GentleRise Alarm Clock – choose to gently wake up to heat or coolness, vibrations, or both.
- Sleep Tracking provides key metrics for monitoring your health. Connect 3rd party fitness trackers for an even deeper look into your health and fitness.
- Nice balance between comfort and support, ideal for side and back sleepers.
Considerations –
- Limited bed size selection. Eight Sleep is not available in a Twin or Twin XL.
- It’s expensive. That being said, Eight Sleep is packed with smart technology that we think is worth the cost of the mattress, however, it may be cost prohibitive to some.
- Eight Sleep does require some maintenance. Approximately every 2 months you’ll be reminded to refill the water tank and reprime.
- Some features are only available through a subscription service.
Mattress Type
All-Foam Smart Bed
Firmness
Medium
Sleep Trial
100-Nights
Warranty
10-year/2-year
Shipping
FREE Standard
Price Range
$2695-$3395
Eight Sleep YouTube Review
About The Pod 2 Pro Mattress
The Pod 2 Pro is a 12-inch, all-foam smart bed featuring dual-zone temperature regulation. In other words, each side of the mattress can be heated or cooled independently from the other side. Users can adjust the temperature of the bed to fall anywhere between 55 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit via the smart app.
Seamless sensing technology together with Intelligent SmartTemp™ AI work to automatically and continuously adjust the temperature throughout the night, providing sleepers with an ideal sleep temperature.
The sensing technology includes piezo films, ballistocardiography, and temperature sensors to determine the temperature of the bed, as well as the room. This 0.01-inch thick layer can detect your heartbeat and breathing patterns providing valuable sleep tracking information.
Eight Sleep Smart App
The smart app is available for iOS or Android users and can be used via phone, tablet, or another smart device. After setting up your account and assigning your side of the bed to your profile you can start to have some fun. You can see the indoor and outdoor temperatures in your area as well as relative humidity through the app. But where it really gets exciting is customizing your sleep experience.
You can create a sleep schedule that coordinates with the temperature you prefer most. Your schedule is divided into 4 phases: bedtime, initial, final, and wake up.
Wake Up With GentleRise Technology
The GentleRise™ Wake Up Technology is a must-have for anyone who struggles with their morning wake-up routine. Simply select your wake-up time along with your preferred setting (thermal, vibration, or both) For those that opt for the thermal alarm it will begin to change temperature 30 minutes before your desired wake-up time.
And if you and your partner have different wake-up times, you don’t have to worry about waking each other up with the obnoxious blaring of an alarm clock. When you set your wake up, the Pod 2 Pro targets your side of the bed, leaving your partner to rest peacefully.
Thermal Setting – is great for those who want to gently rise from sleep naturally. In this mode, you can adjust the temperature to a warmer setting that heats your body up and lets you know it is time to begin your day!
Vibration Setting – As its name suggests, this mode uses vibrations to wake you from sleep. This is similar to the feel of your phone buzzing when in vibration mode. You can adjust the vibrations from 1 to 10 depending on how strong you want the vibrations to be.
Eight Sleep Review Verdict
The Pod Pro by Eight Sleep is hands down the best mattress we’ve tested for cooling. It is also excellent for sleepers who struggle with being too cold throughout the night, or partners who have different temperature preferences. Whatever side of the spectrum you are on, maintaining an ideal sleep temperature is necessary for restful and restorative sleep.
The Pod Pro has greatly increased our sleep health allowing us to set our respective side of the bed with a temperature ranging between 55-110 degrees Fahrenheit. We’ve enjoyed the sleep tracking but particularly appreciate the gentle rise alarm clock which allows us to wake up without disturbing each other.
Sleep tracking
Under the sleep tracking tab, you can find a breakdown of things like time to fall asleep, time to leave the bed, time spent in each sleep stage, as well as how many times you tossed and turned throughout the night. This information is used to provide sleepers with an overall sleep score.
You can track key health metrics such as sleeping heart rate, heart rate variability, and sleeping respiratory heart rate. In fact, the Pod 2 Pro offers 99% accuracy in monitoring your heart when compared to ECG HR monitors. Tracking this information can provide indications about your overall health. Eight Sleep includes links to content explaining what these metrics mean, allowing you to be more informed about your sleep health and patterns.
In addition to tracking your sleep, the app provides users with guides for meditation, breathing, and stretching, as well as sounds to fall asleep to. Overall, the app is clean, straightforward, and easy to use!
Smart Home Integration
This smart bed just got smarter! Use smart home integration to make using your new mattress a breeze. The Pod 2 Pro is compatible with Alexa, ask her things like “Alexa, how did I sleep last night”, or “Alexa, warm up my bed” and more.
The Pod 2 Pro can also be used in combination with the IFTTT app and IFTTT-supported devices, including Nest, Amazon Echo (Alexa Voice), ecobee, WeMo coffeemaker, and Philips hue. Eight Sleep promises more integrations are coming soon.
This opens up some cool options! Like my favorite, having your coffee brewed fresh and ready when you wake up 🙂
Firmness & Feel
The Pod 2 Pro has a soft, yet firm feel designed to provide universal comfort no matter your sleep position. The polyfoam comfort layers offer gentle contouring and pressure relief, cradling sensitive pressure points. While the high-density support core promotes spinal alignment, preventing sleepers from sinking too deeply into the mattress. This makes it a versatile option for most sleep positions and body types.
Side Sleepers
The Pod 2 Pro offers nice pressure relief, ideal for most side sleepers. Whether you’re a strict side sleeper or a combination/side sleeper, the Pod 2 Pro provides gentle cushioning for the hips and shoulders, relieving aches and pain, and eliminating pins and needles.
Back Sleepers
The balanced feel of the Eight Sleep Pod 2 Pro makes it a good fit for back sleepers as well. We think back sleepers, regardless of weight, should get on quite well with this mattress.
Stomach Sleepers
Lightweight stomach sleepers may find the Pod 2 Pro to be a decent fit. However, stomach sleepers weighing more than 130 lbs may experience some sagging through the midsection; this can lead to lower back pain over time.
Eight Sleep Review Verdict
The Pod Pro by Eight Sleep is hands down the best mattress we’ve tested for cooling. It is also excellent for sleepers who struggle with being too cold throughout the night, or partners who have different temperature preferences. Whatever side of the spectrum you are on, maintaining an ideal sleep temperature is necessary for restful and restorative sleep.
The Pod Pro has greatly increased our sleep health allowing us to set our respective side of the bed with a temperature ranging between 55-110 degrees Fahrenheit. We’ve enjoyed the sleep tracking but particularly appreciate the gentle rise alarm clock which allows us to wake up without disturbing each other.
Eight Sleep Pod 2 Pro Mattress Performance
Is the Pod 2 Pro the Best Mattress For Cooling?
Without a doubt, yes!
If you are a hot sleeper this is the mattress for you. While many mattresses claim to help regulate temperature, no other mattress that we have reviewed competes with the cooling technology found in the Pod 2 Pro. Conversely, the same can be said for warming. Overall, the Eight Sleep Pod 2 Pro is the best mattress for cooling.
Motion Isolation
All-foam mattresses are known for their excellent ability to isolate motion, creating fewer sleep disturbances and less noise than alternative mattress types. The thick foam layers of the Pod 2 Pro offer decent motion isolation.
That being said, we did experience more motion transfer than usual when changing positions, as well as a tendency to roll into the center of the bed when sleeping with a partner. For light sleepers, easily prone to sleep disturbances, this might not be ideal. Still, the Eight Sleep Pod 2 Pro offers an almost noiseless sleep experience and above average motion isolation.
Edge Support
Good edge support allows sleepers to utilize a larger portion of the surface area without feeling like they might tumble out of bed. All-foam mattresses tend to sag or compress along the edges.
Unfortunately, this was true with the Eight Sleep Pod 2 Pro. Sitting along the edge of the bed we could feel deep compression. This may make it difficult to get into and out of bed, especially for seniors and individuals with injuries or disabilities who rely on good edge support.
Additionally, we did experience compression when lying near the edges of the bed. For couples sharing a Full or Queen size mattress this could make the bed feel smaller as this can affect the usable surface space of the mattress.
Ease Of Movement
Ease of movement is a particularly important metric for combination sleepers who change positions frequently throughout the night. Beds with poor ease of movement make it difficult to move about undisturbed; while beds with good ease of movement allow sleepers to easily transition from one position to the next.
The Eight Sleep Pod 2 Pro offers deep contouring and sinkage, which, while great for pressure relief, made moving around a bit difficult. This was especially true the closer to the edge of the bed we were. Unfortunately, if you are a heavier combination sleeper you might feel a bit stuck in the mud when changing positions.
Off-gassing
New mattresses emit an odor when being unpackaged. This odor, which has a chemical smell, is known as off-gassing. While off-gassing is common, some mattresses off-gas worse than others.
We did experience some off-gassing when unboxing the Pod 2 Pro but it was minor and it dissipated rather quickly. Eight Sleep beds are made with CertiPUR-US certified foams. Mattresses with this certification must meet rigorous standards for Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions. Rest easy knowing your Eight Sleep mattress has been made without ozone depletors, PBDEs, TDCPP, or TCEP (“Tris”) flame retardants, mercury, lead, or other heavy metals, formaldehyde, and phthalates.
Eight Sleep Review Verdict
The Pod Pro by Eight Sleep is hands down the best mattress we’ve tested for cooling. It is also excellent for sleepers who struggle with being too cold throughout the night, or partners who have different temperature preferences. Whatever side of the spectrum you are on, maintaining an ideal sleep temperature is necessary for restful and restorative sleep.
The Pod Pro has greatly increased our sleep health allowing us to set our respective side of the bed with a temperature ranging between 55-110 degrees Fahrenheit. We’ve enjoyed the sleep tracking but particularly appreciate the gentle rise alarm clock which allows us to wake up without disturbing each other.
Optional Eight Sleep Membership
Every Pod comes with a free standard 8+ membership. This includes lifetime access to the following:
- Manual Heating and Cooling
- Scheduled Heating and Cooling
- Advanced Sleep and Health Tracking
- GentleRise Alarm Clock
Eight Sleep now offers the 8+ Pro, an optional subscription that gives customers access to more advanced smart technology such as:
- Temperature AutoPilot – Eight Sleep learns your sleep patterns to automatically adjust your sleep temperature, keeping you in a deep sleep.
- Digitial Coaching & Data Insights – Eight sleep tracks your sleep and notifies you when anything changes or seems abnormal, providing greater insight into your health.
- Sleep Content – includes guided breathing and meditation, yoga and stretching, and soothing sleep sounds.
The 8+ Pro membership costs an additional $15 a month and is billed annually.
Eight Sleep Purchase Details
Sleep Trial
Eight Sleep offers a 100-night sleep trial on all their mattresses. Your trial starts on your delivery date. If you are not completely satisfied with your purchase during this time, simply contact Eight Sleep before the deadline for a full refund. Eight Sleep will work with you to get the mattress recycled or disposed of.
Warranty
Eight Sleep offers a 10-year warranty on the foam mattress and a 2-year warranty on the technology bundle. The warranty is only valid for the original purchaser.
Shipping & Delivery
Eight Sleep ships to the contiguous US, Canada, the UK, parts of the EU, and Australia. Shipping is free to all listed locations. However, some purchase details may change depending on your location.
Pricing & Bed Sizes
The Pod Pro by Eight Sleep does come with a higher than normal price tag. But considering that the Pod Pro is packed with smart technology, sleep tracking, and health monitoring, we think it certainly warrants the cost.
Prices start at $2695. See below for current Eight Sleep discounts.
Pod 2 Pro Cost
Eight Sleep Bed Dimensions
(W x H x L)
Full
$2695
52.5 x 74.5 x 12
Queen
$2995
58.5 x 79.5 x 12
King
$3395
74.5 x 79.5 x 12
California King
$3395
70.5 x 83.5 x 12
Financing
Eight Sleep works with Affirm to offer financing options. Make easy monthly payments over 18, 24, or 36 months. Rates are 0% – 30% based upon approval.
Eight Sleep Mattress Coupon
Eight Sleep Review Verdict
The Pod Pro by Eight Sleep is hands down the best mattress we’ve tested for cooling. It is also excellent for sleepers who struggle with being too cold throughout the night, or partners who have different temperature preferences. Whatever side of the spectrum you are on, maintaining an ideal sleep temperature is necessary for restful and restorative sleep.
The Pod Pro has greatly increased our sleep health allowing us to set our respective side of the bed with a temperature ranging between 55-110 degrees Fahrenheit. We’ve enjoyed the sleep tracking but particularly appreciate the gentle rise alarm clock which allows us to wake up without disturbing each other.
Eight Sleep Compatible Bed Frames
Pair your new Eight Sleep mattress with the Eight Sleep Foundation, or pair it with any flat, supportive surface such as a platform, box spring, or slatted frame. Unfortunately, due to Eight Sleep’s unique water cooling grid, an adjustable base is not recommended.
