Eight Sleep Pillow Cover Review: No More Flipping

I've been chasing a cool pillow my entire life. Purple Harmony, Eight Sleep's Air Pillow (just a regular pillow), random Amazon finds that claim to stay cool. Nothing worked. I just have a really hot head. Flipping and rotating the pillow throughout the night has always been part of my system.

So when Eight Sleep released a $1,000 actively cooled pillow cover, I was pumped to try it. It comes in king or standard size for the same price. I went with standard on my king bed.

Three months later, here's the verdict: it well works and I like it a lot, but there are some trade-offs you need to know about.

Is the Pillow Cover Worth it? TL;DR (8/10 Rating)

Best for you if:

• You are a "pillow flipper" who constantly hunts for a cool spot.
• You are a side sleeper who wants direct, active cooling on your face.

Skip it if:

• Your bedroom already runs hot, as the second hub adds extra heat.
• You are an active sleeper who likes to hug or rotate your pillow in weird ways.

My Concerns Going In

Comfort on the coils. The pillow has an active water grid, just like Eight Sleep’s mattress cover. You're sleeping right on top of the water and coils, so I thought it might be uncomfortable. Surprisingly, this hasn't been a concern at all. I don't notice any of the tech under my head. I just don't love the idea of it being there.

The second hub. Eight Sleep requires you to use a second hub instead of your existing mattress hub. You’ll probably want your pillow at a different temperature than your mattress cover, so it makes sense. For example, I like my mattress cover around -4 or -5, but I like my pillow around -7 or -8. Even my wife, who likes her bed neutral to warm, would probably want a cool pillow.

But here's the thing: two hubs take up a lot of space, give off a decent amount of heat, and make noise. When the bed and pillow are simultaneously cooling, I can stand next to my night stand and actually feel the heat like a space heater, which is free heat in the winter, but it if you're in the dead of summer and your room is already having temperature issues, that's a lot of extra heat being added. I always say the hub sounds like a computer tower fan in maintenance mode, but now you have to double that sound output so it’s louder than just a hum.

One thing that surprised me: the pillow hub actually seems to work harder than the main hub. You'd think because the pillow has less surface area than the mattress, it would run quieter and need to work less hard. But I usually hear it over the mattress cover hub. When it's working normally, it's just a hum. But it revs up when actively cooling, which happens more often when it's hotter in your room or when you change temps. Maybe it’s louder because your pillow typically needs to be set cooler than your mattress. Or maybe Eight Sleep is using older tech for the pillow hub. Either way, the hub is noticeable.

The Hose Factor

Eight Sleep smartly only covers one side of your pillow. There's no reason to waste a grid on both sides. There's a hose about 8 feet long connecting the pillow to the hub.

You can move the pillow around and hug it if you want to. The real issue isn't length or restriction. It's that the hose sometimes gets caught or stuck under my nightstand, or wedged between the bed and headboard. Ironically, this might be because it has too much slack rather than too little.

The hose is also kind of ugly and there's no hiding it. It's just going to be there. Pillowcases aren't made to work with it either, so my pillowcase won’t seal all the way, which can occasionally make the pillowcase get bunched up a bit.

In the past, I liked to crumble up my pillows or orient them in weird ways. You're still somewhat constrained in how you can position things and your hose will likely bump into your headboard with a lot of movement, but the hose is more manageable than I originally expected.

Two Pillows, One Hub?

If you and your partner both want a cooling pillow, you can run two pillows off one hub. We haven't tried this ourselves, but I'd worry about the hose situation. The far pillow's hose would need to stretch across the entire bed, which means it's either crossing into the other partner's space or running behind the headboard.

The partner closest to the hub has more flexibility, but they also have to deal with the other person's hose in their face. And if the far-sided partner likes to move their pillow around, that extra distance could make it harder to reposition. It could work, but it's not ideal.

Did It Solve the Pillow-Flipping Problem?

I never flip my pillow anymore. Mostly because I can't (there's no cooling grid on the opposite side), but the urge to flip is never there either.

That said, I do make subtle movements throughout the night, shifting my head about 12 inches here and there to enjoy fresh coolness. The heat from your head can warm up the spot you're laying on, so moving to a fresh area of the pillow feels great.

Side Sleepers vs. Back Sleepers

I'm a side sleeper about 90% of the night, so a lot of my face is in direct contact with the pillow. I get the full cooling effect.

Back sleepers would have a different experience. With most of your face exposed to the air, it's less about cooling your face and more about cooling the back of your head and neck. I'm guessing back sleepers don't flip their pillows as often in the first place. But if you wake up with a sweaty neck or damp hair, you'd probably still appreciate this product, just in a different way.

Too Cold?

I didn't think "too cold" would be a thing before buying this. I started at -10 temperature thinking it'd be a no-brainer. But it kind of felt like frostbite and made my face feel really tingly. Which is especially weird when only one side of your face is feeling the coolness.

I found that I like to start around -7 or -8 and then have it ramp down to -5 or -6 during the night. That's still cooler than I keep my mattress, and it's been the sweet spot for me.

The Frustrating Part

You'd think because the pillow and mattress cover are on completely different systems and hubs that you'd be able to buy just the pillow cover. But Eight Sleep doesn't let you do that.

I've talked to a friend and my mom who both said they're interested in buying the pillow cover. I tell them it's $1,000 and they're like, "Okay, that's interesting." Then I say, "Well, you need the $3,000 cover first, and then you can spend that additional thousand dollars." That's when they check out.

I don't work for Eight Sleep, but if I did, I think I'd allow the pillow to be purchased as a standalone product. I feel like that would be a great entry point to their ecosystem. Let people just use the pillow, fall in love with it, then upsell them on the mattress cover later.

They probably don't want to do that because there's nothing to subscribe to with just the pillow. No sleep tracking, none of that. And maybe they feel like the pillow is a breakeven product for them. But either way, I feel like there's a market for just the pillow cover alone.

Who is this for?

Get it if: You already have an Eight Sleep and you flip your pillow a lot. Side sleepers with a lot of face contact will get the most benefit.

Skip it if: Your bedroom already runs hot. Two hubs pump out a lot of heat and sound. If you can't get your room to a 75-degree baseline in the summer, the extra hub will make things worse.

Bottom line: I like it. After three months, the pillow cover has become part of my sleep setup. I'm no longer flipping pillows all night, and the ability to dial in the exact temperature I want for my head is genuinely awesome. The comfort concerns I had about sleeping on top of coils never materialized. The hose can be annoying, but it’s less restrictive than I initially feared.

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Is it worth $1,000 on top of the $3,000 plus you already spent on the mattress cover? That's a tough sell for most people. But if you're an owner and a fan of the Eight Sleep mattress cover and you run hot like I do, it's a great addition.

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.