- Wow, that was fast.
This was like this big, less than two minutes ago.
- [Narrator] This is the Eight Sleep Pod Pro,
one of the top rated smart beds on the market right now.
And what exactly makes a smart bed so smart?
This one comes equipped with sensor technology,
an app that gathers sleep data,
and a water hub for temperature control.
- I feel overwhelmed already.
(laughing together)
That's why you're here.
- [Narrator] This is Dr. Wendy Troxel,
she's a clinical psychologist,
specially trained in sleep medicine,
which basically means she's an expert in all things sleep.
- For the past 16 years or so
I've spent most of my waking hours thinking about
and studying sleep,
and treating individuals and couples
who present with sleep related issues.
- [Narrator] So then who better to test this,
the Eight Sleep Pod Pro?
- I'm a bit of a skeptic, honestly,
when it comes to smart beds
and overly fancy sort of technology in general,
when it comes to the bed and the bedroom.
- [Narrator] Let's see if this smart bed
can win her over and help us decide is a smart bed
really smarter for your sleep?
(gentle instrumental music)
Spending more time at home during the pandemic
has led a lot of people to upgrade their bedrooms,
buying mattresses that incorporate technology
to improve the quality of their sleep.
That's why we're testing the Eight Sleep Pod Pro.
But why did we choose this smart bed?
A few reasons, it has the most common smart bed features,
sleep tracking and temperature control,
but it also has a smart alarm,
which silently wakes you up with chest level vibration
and gradual temperature change.
It's also considered a mid range smart bed
with the king size running about $3,500.
Smart beds can cost anywhere from 1,500 to over $100,000.
- I have to say,
I am completely naive to the whole smart bed experience,
I have never slept on one.
- [Narrator] First, Dr. Troxel assessed how easy
it is to set up the bed.
- I did not know that it was going to be a bed in a box.
It says this is 80 pounds.
We were able to hire movers, which is very helpful,
these are heavy boxes.
- [Narrator] While Eight Sleep
doesn't offer white glove service,
you can video call one of their product experts
to help with setup.
- Hey, how's it going? - Good.
Thanks for meeting with us.
The setup itself, I have to say,
was a bit daunting and it felt very medicalized to me.
- [Product Expert] You're gonna want to sneak it through
in the midst, so like down behind the mattress.
- I mean, the fact that there's a tube coming out of my bed
kind of rubbed me the wrong way a little bit.
(zipper whirring)
(water splashing)
(gentle instrumental music)
So this was kind of cool.
First it asked me what side of the bed I sleep on,
then I can also invite my partner.
With the help of the tech support from Eight Sleep
it went relatively very smoothly,
it was not instantaneous by any means.
- [Product Expert] And after 90 minutes
it will be quiet and perfect and ready to use.
- [Narrator] Next, Dr. Troxel reviewed the bed for comfort.
She and her husband slept on it for three nights.
- You know, it doesn't have any of the other bells
and whistles in terms of contouring or things like that,
that others smart beds have,
but it is certainly comfortable.
My husband probably preferred the firmness
of the mattress more than I do.
Comfort is an entirely subjective experience.
And this is why some smart beds, not this one,
do you have individualized firmness preferences.
I did notice that a times in the night it was quite cool,
and then in the morning when I was waking up it warmed up,
because that's how I had set my preferences.
And I enjoyed.
- [Narrator] Finally, Dr. Troxel assessed
the effectiveness of the beds sleep tracking technology.
- Well according to this app,
last night I was a perfect sleeper.
I got a 100 on my sleep score, but to be honest with you,
I didn't get a good night of sleep.
(machinery whirring)
This is the noise that we are currently hearing,
I have no idea why.
This was really disruptive to my sleep, in fact,
I know that I was awake for at least 30 minutes
in the middle of the night.
We did have to do a repriming of the hub today.
So hopefully that may have resolved the noise issue.
The noise, that was virtually non-existent last night.
But when I looked at the metrics more closely,
I saw that there were clearly errors
in how they were scoring my sleep.
You do have the opportunity to edit your metrics,
and I did so this morning by indicating
that I wasn't even trying to fall asleep until
about a half hour after the bed had measured me sleeping,
and that I also woke up about a half an hour
before I actually got out of bed.
- [Narrator] So after trying out the smart bed,
does Dr. Troxel think it's worth the $3,500 price tag?
- I'm going to give this mattress overall three star rating.
I did enjoy the temperature control feature,
and for partners who share a bed,
I think this feature of having a non noise alarm
is really nice.
And the third thing I liked about the bed
was the technology support we received.
Now in terms of the cons, every time my husband moved,
I could not only feel the mattress itself shifting,
but I could also feel the fabric in the mattress cover,
that would shift as well.
The other thing that I was not particularly pleased
about was the overall setup.
Now the third downside was the accuracy of the metrics.
I can tell you from my own data,
that these metrics were not entirely accurate.
An important caveat of my review
is that I only tested this bed over three nights.
So my experience of the bed
may very likely change over time.
- [Narrator] Eight Sleep said it takes about one week
for the pod to acclimate to your body,
and the sleep fitness scores become
more reflective of your sleep quality
the more you use it.
With regard to the noise from the hub,
a spokesperson said, it typically occurs when there
is still air in the system
and all the unit needs is another round of priming.
- Where do you plug it in? - That's a good question.
A bed that plugs in. - But that's not a water cord,
that's a plug. - Oh.
(laughing together)
I do you have a PhD.
(gentle instrumental music)