This $3,500 Mattress Cover Is The Future Of Sleep Tech — But Is It Worth The Money?

Aussies who don't have air conditioning will have an intimate understanding of just how poorly insulated most of our buildings are. In summer, going to bed is a sweaty ordeal, and winters feel frosty even if it's 18 degrees outside. So when I learned about the Eight Sleep Pod 3, which is essentially a temperature-regulating mattress cover, I was intrigued. Could this be the answer to my struggle to fall asleep, especially in winter?

The Eight Sleep Pod 3 is a sophisticated sleep system that allows you to adjust the temperature of both sides of your bed individually (which is super useful if you have a partner with different preferences). You can elect to set your own preferred temperature manually via the app, or have the temperature change automatically throughout the night based on your sleep phases (but the latter costs extra).

The Eight Sleep Pod Cover is a mattress cover that uses water-based heating and cooling technology to help regulate your temperature, so you can sleep better. It has a separate 'Hub' (a device about the size and shape of a Nespresso coffee machine) that connects to the Eight Sleep app, allowing you to control the temperature of your bed, set your sleep schedule, and track your sleep data.

The Eight Sleep works by pumping water through a network of coils that are embedded in the mattress cover. The water is heated or cooled by a small radiator in the Hub. You can change the temperature setting in the app yourself, or you can let the Pod Cover automatically adjust the temperature of your bed based on your sleep history, preferences and the ambient temperature in your bedroom.

The Pod 3 has a number of sensors that can track your sleep data, including a heart rate monitor, a respiratory rate monitor, and a heart rate variability monitor. The data from these sensors is used by the app to track your sleep quality and to provide you with insights into your sleep patterns. There is also an option to wake up using its "Smart Alarm" feature, which wakes you up with gentle vibration or a drastic temperature change. All of these features require a subscription, which costs extra (more on that below).

With a bit of help (mainly to help lift my heavy mattress), I found it relatively easy to install the cover. It fits snugly against your mattress, so people with long nails may struggle with this, but it took me about 10 minutes after watching a YouTube video (which I found easier than the provided manual, as I'm a visual learner). You do need to have distilled water and hydrogen peroxide on hand though!

After four months of using the Eight Sleep Pod cover, I found that it has significantly improved my comfort in bed and quality of sleep. Not only am I able to fall asleep more quickly, but I also find myself less likely to wake up feeling too cold or too hot. (Even in winter, I find super-warm fabrics like wool to be cloying and sweaty.) I also love that I can heat up my mattress while I shower before bed, and then lower the temperature down to a more neutral setting when I'm actually in bed. The best evidence of how well it works is that I haven't had to use the heater in my bedroom all winter (and Sydneysiders will confirm that it's been cold, especially lately).

While a lot of reviews say that the Eight Sleep Pod 3 feels quite firm, I don't mind a firmer mattress, and in fact, I find it to be quite cushy with the little 'pillows' of water under my back. The cover also works extremely quickly and heats up my mattress in just a few minutes (much faster than having a heater on). I'm sensitive to both noise and light at night, and I'm thankful that you can turn the lights on the Hub right down, so my bedroom stays pitch black. And while there is a soft humming noise, it's almost inaudible and doesn't bother me at all.

I find the app to be user-friendly and easy to use, and it takes just a few seconds to set up the temperature I want in the app each night. When I was first setting it up, I found the chat function to be really useful too, and I found Eight Sleep's customer service to be friendly and highly responsive, even following up the next day to make sure my issue had been resolved.

The Pod 3 cover has a lot of cool features, like the ability to set up a gradual wakeup using increasing temperature, as well as a vibration setting. There are also a number of sensors that can track your heart rate, your breathing, how often you toss and turn, and how long it took for you to fall asleep. However, I didn't use any of these features as I didn't want to pay an extra $24 per month (or $288 per year), nor do I feel particularly comfortable sharing my personal medical data with a third party. But I'm sure some people will love these sleep tracking and optimisation features, and find that it's worth the additional cost.

The first, and only major con of the Eight Sleep Pod Cover is the price point; at a whopping $3,595 for a Queen bed, it's a hefty investment. Only you can decide whether a good night's sleep is worth that amount — I also invested in a luxury mattress last year in the pursuit of better sleep, so I might not be the best judge. Although I received this mattress cover to review, if I found myself without it, I would be very tempted to buy it, even though it would be painful to part with the money. But in good news, it's not very common to see tech products that offer a 30-night trial (unlike most mattress companies these days), so if you don't love it, you can always send it back for a full refund.

My second gripe is that many of the Pod Cover's most sophisticated personalisation features are only available with a subscription. In my view, considering the initial outlay for the device, these should be included, or the company should offer a cheaper option without those features for people like me who will never use the subscription.

Because this is a mattress cover with expensive technology embedded in it, it is not washable. That hasn't been an issue so far, but I wish there was a way to remove at least part of the cover to wash it. I also wish that it were pet-friendly, as I worry about having my cats accidentally tear the cover if they jump on the bed. So pet owners who allow their pets into the bedroom should know that this is not really pet-friendly.

And finally, if this can even be considered a con, being so snuggly and warm in bed makes it VERY hard to get out of bed in the morning in winter!

After testing the Eight Sleep Pod 3 for four months, most of which has been in autumn/winter, I can honestly say that it's an incredible addition to my sleep life that has significantly improved my quality of sleep. I haven't had the chance to try it out in summer yet, but will update this review after a full year of having used it. If you sleep hot in summer or cold in winter, and don't mind the price tag, it's well worth considering.