I tried the Eight Sleep Pod 4, a mattress cover that uses water to cool and heat your bed. I'm sleeping better than ever, once I got over the $2,700 price tag.

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Everyone is searching for a better night's sleep and the Eight Sleep Pod 4 promises exactly that. It does so with a combination of a mattress cover and hub that will heat and cool both sides of a bed automatically to keep your body (and your partner's) comfortable throughout the night. As a bonus, the Pod 4 will track your sleep to show how well it's working.

If you sleep warm, there are plenty of ways to try and maintain a cooler overnight temperature. We rounded up 11 of them, but the Eight Sleep Pod 4's active cooling is on a whole other level with its technology. Just be aware that this kind of product doesn't come cheap. The Pod 4 starts at $2,649 for a queen size. If you want the adjustable base that's part of the upgrade to the Pod 4 Ultra that adds about $2,000 to the price of the queen size. It's a lot of money, but it does offer a lot of promise, and its price also isn't out of line with other top-end solutions. It also is HSA/FSA-eligible, if you have the funds. Here are all the details about how it works in practice.

Breaking down the design

Some of the terminology around the Pod 4 can be confusing, but at its foundational level, there are two parts — the cover and the hub. The cover slips over any mattress like a fitted sheet and connects to the hub via fabric-covered tubes. The hub is the brains of the operation and houses things like the water tank and is the point of connection for WiFi.

The hub is the size of an old-school desktop computer and, minus a CD tray slot, kind of looks like one. The hub is covered in a dark texture fabric which helps it blend in, but its presence is notable. It needs to sit upright so it can't lay on its side underneath a bed frame. It also needs a spot to live within 7.75 - 8.25 feet of the mattress cover (depending on the size) that it's physically connected to. Unlike some other competing products, however, you only need one hub to heat and cool two sides of a bed.

I carved out a spot for the hub in my room between an accent chair and nightstand to hide it away. Although I would have preferred not to see the hub at all, it did disappear from my vision after a few days. Beyond its aesthetic, the hub needs proximity to a wireless internet connection so it won't necessarily sit in the most ideal location.

The Pod 4 cover should only be a very minor addition under your sheets. I never had problems with it shifting around or becoming loose. I felt its padding slightly, but it didn't change the feel of my existing mattress. More importantly, I didn't feel the internal tubes that heat and cool the cover. You will feel the water moving through from time to time but mostly when it's cooling off. The water movement also isn't as sharp or stark on this new model as it was on former ones.

Comparing the Pod 3 and Pod 4 options

The Pod 4 is the focus here, but there is a cheaper Eight Sleep Pod for sale. The Pod 3 starts at $2,295 for the queen size. A savings of about $350 is nothing to dismiss, but in this case, the feature differences between the two models are significant for that relatively small price divide.

Up until recently, I had been using the older Eight Sleep Pod 2 (Pod Pro), an experience not too unlike the Pod 3. Comparing the two helped me instantly notice the small, but meaningful improvements that have come to the Pod 4.

For example, Pod 4 has a much quieter operation, both with the hub and while flooding water into the mattress cover. Previously, I could hear the hub rev up and blow air around with its internal fans as it got ready for bedtime. There were times that the older Pod would create loud, vibrating sounds during the night when it was moving water around. It was noticeable enough to wake me up a few times. The Pod 4 had none of that. When I tested the depths of its cooling by turning it to -10 the hub made a soft hum, but it was steady and ambient, almost pleasant. In general, the Pod 4 hardware stays out of the way and nearly invisible.

How it works

Like most tech-based products, the Eight Sleep Pod 4 setup process runs through the company's mobile app. The app is a key part of the product's use so it's best to get acquainted with it right from the start. Animated screens guide you through everything from applying the mattress cover and filling the tank with water to setting a sleep schedule.

Even though I set up a Pod in the past, I still appreciated the guided tutorial. It took all the guesswork out. One item to note: you'll want to start the setup process a few hours before you plan on going to sleep. The first priming of the cover can take up to two hours and won't be heating or cooling during that time.

No matter how prepared you might be for an active-temperature-controlled bed, the first couple of nights are a little surreal. One of the first things the app wants you to do is set a target bedtime so the bed is ready when you are. It's hard not to crack a smile when climbing into bed on a chilly night and having the bed warm and cozy without needing to think about it beforehand. Similarly, cool sheets on a hot summer night are incredibly relaxing.

After the baseline temperature is ready for bed, with the time you've set, adjusting it hotter or cooler only takes a couple of minutes to fully feel it. For reference, turning the bed on during the middle of the day and going from 0 to -10 took just under 15 minutes in my tests. However, that temperature was way too cold for me to ever use. Except in the most extreme cases, you should be able to acheive a very comfortable feeling in well under 10 minutes, no matter the season or time of year.

Automatically adjusts throughout the night to maximize comfort

The actual temperatures are hidden in the app but the Pod 4 is capable of swinging between 55 and 110 degrees. Instead of displaying the actual degrees, the app starts with a 0 baseline each night and allows you to move that number up and down in increments of 1 — going into the negatives for cool and positives for warm. The hub will adjust the baseline temperature, whatever it may be, if it detects changes in your room's ambient temperature. As long as you have a bedtime set in the app, all changes will be ready to go each night.

Although you can adjust the temperature and settings manually, the secret sauce that Eight Sleep is hoping you pay for is its Autopilot subscription feature. The Pod 4 uses biometric sensors to react to your body's movements as well as external sensors to monitor the room's temperature and humidity level. The goal of the extensive monitoring is for the product to automatically create a more restful sleep experience in real time, without any intervention needed.

Years ago, during the product's initial rollout, I found it to provide mixed results. Its job is to be invisible, adjusting the temperature for you throughout the night. But early on, I woke up cold and wanted to turn it warmer. I found its results to be hit or miss for the first year. Eventually, I turned the Autopilot feature off on the old Pod Pro. With this new model, however, I've found the feature to be more accurate and better about guessing how to keep my body from waking up as much. There is more processing power in the Pod 4 which can explain some of the dramatic improvements.

As a comparison, I tried manually controlling the new Pod 4 for a night and instantly missed Autopilot. I woke up too hot twice. Turning the feature back on the next night, I was much more comfortable. There's a nuance that's easy to overlook with Autopilot, but in my experience, it does pull its weight. There's a Autopilot section in the app that will show how many adjustments it made for you during the night to help prove it's working while you're sleeping.

My wife, however, has loved the Autopilot feature from its inception and insists it helped reduce her night sweats and better regulate her body's temperature. The new Pod 4 has continued to live in her good graces.

Phone-free controls for manual changes

No matter how well Autopilot adapts to your body temperature, there will probably be times you want something different. The Pod 4 addresses this with side controls that react to taps. This feature is a breath of fresh air, because let me tell you, it's really disruptive to need to reach for your phone, while half asleep to find the app and change the settings.

With the new tap area, you can roll over and pat the side of the bed — twice for cooling and three times for warming. I used the feature several times and was generally pleased with how well it worked. I never even needed to open my eyes.

Performing two taps is really easy. It worked every time I tried it. The bed gives two quick vibrations to confirm it recognized the interaction. I was skeptical about performing three taps but it worked. However, I did have some false positives with that gesture. Most of the time I was trying to juggle getting the bed to recognize three taps, while also not waking up my wife from smacking the bed too hard. The feature could probably use some refinement over time, but it's a good start and nice to have.

Comprehensive and accurate sleep data

The other half of the Autopilot subscription, along with real-time temperature adjustments, is its dual-zone sleep tracking. It will keep track of vitals like heart rate, respiratory rate, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability. It also documents the time you get into and out of bed, how long it takes to fall asleep, and the amount of deep and light sleep. This is a way to capture sleep data without needing to wear a watch or ring.

The extensive results are displayed in the app and can be simultaneously funneled into Apple Health. How accurate is the data? I have several years of this data in the Eight Sleep app and it all lines up with what I've seen and felt. For example, I've verified that it does a phenomenal job of knowing when I get in bed at night to watch a show and when I actually fall asleep.

With the Pod 4, I directly compared its sleep tracking with my Oura ring sleep data. The metrics vary because the devices are measuring from different points of contact, but the data from both was consistent. The results mirrored each other pretty well and matched how I felt after each sleep.

The subscription also includes the vibration and thermal alarm to wake you up within a time frame that makes sense for your sleep cycle. I haven't tried the adjustable base portion of the Pod 4 Ultra, but if you go that route, Autopilot can detect snoring and move the base on its own to mitigate that.

Autopilot is required for at least one year so you're looking at a minimum of $200 for the service (or $250 for the one with the five-year warranty). That's a sneaky way of getting people to try and potentially fall in love with an expensive service. For instance, I wouldn't pull the trigger on Autopilot blindly at checkout, if it weren't required, but after having tried it, I would also be hard-pressed to cancel it.

Price is a big consideration, but not as much as you might think

The Pod 4 is a great product, but it isn't a magic machine. It's probably not going to help you reclaim hours of sleep if you're not also getting to bed at a reasonable time, eating in moderation, and including some activity in your daily schedule. It's a piece of the puzzle.

To go along with that, the unit's high initial price and ongoing Autopilot fee are the top drawbacks. It's easy to have sticker shock, but it's worth putting the cost in context. Sleep Number's Climate360 mattress, which advertises active heating and cooling, starts at $10,000 for a queen size. A split king that can accommodate two individual preferences comes in at an eye-popping $13,700. The comparable price for a queen-sized Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra (with adjustable base) and Eight Sleep mattress comes in around $7,000. The reality is that high-end sleep tech is expensive.

If the cost doesn't bother you or you're able to look past it, the considerations of design and placement are real. The hub isn't amazing looking and it will need to live close to your bed. There's also some maintenance required but only a minimal amount every several months. This typically entails refilling a few cups worth of water whenever indicated by the app or swapping out the Maintenance Insert, a tiny cartridge in line with the tubes that keep the water fresh. A new Insert is sent when needed and for free as part of the Autopilot subscription.

What are your alternatives?

There aren't many products that can single-handedly do what the Pod 4 does. It's unique in offering all of its features with only one central hub.

The Bedjet 3 Dual Zone mimics a lot of the features but is more utilitarian in its design. It doesn't have the same bells and whistles while still starting at $1,000 or more depending on whether it's on sale. It functions with a remote and requires a special bed sheet. The Chilipad Dock Pro is similar, with a more refined look. Its dual-zone option retails around $1,900 and requires two separate docks for dual temperature control.

If you would rather piece-meal the experience there are a few products to take a look at.

For a passive cooling option, you can try a cooling mattress topper like the the GhostBed 3-inch cooling mattress topper. It is made with gel-infused memory foam with peaks and valleys that promote airflow to keep you cool.

For heating, your best bet might be a heated mattress cover. The Serta queen-size heated mattress pad has dual-zone control and auto-shutoff and costs about $100.

For in-bed sleep tracking the options are, again, slim pickings. You can use a fitness tracker like the Apple Watch or Oura smart ring on your body. The $130 Withings Sleep is an option that goes under the mattress and reports its findings through its app. The Sleep Tracker by Sleepme is similar and retails for $200.

The bottom line

The Eight Sleep Pod 4 provides real, noticeable benefits to sleep that are hard to replicate with any other single product. Its use of real-time temperature adjustments and non-wearable sleep tracking can help you hone in on the best way to get a restful night's sleep.

However, because of the Pod 4's high starting price and ongoing subscription, it's hard to recommend that everyone jumps in, right away. It's unquestionably expensive but in the upper echelons of premium sleep products, it's priced competitively. Ultimately, the Pod 4 is a good product with a value that will heavily depend on what you're looking to get out of having a smart bed. If you feel like you've tried everything to sleep cooler or you're looking for temperature control and sleep tracking this could become your holy grail sleep solution.