Tech moguls and elite athletes use this intelligent sleep system – I think it's worth the hype

As H&G's resident Sleep Editor, I get thousands of emails every week from marketing professionals, pitching the latest sleep product they say will change my life. Over time, I've learned to tune out a lot of the jargon and get my hands on the product as soon as possible, so I can test it on its own merits.

Here's a snippet from one recent email that caught my attention. 'I represent Eight Sleep, the world's first sleep fitness company, trusted by Mark Zuckerberg and Lewis Hamilton. They've recently launched the Pod 4, a cutting-edge smart mattress topper with built-in tech for active heating and cooling, heart rate monitoring, HRV, sleep stage tracking, and more.'

It felt too good to be true. I'm in the middle of a deep dive into the world's best mattress toppers, testing for pressure relief, thermoregulation, motion isolation, and edge support. I suffer from night sweats, so I'm always on the hunt for cooling bedding to keep my bed and my body cool and dry. I've been looking for an alarm clock so I can start leaving my phone outside the bedroom, and the Pod 4 has a thermal alarm built in. It felt like the Eight Sleep Pod 4 was made for me.

Eight Sleep Pod 4 review − tried and tested

Skeptical of celebrity endorsements and known to balk at a four-figure price tag, I set up a meeting with their representative to learn more about how the Eight Sleep Pod 4 really works. They'd supply the mattress cover and the hub. All I'd need to do is fill up a tank with water, which the hub would heat and cool at strategic intervals throughout the night to regulate my body temperature. This smart system costs $2,948 for a Queen, though you could save a couple hundred dollars in the mattress sales. To make automatic temperature adjustments, access your health and sleep reports, and set vibrational or thermal alarms, you need to pay a monthly subscription fee of $17.

Setting up the Eight Sleep Pod 4

The Eight Sleep Pod 4 arrived in two cardboard boxes: one containing the mattress cover, and another containing the hub. The elevator in my apartment block was broken (story of my life), so I ended up having to carry each box up three flights of stairs. I managed it, with a lot of huffing and puffing. If you struggle to lift heavy weights, then you might want to ask a friend or family member to help you out, or opt for white glove delivery.

Between the main boxes, the interior boxes, and the Styrofoam innards, the packaging soon piled up. Inside one of the boxes, I found a card with a QR code to download the Eight Sleep app. I'm a bit of a technophobe, but even I can admit that setting up the Eight Sleep Pod 4 was easy. The app takes you through each stage of set-up, from placing the hub in your desired spot (mine was down by the foot of my bed, near a power outlet) to attaching the mattress cover (just like a fitted sheet, making sure to keep the water cable as straight as possible).

Next, I connected the hub to Wi-Fi and activated my membership. The Eight Sleep app asked for my age, biological sex, and whether I share the bed, as well as my preferred bed temperature and sleep schedule. That might sound like a lot of information, but it's pretty standard for sleep tech, and it provides important context for your stats. If you share a bed, you can send your partner their own log-in where they fill out

I had to fill and refill the water tank a couple of times to prime the system. Finally, after 30 minutes of set up, I was ready to set my sleep routine. The Eight Sleep app asked me when I tend to get into bed, when I go to sleep, and when I get up. It asked me whether I run hot or cold and how warm I'd like my bed to feel at different stages of the night on a scale of +10 to -10. If you prefer, you can toggle to see real temperatures in Fahrenheit: the highest you can set is 110°F and the lowest is 55 °F.

First impressions of the Eight Sleep Pod 4

Confession: I'm a sleep writer, and I hate wearing sleep tech. I've tried headphones, wristwatches, and everything in between, but I always end up ripping them off in the middle of the night. Plus, even the best wearable tech can't make any intervention to improve your sleep routine. I think that's why I was drawn to the Eight Sleep Pod 4: its thermoregulation is proactive, rather than reactive.

Here's how it works: the Pod 4 comprises a thick fitted sheet and a computer hub. The hub pumps cool water through a grid of tiny tubes on the fitted sheet. When I say 'tiny', I mean it: I really couldn't feel any ridges when I lay down on the mattress. The hub heats and cools the water in the tank depending on your body temperature. Over time, the Pod 4 learns how you sleep to heat you up and cool you down at strategic intervals.

I particularly recommend the Eight Sleep Pod 4 for women going through perimenopause or menopause. As your hormones fluctuate, you're more susceptible to night sweats and hot flashes. Even the best cooling mattress would struggle to regulate such extremes of temperature, but the Eight Sleep Pod 4 can. When my mom came to stay at my apartment, she said she felt a real difference in thermoregulation from the Eight Sleep Pod 4: her hot flashes abated for the week.

I regularly hear from couples contemplating sleep divorce. One runs hot, one runs cold, and neither of them can get comfortable in the night. From now on, I'll be recommending the Eight Sleep Pod 4 (as long as they've got a few thousand dollars to spare). This smart mattress cover features two separate zones on either side of the bed. You and your partner can set and save your own ideal temperatures, so you both get a good night's sleep.

I was particularly intrigued to try the Eight Sleep Pod 4 thermal alarm. I imagined waking up in a cold sweat as temperatures plummeted across the mattress cover. The reality is much more pleasant. It's a gentle increase in temperature while the mattress cover vibrates beneath you. To turn it off, you tap the pad on the side of the Pod. The first night, I set a back-up alarm on my phone, because I didn't trust I'd wake up. By the end of the first week, I could confidently leave my phone charging in the other room, safe in the knowledge that I'd wake up gently.

Side note: I had a little trouble activating my membership, so I reached out to the Eight Sleep customer services team via email. I sent my request late at night, while I was setting up the Pod, so I wasn't expecting a quick response. By the time I woke up the next morning, I had a reply from a customer services rep telling me exactly what I needed to do – and it worked. For more immediate advice, you could contact Eight Sleep via the chat function on their website or by calling +1 (888) 699-4015.

One month in with the Eight Sleep Pod 4

I really have noticed a difference with the Eight Sleep Pod 4. One month in, I can tell that I'm waking less and sleeping for longer. As a hot sleeper, I feel that my night sweats are kept under control: I'd put the Eight Sleep Pod 4 up there with the best cooling mattress toppers and pads.

For me, though, the best thing about this piece of smart sleep tech is that I don't need my phone to use it. Once I'd figured out the target temperature that works for me and set a realistic sleep routine, I was able to trust Eight Sleep Autopilot to take it from there. I used to use the excuse of needing my phone in my bedroom to set my alarm. Now, I can leave my phone to charge in another room and turn off my alarm by tapping the pad on my side of the mattress.

Our verdict of the Eight Sleep Pod 4

For me, the Eight Sleep Pod 4 is prohibitively expensive. I'm not in the same tax bracket as these tech moguls and elite athletes. A Queen-sized cover retails for a little less than $3,000, which amounts to three months' rent for my apartment. I also struggle to justify the ongoing subscription costs, though if you love data, and you want to invest in your sleep health, you might think it's worth it.

Still, I can't deny how well I'm sleeping. If you've tried everything to solve your sleep problems, but you still can't nod off, then the Eight Sleep Pod 4 might be your answer. Whether you suffer from night sweats or hot flashes, or you share a bed with a partner whose sleep style is totally opposed to yours, the Eight Sleep Pod 4 has a setting for that − and it might just make all the difference.