Eight Sleep Pod 3 cowl overview: It actually works, however we’re not fairly offered

I used to be prepared to like Eight Sleep’s Pod 3(opens in a brand new tab). 

Truthfully, I used to be offered right away. I’d heard about utilizing a cooling system to control your mattress’s temperature from my bodily therapist — who continues to be on workforce Eight Sleep after my “meh” expertise — and I used to be enthusiastic about attempting the Pod 3 sleep cowl on my beloved Casper mattress.

Sadly, I discovered myself getting off the hype prepare on the first out there station, however I’m keen to concede that simply because the Pod 3 wasn’t proper for me, it would give you the results you want.

What’s the Eight Sleep Pod 3 cowl?

Touted because the “final sleep health machine,” the Pod 3 is the most recent era of Eight Sleep’s Pod that brings dynamic cooling know-how into the bed room to supply your final sleep expertise and biometric monitoring. 

The way in which it really works is ridiculously cool. The Pod 3 cowl is, basically, the fanciest mattress cowl you’ll ever see — and it’s loaded with know-how to make thermoregulation a breeze. With temperatures starting from 55 levels Fahrenheit to 110 levels, the Pod 3 makes use of Temperature Autopilot to set the right temperature for you all through the evening with a view to assist optimum sleep. 

Sounds epic, proper? That’s as a result of it’s. Whereas the Eight Sleep companion app affords suggestions on the optimum temperatures for every section of sleep — together with bedtime, deep sleep, REM, and wakeup — you’re in full management. Which means you may create a very custom-made temperature schedule that matches your private preferences, and, with dual-zone heating and cooling, each you and your companion can set your personal temperature preferences on your facet of the mattress. 

Past that, the Pod 3 additionally offers you with a hefty quantity of biometric monitoring. The Pod 3 cowl has discreet sensors that will help you monitor an entire host of metrics together with sleep phases, disturbances, coronary heart fee, coronary heart fee variability, and even respiratory fee…all with out a wearable. 

So why didn’t I prefer it? Nicely, I truly did prefer it, however it was extra of a love-hate relationship than anything.

Organising the Pod 3 cowl was an absolute nightmare

I’m not afraid to confess after I’ve made a mistake, and I positively made one when it got here to establishing the Pod 3 cowl as a result of I used to be woefully unprepared for such a herculean feat. The Pod 3(opens in a brand new tab) cowl got here in three separate bins which made the journey from the mailroom to my residence a exercise by itself. From there, it solely went downhill.

The whole means of establishing the Pod 3 cowl was one frustration after one other. The packaging wasn’t intuitively designed — I couldn’t even get the bulkiest merchandise out of its field — and it shortly changed any pleasure I had about tackling this mission with annoyance. And that was solely the bins. 

Putting in the Pod 3 cowl was exhausting. Eight Sleep’s web site marketed the duvet as nearly easy, permitting you to “remodel your sleep in 5 straightforward steps.” These 5 steps, nevertheless, glossed over the issue of the setup, which — in accordance with the directions — would take round two to 3 hours. First, I slipped the encasement over my mattress. That is basically an ultra-thick fitted sheet, in all probability designed to guard your mattress, however — regardless of being 5-foot-10-inches with a love of weightlifting — I couldn’t get it over the corners of my mattress unassisted. 

Eight Sleep’s web site additionally didn’t point out the three adjustable straps as a part of their Good Match package deal, which concerned sliding the mattress off the body (I positively cheated and didn’t try this half), hooking two straps to the facet of the mattress — slipping them below the mattress and hooking them on the opposite facet — and hooking one other strap from the top to the foot of the mattress. From there, it took each my companion and me to zip on the Pod 3 Lively Grid — which was chargeable for the thermoregulation and biometric monitoring — and pull the three adjustable straps tight across the mattress.

The separate hub is what powers the Pod 3 cowl.
Credit score: RJ Andersen / robotechcompany.com

The following step concerned unboxing and connecting the Pod 3 hub, the mind of the operation, boasting a quad-core CPU in addition to 5Ghz WiFi assist. The hub was slightly greater than I anticipated however extremely top quality. It solely took a couple of minutes to get the whole lot linked utilizing the Eight Sleep companion app, which seems to solely be out there on iOS, however then I needed to “prime” the Pod 3 cowl twice by filling the water tank within the Hub with a combination of water (Eight Sleep recommends utilizing distilled water) and hydrogen peroxide.

Sleeping on the Pod 3 made me really feel like Goldilocks, however not in a great way

Right here’s the factor. The Pod 3 appears to be like, feels, and works nice, however it additionally works slightly too nice for my style. I used to be thrilled to slide into mattress that first evening, particularly feeling how crisp and funky my sheets had been, however — after following the advice of setting the mattress to a cooler temperature to help in deep sleep — I discovered myself waking up in the course of the evening completely freezing. I shortly adjusted the temperature and fell asleep once more, however it stored occurring.

Each evening, I modified the temperature schedule to one thing new, however I nonetheless discovered myself waking most nights freezing — or often sweating — and I couldn’t appear to seek out my “glad medium” in between. I used to be exhausted and pissed off, and it solely acquired marginally higher the longer I used it. The Eight Sleep app does tout an Autopilot characteristic designed to robotically modify your physique temperature to cut back wake-ups, however it was solely out there with the 8+ Professional membership. Plus, contemplating the Pod 3 cowl already clocks in at a whopping $2,445, including a $19 monthly cost to get a greater person expertise kinda sucked. 

What I preferred concerning the Pod 3

Whereas this looks as if a harsh overview, there have been issues I actually preferred concerning the Pod 3 cowl. The standard of the product itself was stellar, surprisingly so, and it truly felt well worth the hefty price ticket. I additionally cherished the GentleRise Alarm characteristic which step by step will increase the temperature in your facet of the mattress whereas vibrating softly to wake you up. 

I additionally cherished with the ability to activate my Pod 3 cowl through the day if I wanted to heat up or settle down, particularly after a very powerful exercise. Plus — as somebody who tends to sleep hotter than my companion — the power to alter my temperature schedule to swimsuit my preferences was ridiculously cool.

The core performance of the Pod 3 was additionally wonderful. It does warmth and funky your mattress to a stellar diploma, however the further bells and whistles weren’t value it to me.

What I didn’t like concerning the Pod 3

Clearly, I wrestled with the Pod 3 set up, however different on-line reviewers didn’t appear to have the identical degree of problem that I did. That being mentioned, the opposite options of the Pod 3 fell flat in my view. The temperature controls had been too finicky — even as soon as I landed on a temperature schedule that labored for me, I nonetheless felt like my general sleep high quality had tanked. Finally, I needed to return to my regular mattress out of necessity as a result of I used to be just too exhausted to maintain attempting, and I instantly slept higher.

I additionally felt just like the sleep health components weren’t nice. My first evening on the Pod 3 informed me my sleep health was one hundred pc — which positively didn’t math out contemplating the variety of instances I awakened and the way groggy I felt — and I couldn’t work out the way to get the app to precisely measure my “time to stand up.” 

Plus, the sleep studies didn’t really feel as sturdy or useful as I’d hoped they’d be, and — whereas they had been actually data-rich — I didn’t like that you just couldn’t get developments or insights with out paying for the 8+ Professional membership. The Eight Sleep companion app additionally hosts a library of sleep instruments together with meditation, guided respiration practices, nature sounds, and even wake-up/wind-down motion practices. Nevertheless, as soon as once more, these options had been all a part of the 8+ Professional membership.

Is the Eight Sleep Pod 3 cowl value it? 

For those who’re somebody who loves optimization, cutting-edge know-how, and all issues biohacking — and in case you have extra endurance than I do — then completely. The Pod 3(opens in a brand new tab) could be an awesome buy for somebody considering delving deep into sleep health and enhancing their general sleep high quality. It’s clearly acquired some incredible performance and loads of intuitive options to select from.

For most individuals, nevertheless, I simply don’t see the way it may very well be value it. The educational curve of the Pod 3 was far too excessive — very similar to the value tag — and the efficiency, whereas positively cool, simply wasn’t transformative sufficient for me.