Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to the deep dive. Today we're focusing on the very
latest in sleep tech. That's the brand new 8.
Sleep Pod 5. Yeah, and this is really for
those of you maybe like the folks at the 5K Runner who are
always hunting for those, you know, sharp insights into sleep
Wellness, that sort of thing. Exactly.
We've gone through quite a bit. Scientific reviews, product
(00:21):
specs, the lot. And our mission today is pretty
simple, really. We want to pull out the key info
on the Pod 5's new features, right?
Help you figure out if this techactually fits into your goals
for better sleep and Wellness. Yeah, could it be a useful tool
for you? Let's find out.
OK, so let's start with the basics.
Pod 5. This isn't their first rodeo,
(00:42):
right? It's the fifth generation. 5th
Gen, yeah. And it's not just one product.
They've got three different models this time.
Ah. OK.
What are they? So first up is the Pod 5 core.
That's basically the smart mattress cover itself, All the
text in there. Gotcha.
The cover. Then you've got the Pod 5 plus
that adds a temperature regulated blanket to the cover.
OK, cover and blanket. And finally, the top one, the
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Pod 5 Ultra. That's the cover, the blanket,
and an adjustable base which even has speakers built in.
Right, the whole package. OK, let's dive right into the
new stuff. That temperature regulated
blanket sounds like a pretty bigdeal.
It is, yeah. It's a really notable upgrade.
The main thing is it gives you 360° temperature coverage. 360°
(01:24):
How does that work compared to before?
Well, earlier models mostly justhandled the mattress surface,
right. But the Pod 5 Plus and Ultra,
they have this blanket that syncs up with the cover.
So you get the same temperature range that's 55 to 110
Fahrenheit, but now it's coming from above and below you.
So thinking about someone reallyfocused on recovery, maybe like
(01:46):
the 5K runner after a hard workout, what's the actual
benefit? More even temperature.
Exactly, the idea is more consistent temperature across
your whole body could be more efficient cooling or heating,
you know more tailored to you. Makes sense.
Plus, like the cover, the blanket has separate temperature
settings for each side, which isobviously key if you sleep with
a partner. Oh, definitely.
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OK, right, let's bring in the science bit.
How does this actually help you sleep better?
Is there evidence? Well, the interesting part is
how it aims to work with your body.
Data from the Quantified Scientist looking at the Pad 4
actually showed the bed temperature changing through the
night. Changing how?
Sort of mirrors your core body temperature cooling down early
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in the night and then warming upa bit before you wake up.
And why is that important? Supporting your natural rhythm.
That's the theory, yeah. By reinforcing those natural
temperature changes, the pod might help you get, you know,
more restful, better quality sleeps, like working with your
body clock. But it's worth saying, while the
general idea of temperature and sleep is well supported research
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on these specific mattresses, it's still pretty early days.
So promising theory, but we needmore specific studies on these
beds themselves. Precisely, although the
quantified scientists did say subjectively that the Pod five
with the blanket felt like it provided more even cooling and
heating, so aligns with what you'd expect.
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OK, interesting. Let's move to another new thing
in the Ultra model, the adjustable base.
It has snoring mitigation. How does that work?
Yeah, so the Pod 5 Ultra base can actually tilt your head up
slightly if it detects you snoring.
Tilts your head up. Just a little bit, Yeah.
There's some research suggestingthat kind of elevation can
sometimes reduce snoring, maybe even help a bit with mild sleep
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apnea, but this is really important.
This is absolutely not a medicaltreatment.
If you're worried about snoring or think you might have sleep
apnea, you really need to see a doctor.
Right, good disclaimer. So it just tilts temporarily
when it hears snoring. That's the idea.
Temporary lift. And something else to know is
that both sides of the bed go uptogether.
Both sides, even if only one person is snoring.
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Yeah, though 8 Sleep says they've designed it to be pretty
subtle, so hopefully it doesn't disturb the other person too
much. OK, did the quantified
scientists check this feature out?
They did? Yeah.
They actually got help from someone they called Mega Snore
Frenchie. And the tests show the bed did
elevate when it detected snoringso mechanically.
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It worked, but did it stop the snoring?
Well, that's the hard part to judge from just one test.
You know, snoring can vary so much night to night, so
effectiveness is still a bit of an open question based on that
test alone. Understood.
OK, let's shift gears again. Third new feature in the Ultra
built in speakers and soundscapes sounds kind of spa
like. Yeah, it adds another layer to
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the sleep environment. The Ultra Bass has these
integrated surround sound speakers.
Surround sound in the bed Bass. And 8, sleep offers different
soundscapes, you know, rain, ocean waves, pink noise, that
kind of thing. Designed to be calming.
Maybe mask other noises I saw? Something about a collaboration
with Andrew Huberman for NSDR. That's right, they've worked
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with Doctor Huberman, the neuroscientist, to include
guided NSDR meditations, Non sleep, deep rest.
NSDR That's like guided relaxation for recovery, right?
Even if you're not asleep, that could appeal to the performance
crowd like the 5K runner. Absolutely.
It's aimed at promoting recovery, reducing stress.
Press and you can set these sounds or meditations to play at
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bedtime, maybe during the night,or even use them as a gentle
alarm. And it's all controlled through
the app. Mostly the app, yeah, but
they're also new physical buttons on the cover now, which
we'll get to. You can control audio from there
too. Can you use them like regular
Bluetooth speakers? Play your own music.
No, that's a key point. They're only for the 8 sleep
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audio content, soundscapes and meditations, not general
Bluetooth speakers. OK.
And the sound quality? What was the verdict?
The quantified scientist described it as OK kind of a
nice to have feature, but maybe not the main reason you'd buy
the Ultra. The core tech is still the
temperature and tracking. Right.
Makes sense. OK.
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Fourth new thing, those physicalbuttons you mentioned, that
sounds like a practical improvement.
Yeah, I think so. Instead of the old tap service
on the Pod 4, the Pod 5 has actual physical buttons on each
side of the cover. What do they control?
Quick adjustments, basically temperature up or down, alarm
control, bed elevation on the Ultra and the audio volume.
So easier than tapping a specific number of times.
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Definitely more direct, more intuitive.
I'd say just press the button for what you want.
OK, so those are the main new features, but eight sleep has
always been big on health tracking, right?
What's the Pod 5 doing there? This is crucial for someone like
the 5K runner tracking everything.
Yeah, absolutely. It carries over the tracking
from previous models, all done without needing a wearable.
So still tracking sleep stages. Yep, sleep stages, deep light,
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R.E.M. Plus heart rate, heart rate
variability, HRV, snoring and breathing rate.
And the big question, how accurate is it, especially
compared to say wearables or proper clique clinic gear?
Well, the quantified scientist did extensive testing on this
for sleep stages. The POD 5 showed really high
agreement with a clinical grade EEG device, the Z Max.
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High agreement. That's impressive for something
built into a mattress cover. It is especially for Deep Light
in REM sleep. And interestingly, the results
were pretty much on par with their previous tests of the Pod
4, so it suggests the underlyingsensor tech is consistently
solid. OK, they actually ranked the 8
sleep pods among the best sleep trackers they've tested overall.
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Wow. OK.
What about heart rate and HRV? Those are key metrics for
recovery. Heart rate tracking also looked
very good. Strong agreement with both an
ECG chest strap and an Aura ring.
Both good benchmarks. And HR.
VHRV showed good correlation too, but maybe slightly lower
than heart rate. The Pod Five data sometimes
showed more extreme peaks compared to the chest strap or
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aura. Any idea why the HRV might be
slightly different? Could be the algorithms they
use, maybe the way they calculated over the whole night.
HRV is just inherently trickier to measure accurately than heart
rate. True, but one potential plus for
the pod is that it's measuring continuously all night with high
resolution. It's not limited by battery like
a wearable, so maybe you can capture more detail even if it
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looks a bit peakier sometimes. Interesting point.
OK, what about the last one? Breathing rate.
Breathing rate was harder to assess.
The Quantified Scientist didn't really have a great reference
device for comparison during their tests, and they mentioned
the way 8 Sleep exports the datamade it unclear exactly how it
was calculated. So verdict's still out on
breathing rate accuracy. Pretty much based on that
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specific review. They did mention a new health
check report in the app though. It apparently uses AI to look at
your heart rate and breathing trends during sleep and might
flag potential issues. Something to be aware of.
OK, let's talk practicalities. Energy use.
Is this thing going to cost a fortune to run all night?
(08:59):
The Quantified scientist looked at that, too.
It does use more power when it'sactively cooling or heating, or
when the thermal alarm is running.
Makes sense. What did it work out to cost
wise? Based on their test, which was
one side the bed early summer conditions, they estimated
around five US cents per night. $0.05 That's surprisingly low.
Yeah, they estimated maybe 20 to$30 a year for one side, perhaps
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double that around $50.00 for both sides.
That doesn't include any standbypower for the adjustable base on
the Ultra model though. Still not a huge running cost.
No, and you might even save a bit on air conditioning if the
beds cooling means you don't need the AC cranked up so high
potential offset there. Good point.
OK, now the elephant in the room, the price.
These things aren't cheap, right?
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And there's a subscription. Definitely not cheap, they are a
premium product. Looking at the numbers the pod 5
core just the cover starts around $2649 for a double in the
UK. Wow.
The plus with the blanket is more and the ultra with the base
starts at 5099 dollars. Then US prices.
Even higher for the base models actually because of tariffs.
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The core starts at $2849 for a full size in the US.
Yikes. OK.
And the subscription is mandatory?
It is, yeah. You need their Autopilot plan to
get the main features working. The automatic temperature
changes, the sleep reports, the alarm software updates, all
that. What does that cost?
In the UK, the standard plan starts at £70 a month or you can
pay annually for $199. There are also enhanced and lead
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tiers that cost more but add things like longer warranties or
more health features. So you absolutely have to factor
that recurring cost into the total investment.
Absolutely, it's crucial. They do offer a 30 day trial and
the warranty length varies depending on which subscription
you pick. Right.
OK, last question then. If someone already has say a Pod
4, should they upgrade? Good question.
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The general vibe seems to be maybe not, unless you
specifically want that improved cooling from the blanket because
the Cortec and the mattress cover itself the sensors.
The basic temperature regulationseems largely the same between
the base Pod four and Pod 5 models.
So if you're happy with your Pod4 it's cooling just from the
cover, you might be fine. Yeah, the Quantified scientist
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suggested the main reason to upgrade would be if you really
feel you need more cooling power, which the Pod 5 Plus
blanket offers. Got it.
So the blanket is the key differentiator for upgraders.
Seems to be the most compelling 1, yes.
OK, so let's let's wrap this deep dive up.
We've covered the new Pod 5 features that 360 blanket, the
adjustable base with the snoringthing and speakers, the physical
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buttons. Right.
We also looked at the health tracking, still strong though
breathing rate needs a bit more clarity and considered the
energy use which seems reasonable unlike the price.
Yeah, the price in that essential subscription are
definitely major factors to weigh.
But hopefully this breakdown gives you, the listener, a much
clearer picture of what the 8 Sleep Pod 5 is all about and
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what's actually new. Exactly, it's about giving you
that shortcut to understanding the key stuff.
So maybe a final thought for youto chew on.
Considering all this tech, the tracking, the temperature
control, how can a system like this potentially fit into your
personal approach to Wellness orperformance?
Yeah. And thinking about your own
situation, your budget, your specific sleep needs, are those
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potential benefits worth that significant investment for you?
Something to Mull over. We definitely encourage you to
look deeper based on your own needs.
Thanks for joining us for this deep dive.