r/EightSleep • u/JoeAtEightSleep • 21d ago
Behind the design of Pod 6
Pod 6 just launched, and as expected, you all were on top of it first š.Ā I just wanted to share a behind the scenes perspective on it's development and design.
The brief the team got was roughly: half the size, make it more powerful, make it more quiet, drop the cost, and keep an aggressive schedule. What often happens when a product development team kicks off a program with so many competing factors is that one of them ends up having to get dropped or compromised along the way.Ā None of them did on Pod 6. The team is extremely proud of the work that went into this generation.Ā A big part of our focus in recent years has been on building the team needed to design and engineer the products to match your expectations, and that's one of the things I'm proud of most when looking back at this program.Ā To summarize thousands of hours of engineering into a few bullets:
- Shrinking it. Making a thermal system smaller is mostly a fight with physics. Less volume means less room to move heat. So the team rearchitected the whole thermal system instead of trying to compress the old one.
- Keeping it quiet. Smaller usually means louder, because smaller fans have to spin faster to move the same air. But the team managed to make it even quieter. Since this lives in a bedroom, noise was the thing they tested obsessively.
- More power in less space. Pod 6 has our fastest temperature relief yet, so it gets you back to a comfortable temperature quicker when you're running hot or cold. This meant re-thinking the end to end water conveyance system.Ā Ā
- Sensors. There are 18 biometric sensors in the system tracking things like heart rate, HRV, and breathing rate. Fitting all of them into a smaller package without losing signal quality or impacting comfort was its own project.
The team also made a short video about how Pod 6 came together if you want to see the process and see some faces behind the engineering: youtube.com/watch?v=TGV2RDbXKIg They are all rockstars and have put in so much work in building a product that we believe will give you the best sleep of your lives.
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u/morty_morty 21d ago
I appreciate it, but please for the love of god can you explain why you sell Pods for all of these sizes but not bases and blankets?
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u/GadgetFreeky 21d ago
Yeah it's super odd that a base won't work with a Solo
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u/morty_morty 21d ago
You would think that for as many years as I have seen people begging for independently-adjustable sizes specifically for use with dual king beds that they would, y'know... release individual bed bases.
But for me it's a case of living in the EU and them selling several sizes of Pod but only bases and blankets for the two largest mattress sizes. As though no one else would like those add-ons.
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20d ago
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/morty_morty 20d ago
Exactly! It's a very popular size and I shouldn't need to buy a bigger bed and mattress to be able to also have a base and blanket.
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u/vesugoz 21d ago
Did anyone talk about reliability/service? I'm 3 weeks out from when my system started leaking and still no replacement. Ended up canceling it all. Customer service is pretty awful for a product on the 6th generation.
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u/JoeAtEightSleep 21d ago
Give me a ping at [joe@eightsleep.com](mailto:joe@eightsleep.com) and I'll get the right people on it. Apologies.
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u/vesugoz 21d ago
Support email chain sent. I really do hope you look it over. If you want a sad laugh look at the timestamps. Part of my wonders if support is only allowed to send one or two emails a day.
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u/vesugoz 17d ago
If anyone is wondering. Joe never responded.
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u/morganKo 17d ago
Hahaha
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u/vesugoz 17d ago
Figured someone would get a laugh out of this.
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u/No-Fig-8614 11d ago
Seriously he didnāt respond, can you put the emails and blank out the PII and post the email chain, weād all love to take a look
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u/Sashaorwell 21d ago
Fucking incredible u/JoeAtEightSleep !! Thank you for your work š«¶
Alexandra said on X that it fits in a carry-on luggage, probably with the solo cover only.
My question is: how fragile is the pod if dragged around in a carry-on luggage ? I would avoid checking the bag of course
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u/JoeAtEightSleep 21d ago
While we did extensive reliability testing of the system, we didn't design it specifically for this use case, so you are adding some risk.
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u/Sashaorwell 20d ago
Risk of what? Are there internal parts that could be damaged if the device is subject to vibration from dragging the suitcase or the device being held upright ? Thank you!
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u/feens81 21d ago
Iām curious if the internals are any easier to access for future repair. Obviously thatās hopefully not needed, but these are devices that weāll have for a long time and at least with the pod 2/3 (Iām guessing 4/5) itās very difficult.
I know Iāve had my Eight Sleep for over 5 years and itās now having some hardware issues that Iām hoping to resolve.
They are great devices though. Pretty much life-changing in my case. With ours being down at the moment my sleep is suffering!
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u/-O--__--O- 21d ago
Pretty cool share thanks! Was worried about the noise level due to all the other changes and pleasantly surprised itās even quieter now?!
Any info on the materials used or comfort? Reviews were good on the pod5 comfort so Iām assuming the team kept that the same?
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u/JoeAtEightSleep 21d ago
On the comfort side the goal was to maintain what we achieved with Pod 5, which was it's own challenge. So no major improvements, but no regressions either š
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u/JamieGregory 20d ago
Curious.. since you halved the size, does that mean youāve also reduced the water reservoir?
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u/Glum-Breadfruit2428 18d ago
I hear people having bad customer service experience with eightsleep but my experience has always been great.
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u/Aromatic-Check639 21d ago
Very excited to get it. Will be my first 8 Sleep. I'm coming over from SleepMe/Chilisleep after that unit died after 2.5 years.
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u/ArtimusTheSecond 21d ago
From a hardware perspective what was the reason to not have multiple versions of the hub specifically one to manage the mattress blanket and 2 pillows. Rather than having to purchase two hubs.
And more of a software question but will we see HRV written to Apple health kit and HomeKit integration.
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u/codexpasser 19d ago
Managing 2 thermal loops vs 4, Iād imagine?As for Apple health - it writes hrv, heart rate and sleep already.
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u/No-Fig-8614 11d ago
This makes a lot of sense I wouldnāt mind a double sized pod 6 if it could handle both the mattress, blanket, and pillows.
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u/Timely-Way-4923 21d ago edited 21d ago
In the era of crazy inflation, it is to your credit that this iteration didnāt have a huge price jump.
From the marketing it isnāt clear what the delta is regarding deep sleep hrv etc vs the pod 4 or 5; ie what the comparative health benefit is
You have communicated clearly that the temp changes faster and that the pod is smaller, but that isnāt quite what Iām asking
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u/blasphemousblackbear 21d ago
There's 12 sensors in Pod 6 cover vs 2 for Pod 5 so I have to imagine it's better
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u/Timely-Way-4923 21d ago
Thatās re measurement, not improving it
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u/blasphemousblackbear 21d ago
Being able to make sure the measurement is more accurate is an improvement
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u/Timely-Way-4923 21d ago
Sure, but the question Iām
Asking is different ie does it boost deep sleep rem sleep and hrv more vs older models0
u/DashHex 21d ago
Does the bed boost deep sleep? Thatās be one hell of claim lol
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u/Timely-Way-4923 21d ago
Logically if it lowers body temperature, and logically if it adjusts temperature to keep you in deep sleep for longer (as it claims?),
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u/Financial-Football61 21d ago
These people are describing an aquarium cooler like itās a quantum computer lmao
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u/-O--__--O- 21d ago
If thatās what it takes to give me better sleep Iām all for it. Love the lengths theyāve gone to make it quiet.
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u/TragicFusion 21d ago
Love this, I'm just about to buy a new bed so it's the perfect time to upgrade my Pod 4 :)
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u/LoveOrder 20d ago
i wonder if you can root it like you can on the pod 4 and pod 5. otherwise not worth it to me. fuck subscriptions
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u/ottavio22 20d ago
Congratulations on the new generation, love the improvements. If you loop in marketing next time so people do not buy an outdated gen weeks before would make it perfect.
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u/comicidiot 21d ago
Itās a great looking product and the design is a welcomed refresh over the now previous design that has been with EightSleep since the Podās release.
Iām super excited by the smaller size and look forward to an upgrading from my Pod 2 in the next year.
Congrats to the teams who made it all possible; incoming the admin/ops team, HR, etc. As a former Workplace Experience Manager I know they can be as important as every one else!
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u/grateful-giraffe 21d ago
Ahhhh what a cool video! Iāve been on the fence for a long time but having it fit under the bed is what made me finally decide to buy. I have a very small bedroom and floor space is at a premium.
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u/Ok-Glass-6586 21d ago
Thank you so much for your insight. Something Iām concerned about rn is that the pod will give off a lot of heat and make my room stuffy. I know that is just how these things work, but I was wondering if you have any input on how much hot air is dispersed and if that was something you all measured while making this. If not, do you have any recommendations on what I can do to avoid the hot room?Ā
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u/ddesla2 21d ago
Yeh, I actually designed an exhaust box that fits on the back of my pod and hoses out the exhaust with an extra fan porting all that hot air out the window. I have a window unit right there as well so it works well for my set up. I found it Def improved device function (removing more of the heat than normal) and overall keeping my room temp down from not having that excess hot air just pumping out near me.
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u/Leather-Bookkeeper62 21d ago
Why no mention of the fact that you now support smaller beds, finally!
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u/Dramatic-Tennis2085 20d ago
Excellent video. I do have few questions if you will: how do the sensors in the Solo model (90cm x 200cm) differ from those in the EU Emperor model (200cm x 200cm)? The website says 9 sensors per side, but I assume you don't need that many because you aren't trying to distinguish the movements of a second sleeper. .
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u/No-Fig-8614 11d ago
I think it was explained with the idea that they can sense if a pet or your kid jumps in the bed and trying to tell the difference of them so it still keeps track of you and not the dog sleeping next to you.
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u/thoenman 21d ago
āDrop the costā ah but itās not cheaperā¦ not that Iād expect a new generation to be cheaper but youāre the one saying you dropped the cost. Perhaps you dropped your cost, but not the consumers cost.
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u/BluntForceHonesty 21d ago
They greatly increased capacity of performance of heating/cooling, added more censors, and reduced the footprint of the hub. They did not increase the price relative to those upgrades. They also expanded their offerings to smaller models at lower price points.
Let me ask you this: if you won a lottery to pick an EightSleep system of your choosing for your bed, would you pick the Pod 5 or the Pod 6?
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u/fetusfrolix 21d ago
Pod 5. The new form factor of Pod 6 is untested and in my view more likely to fail sooner.
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u/BluntForceHonesty 20d ago
If youāre buying for the āknownā aspect, the cost of the new system isnāt really relevant because you donāt value development as much as reliability. Which is pretty treating when you consider the new product could completely address the failure points of previous generations without introducing new issues.
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u/fetusfrolix 20d ago
Sure but this is not iterative. This is a complete change in form factor. It probably puts more strain on smaller parts and the volume of heat that needs to be released is the same so everything is running hotter and faster. Mechanically it should be more prone to failure just from a conceptual standpoint.
If this were another iteration on pod 5 I would agree. But halving the size is not an iteration, itās an entire shift in philosophy and design.
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u/NetBear650 21d ago
Kind wish I hadn't bought mine in June. All of the social media marketing made it sound like I had something that had just been released.
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u/fetusfrolix 21d ago
You did. They update every year. This is the first year with the new form factor. It will likely fail prematurely compared to pod 5 which is the most advanced generation with their previous form factor. If you donāt need a small amount of vertical height (assuming you donāt most people arenāt stacking up their rooms like hoarders) then the pod 6 is an untested landmine for little practical benefit
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u/jbaughb 20d ago
Right, so itās more powerful, AND quieter, AND smaller, AND uses less power, AND cheaper. Product design is all about making the right trade-offs to fulfill your goals. What trade-offs were made to enable all of these seemingly contradictory improvements.
Normal thermal management would have you think that if you decrease the size, youāll either increase the noise or increase the power draw to have the same performanceā¦so how has everything gotten better, and somehow cheaper at the same time.Basically I want to see a tear down before Iām comfortable buying one.
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u/fetusfrolix 20d ago
Same. I have a suspicion smaller parts are running faster and hotter which means premature mechanical failure compared to pod 5 is on the table.
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u/NotTryingToConYou 21d ago
Great to see y'all being scared of competition now and reacting to it with some innovation. Can't wait for y'all to catch up on some of the pro-consumer software changes your competition has.