Eight Sleep Blanket Review: A $1,200 Waste of Money?

I've been sleeping on Eight Sleep's Pod Cover for more than four years and it's still one of my favorite tech purchases. So when Eight Sleep released a blanket add-on that promised cooling from above too, I was intrigued. Not "shut up and take my money" intrigued, but curious enough to buy one for testing. The cover already worked great for me, so the blanket always felt more like a nice-to-have than a must-have. After six months of testing, that instinct was right.

Is the Blanket Worth it? TL;DR (5/10 Rating)

Best for you if:

• You like weighted blankets (this one is 22 lbs).
• You want to feel completely "surrounded" by cooling on all sides.

Skip it if:

• You want a plush comforter instead of a stiff tech layer.
• You aren't ready to drop $1,200 on a blanket + duvet cover.
• You hate returning to a cold bed after getting out of bed.
• You want to control the blanket temperature separately from the mattress.

How the Blanket Works

The Eight Sleep blanket connects directly to the side of your Pod 5 cover. Water tubes run through it just like the mattress cover, and it mirrors whatever temperature you set for your side. If your cover is set to -4, the blanket is -4. There's no way to set them independently because there's only one hub powering everything.

In theory, this gives you cooling (or heating) from above and below. In practice, the cover is still doing the majority of the work. Your full body weight presses into the cover, which means way more skin contact and better heat transfer. The blanket helps, but it's a supplement, not a game changer. The 22 lbs of weight does push the cooling surface against your skin, which makes it more effective than if it were loosely draped over you.

One thing I appreciate: I'm usually a side sleeper, but during hot months I've caught myself flipping to my back or stomach just to keep more skin on the cool cover. The blanket fixes that. Now I can sleep in whatever position feels natural and stay comfortable. That's a legitimate win.

First Impressions vs. Reality

Sliding under the blanket for the first time feels incredible. It's like crawling into a cool burrito. That initial sensation of being surrounded by temperature-controlled fabric on all sides is something the cover alone can't replicate.

But that feeling doesn't last. After the first few minutes, the effect settles and you stop noticing it. It's still working, but the "wow" factor fades quickly.

Here's where things got weird. If I get up to pee in the middle of the night and come back to bed, the whole thing feels jarringly cold. Not refreshing cold. Uncomfortable cold. With just the cover, coming back to bed was never an issue. But the blanket changed things. I found myself wanting to lower the Pod temperature before getting back in, which is annoying when you're half asleep.

My wife noticed the same thing, but on the opposite end. Sometimes she felt like she was getting too hot with the blanket on top. The cover alone was fine for her, but adding the blanket created temperature swings she wasn't expecting.

Because the cover and blanket run at the same temperature (one hub, remember), you can't tune them separately. If you want your cover at -3 but the blanket feels too cold at -3, you're stuck. It added complexity we weren't planning on.

The $1,200 Problem

The blanket costs $1,000. But realistically, you're spending $1,200 because the $200 duvet cover is basically required.

The blanket itself isn't washable. We actually used it without a duvet for a couple weeks before realizing it couldn't be washed or cleaned in any way. I should've known you can't put all that tech in the washing machine, but the material is so soft it feels like you should be able to use it out of the box. Eight Sleep confirmed you can only clean it with a damp cloth. So unless you want to sleep in five years of sweat, drool, and dead skin, you need a duvet cover. And most duvet covers won’t work well with this thing (I tried using Casper's duvet cover unsuccessfully).

Two hoses exit at the foot of the bed. If you have a bottom-zip duvet cover, you can only zip it about 25% of the way. The blanket's outer sheeting also isn't fully attached to itself, and because most duvet covers don't have proper anchor points, the whole thing often feels misaligned or bunched up inside.

My experience with the blanket was a 3/10 using my own duvet cover. After two months, once I caved and bought Eight Sleep's $200 cover, it improved to a 5/10.

The good news: Eight Sleep's duvet cover is actually great. It's super soft, made with a woven modal fabric that feels similar to the blanket material but in white. It has eight inner ties that keep the blanket perfectly in place. Taking it off to wash is the easiest duvet cover experience my wife and I have ever had. There's a three-sided zipper that makes removal simple, and the design includes a perfect slot for the two hoses at the foot of the bed.

But that doesn't change the fact that you're now $1,200 deep.

One more fit note: if you have a thicker mattress, things get tight near the bottom where the hoses connect. Thinner mattresses provide more wiggle room.

Living With It

The blanket weighs about 22 lbs when filled with water and inside the duvet cover. My old comforter was 8 lbs. That's a big jump. Most people will find it heavy, but weighted blanket fans will probably love it. I land somewhere in between, but it's noticeable every time I get in bed.

The weight is kind of necessary though. That pressure makes sure you're actually feeling the temperature. But it's counterintuitive: you want to be cooler, so you get a heavier blanket?

A normal comforter is soft, cozy, and moves freely with you. Eight Sleep's blanket feels more like a stiff tech layer. You can feel the tubing running through it. It's not uncomfortable exactly, but it's not the plush experience you get from a regular blanket.

The hose attachment also limits how much you can move the blanket around. You can't casually toss it to one side or pull it up over your head. With past comforters, I’d hook my feet under the blanket to keep them warm. You can't do that here. On the bright side, the hose restriction ironically makes it harder for your partner to steal your side of the blanket.

Who is this for?

I'll keep mine because I've already spent the money and want to continue testing. But if you asked me whether you should buy it, my honest answer is no.

Eight Sleep's mattress cover is doing the heavy lifting. The blanket is a cool concept, but the execution adds more complexity than comfort. The temperature quirks when getting back into bed, the weight, the stiffness, the $1,200 real cost, the cleaning limitations... it all adds up to something that's hard to recommend.

For hot sleepers, here's what I'd suggest: pass on the blanket. Use a normal comforter during the winter. When summer hits, swap to a lightweight blanket or just a top sheet. You'll get similar comfort for about $50 instead of $1,000.

The Eight Sleep cover remains one of my favorite tech purchases. The blanket? It's a pass.

Check out my full review for the Eight Sleep Pillow Cover and Pod 5.

Disclosure

I'm an Eight Sleep affiliate, but I buy every product myself and won't change content for their brand. My link saves you $200 on the Pod 5, but it won't directly save you any extra money on the blanket or pillow since they can only be purchased with the Pod. Use whatever link works for you.