Eight Sleep Pod 5 Cover Review: Insights After Four Years as a User

In 2022, I spent $2,000 on the Eight Sleep Pod 2 because I didn't trust the influencer hype and there wasn't a single genuine, unbiased reviews online. Four years later, I've bought every generation since (Pod 3 and Pod 4), and my conclusion hasn't changed much: sleeping cool and getting effortless sleep tracking makes me happy. In fact, I notice how much I hate being without it whenever I'm away from home.

But here's the thing: each year, Eight Sleep introduces minor upgrades that they market heavily. This year, I wasn't excited to upgrade, but I bought the Pod 5 cover anyway just to provide an honest review. Since I’m not made of money, I skipped buying the new Pod 5 hub completely and paired the Pod 5 cover with my existing Pod 4 hub instead.

The main upgrade to the Pod 5 hub was a built-in speaker for alarms and soundscapes, neither of which matter to me. The Pod 5 cover itself replaced last year's tappable zones with physical temperature buttons, and added compatibility with Eight Sleep’s expensive new blanket.

Are these incremental changes enough to justify the cost? For most current owners, probably not. But if you're new to Eight Sleep, intrigued by the blanket, or you disliked the tappable zones from last year, I'll help you figure out if the Pod 5 is right for you, based on my experiences, sleep-testing data, comfort observations, and a realistic breakdown of what it costs.

For those curious about my quick take on the blanket: it’s solid, but probably not worth the extra $1,000. I'll be doing a full, in-depth review of the blanket in a few weeks, so stay tuned.

Is Pod 5 Worth it? TL;DR (9/10 Rating)

Who Should Buy the Pod 5 Cover:

• You have different temperature preferences from your partner
• You can’t get your room to your preferred temperature
• You want sleep tracking without wearables
• You're interested in Eight Sleep’s new blanket integration

Who Should Avoid the Pod 5 Cover:

• You sleep alone
• You have an extremely hot room
• You are already content with your sleep quality
• You like to snuggle with your partner
• You already have Pod 4 (upgrades not worth it)

Temperature Control

Eight Sleep’s goal is to help you feel more recovered each morning without additional time spent in bed by trading some light sleep for deep sleep. The Pod 5 Cover tries to achieve this with a dual-zone active grid cover that slips over your existing mattress.

The cover heats and cools from 110°F to 55°F, and each person sleeping on the bed sets a desired temperature for their zone, then the cover gets prepped 30 minutes before you're scheduled to get into bed each night.

There’s no worse feeling than continuously rolling over to find a cooler spot on the sheets. When I get hot, an easy fix is to turn the AC down to 65°F and let the ceiling fan create some air flow. But my wife hates it that cold.

Now, with the Pod 5 Cover, my wife and I compromise on the room temperature–we keep the bedroom at about 71-72 degrees, while I keep my side of the bed around the -5 coolness setting, while she keeps her side toasty.

So the multi-thousand dollar question is, does this temperature control actually improve sleep quality?

Well, according to an Eight Sleep study, of the 300 users tested via an Oura Ring, they averaged a 10% increase in their deep sleep. However, this study doesn’t tell you much because it would’ve been thrown out if it didn’t prove that Eight Sleep was helping people, which is why I tried to get my own data.

Over the last few years, I’ve tried to objectively test the Pod’s impact on my sleep quality—but it’s challenging. When the Eight Sleep Pod isn’t running, the foam padding actually makes the bed hotter than my bare mattress would be. Plus, sleep quality is heavily influenced by daily variables like caffeine, alcohol, and even sunlight exposure, which are tough to control consistently. And honestly, rigorous sleep testing is kind of miserable.

Back in 2022, I did manage to conduct a more controlled experiment by alternating nights with the Pod enabled and disabled for 60 days. According to my Oura Ring, I saw around a 5% combined increase in deep and REM sleep, equating to about 12 extra minutes of quality sleep per night. But in subsequent years, I wasn’t able to replicate those clear results, which makes my 2022 data about as useless as Eight Sleep’s own studies.

Sometimes I overcomplicate things with data to justify my purchases. In this case, it's simple: I like sleeping cool, and in my experience, the Pod 5 is the easiest and most effective way to make that happen.

A Few Comfort Observations

Each new generation of Eight Sleep’s Pod has typically made significant comfort improvements—until this year. As far as I can tell, the Pod 5 feels exactly like the Pod 4, which isn’t a bad thing at all. Last year, the Pod 4 removed the stiff encasement cover found in older models and replaced the previous water mat with a tubing system, making it feel almost identical to your bare mattress.

That's a huge step up compared to just four years ago with the Pod 2, where the coils were easily noticeable, the padding was stiff, and an awkward strap ran underneath the cover. All of these factors made it very clear that you were sleeping on a tech device, not just your mattress. Plus, the padding noticeably degraded over time.

Secondly, I’m usually a side sleeper, but during hotter months, I often find myself shifting to my back or stomach just to keep more of my body in contact with the cool cover. It’s tough to feel fully cooled when only one leg touches the bed. Interestingly, this is one area where the new Eight Sleep blanket helps because I don't feel the need to change my sleeping position to stay comfortable.

The blanket deserves its own review (which I'll be posting soon), but here’s the short version: it keeps the temperature on each side identical to the corresponding cover side. Sliding under the blanket each night feels incredible at first, but that amazing cooling sensation doesn't fully last. It’s also heavier than I’d like, and the built-in tubing makes it less comfortable than a typical blanket. The outer sheeting doesn’t always stay perfectly attached, and because it connects directly to the cover, you might feel a bit restricted.

I’ll keep using mine because I’ve already spent the money and want to continue testing it, but honestly, a lightweight blanket or top sheet for about $50 might deliver similar comfort without spending $1,000.

Thirdly, if the sides of the bed have different temperatures, there will be an invisible barrier, which is fine for me because I like my space when I sleep, but it’s not ideal for couples who sleep close to each other.

Day to Day Operations

The Eight Sleep app has four tabs: an overview, scheduled temperatures with manual control, alarms and sleep tracking. In over two years with Eight Sleep, they’ve had four major app redesigns, which shows they’re striving to improve things, but it’s annoying to relearn a new interface frequently.

After the initial setup, I just let the scheduled temperatures do their thing and only use the app for sleep tracking.

With older Eight Sleep generations, on nights where I felt hotter than normal in the middle of the night, I’d often avoid lowering the temp because I didn’t want to blind myself from the bright light of my phone. The Pod 4 solved this with tappable zones, but Eight Sleep switched to physical temperature buttons with the Pod 5. This is the most noticeable difference between the two models. Personally, I'm fine with either method, but my wife, along with most people on the internet, seems to prefer the new physical buttons.

Eight Sleep also has an alarm feature called Gentle Rise that vibrates a single zone of the bed and adds heat or coolness when it’s time to wake up. When it’s your partner’s side of the bed vibrating, you won’t feel the vibrations, but you’ll likely still hear the bed shaking. This is more pleasant than your partner’s loud phone alarm blasting in the room, making it great for those with different sleep schedules. If you have the Pod 5 hub, you can use the built-in speaker as an alarm but I don't see the advantage over a phone alarm.

In my experience, when the room is hot or the hub is making significant temperature adjustments, it sounds like a computer tower fan. But once it reaches the target temperature, it runs quietly enough that you'll barely notice it, which is how it operates most of the night. Overall, the Pod 4 and Pod 5 hubs should sound similarly, while the Pod 3 was noticeably louder during big temperature changes. It's also worth mentioning that the hub itself generates a decent amount of heat during these active cooling periods, which is a reason why I don't recommend it for extremely hot bedrooms.

Health and Sleep Tracking

Eight Sleep effectively tracks sleep movements, cycles, and duration. You also get a Sleep Fitness Score each morning that's based on a 100-point scale, which factors in your sleep time, consistency, and how quickly you fall asleep.

Eight Sleep’s data isn’t flawless. For example, if I had my baby laying on me while awake, it mistook my stillness for sleep. However, the sleep duration closely matches with other fitness wearables that I’ve tested, as long as you stay on your side of the bed.

What I appreciate most is its hassle-free tracking; no wearables required, and it seamlessly syncs with the Apple Health app.

Based on my observations over the years, the three health tracking metrics: heart rate, HRV and breath rate all seem to be at least directionally accurate too.

Another thing worth mentioning: we don’t let our dog sleep in bed with us, but I assume for those who do, it would affect sleep tracking accuracy. Not to mention the potential risk of your pet's claws damaging the cover. Eight Sleep recommends keeping pets on a thick comforter if they’re on the bed.

The bottom line? If you and your sleep partner stay in your zones and don’t have pets or babies on board, you’ll love the convenience of getting your sleep tracked without a wearable.

Durability and Maintenance

In the past, Eight Sleep’s pump would get noisy every 6-8 weeks. To fix, you’d add some water to the tank and press a button in the app to "prime the pump." Now, the pump can be primed automatically each day at your set time. Now, the only manual maintenance required is adding tap water to the tank every few months to change out the filter every six months (Eight Sleep will mail you a new filter).

As far as durability, I had the Eight Sleep Pod 2 Cover for close to a year and ran into no issues until I took it off to test my Pod 3. When taking off the Pod 2 cover, I noticed a ring from the hydrogen peroxide near the pump connection on the encasement cover. It wasn't a major leak because my sheets were never wet, and the mattress was unstained, but it's reasonable to assume if had I left it, it would've woke up in a puddle eventually. However, I told Eight Sleep about my leak and they sent me a free replacement Pod 2 within a week.

The customer service was awesome, but I worried about Eight Sleep because there was a small yet noticeable number of people on the internet who had leaks with their Pod 2 too. If the cover didn’t last a year without leaking, how many people would get through five years of ownership with a leak-free cover?

Fortunately, I slept on the Pod 3 for a year and then the Pod 4 for another year without experiencing issues with either. Eight Sleep says the cover is "rigorously tested to simulate 10 years of use and as a result leaks are rare."

Based on the decrease in complaints on Twitter and Reddit, it seems Eight Sleep addressed leak concerns effectively with the Pod 4’s tubing system. However, the real test will be how well these covers hold up after several years of continuous use. Although I strive to provide the best real-life review for Eight Sleep each year, the reality is that I can only thoroughly test one Pod at a time, making it difficult to fully assess long-term durability.

Either way, the longevity of the Pod 5 is something you should consider when dropping thousands on a cover. Upgrading to Eight Sleep's Enhanced subscription plan to essentially give yourself an insurance policy for $100/year for the next five years.

Cost and Value

A couple of years ago, Eight Sleep put the majority of its features behind the paywall. Now, the Autopilot Standard ($199/year) subscription is mandatory for the first year of ownership.

The good news? You can cancel the subscription after the first year. The bad news? You'll only get one feature: manual temperature control of the cover.

Health and sleep tracking metrics, along with the vibration alarm, and the scheduled heating and cooling are all disabled without the subscription.

If you don’t care about sleep tracking, can you get by without a subscription? Maybe! But remembering to manually turn on your pod 30 minutes before sleep each night (to get it to the proper temp at for sleep) isn’t ideal.

Subscriptions for fitness gear aren’t new—no one likes them. However, Eight Sleep customers should frame the subscription differently. If you plan to keep your Pod for five years you’re looking at $955 in membership fees, on top of the $3,049 (King in this example) for the cover. It's not just a subscription; it's part of the deal.

So the real question is: are you cool with shelling out $4,044 for the Pod 5? Eight Sleep likely can’t sell this Pod profitably at the current listing price, which is why they’re sneakily charging an extra $995 for it.

That being said, I’d rather see Eight Sleep do this to survive if the alternative is disappearing. I’m grandfathered in and have the Eight Sleep subscription free for life, but if I were a first-time buyer again, I’d still buy the Pod 5 and reluctantly subscribe. However, the subscription will rightfully dissuade a lot of people from pulling the trigger.

Who shouldn’t buy one?

Personally, as a busy entrepreneur and dad, I want to get the best sleep possible and I'm fine spending extra for my health. But the Pod 5 won't be for everyone. Here are four types of people who should think extra hard before buying one:

1. Single people. If I were single and could control my bedroom’s temperature, I'd save $4,000 and keep a window AC at its lowest setting in the summer or use minimal heat in winter. I've slept perfectly most of my life that way. 
2. Extra hot room. An Eight Sleep won’t be a game changer in a 90-degree room; you still need a reasonable baseline temperature if you want to feel cool. Plus, the hub puts off a decent amount of heat.
3. Content with your sleep. If you’re already sleeping well, the Pod might not be worth it. It’s expensive and won’t magically boost your energy like the marketing and influencers might want you to think.
4. Like to snuggle. The dual zones create a weird situation if you have different temperature preferences than your partner. There’s a temperature barrier and going over to the other side makes sleep tracking less reliable.
5. Pod 4 Owners. Unless you're dead set on getting the new Eight Sleep blanket, there's no reason to upgrade from the Pod 4. The only noticeable difference is the buttons instead of the tappable zones.

However, if you’re in a good spot financially, and set on getting the Pod 5, I won’t talk you out of it, even if you fit one of the categories above—it just might not be the best value.

The ideal buyers for the Pod 5 are couples who fight over room temperature.

And if you've recently been uncomfortable while sleeping, the Pod 5 is worth trying with Eight Sleep's 30-night trial. See if it makes a difference for you, and send it back if it doesn't.

I believe I've addressed almost everything in this review, but I created an FAQ page with additional information too. If you have any questions that I didn't cover, feel free to ask them in the comments section below.

Disclosure

Four years ago, I didn't have a relationship with Eight Sleep when I wrote my original Eight Sleep review. I was just a happy customer. Eventually, Eight Sleep reached out because they liked my review and wanted me to join their official affiliate program.

I joined their program under a few conditions:

• I won’t accept free products and will continue to buy all products for this blog.
• I won’t change or tweak content to their liking.
• I don’t work with Eight Sleep to optimize my sales or have any of my content used in their social campaigns.

Basically, I bought three covers with my money and provided reviews as unbiasedly as possible and Eight Sleep cuts me a check if people buy through my link. In a perfect world, I’d have no relationship with Eight Sleep, but this allowed me to provide free content while still keeping this channel alive. They’ve provided me with a $200 off discount code, but there’s nothing special with my discount specifically—it can be from thousands of other sites with a quick Google search. I won’t be offended if you don’t use mine, but I always appreciate all my subscribers who do.