Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
Frances Daniels

Should you buy a Sleep Number bed in Black Friday sales? I'm a mattress writer — here's my advice

Sleep Number i8 Smart Bed on a grey bedframe in a blue bedroom with a Black Friday mattress deals badge overlaid.

The Sleep Number i8 smart bed is the most popular model in the brand's ground-breaking Innovation Series; a collection of sleep tracking beds that deliver customizable firmness and pressure relief tailored to your body – and 100% independent to your partner's side of the bed. Most Black Fridays we see a huge sale from Sleep Number and this year is no exception with 30% off the i8 bed at Sleep Number

This big Black Friday mattress deal gets you a queen size Sleep Number i8 smart bed for $2,799.30 (was $3,999). That's still very expensive and nearly double the cost of some of the top picks in our official best mattress guide, so how do you know you're spending your money wisely here?

As a mattress writer, I feel that smart mattresses and beds can either be a magic cure or pure overkill for your sleep, depending on what you're looking for in a bed. Here I’ve compiled a list of reasons for why you should and shouldn’t buy the Sleep Number i8 this Black Friday, depending on key factors. Let's get started...

Why you should buy the Sleep Number i8 bed this Black Friday

✅ 1. The Sleep Number i8 suits all sleepers 

From sink-in softness for side sleepers to supportive firmness for stomach sleepers, the Sleep Number i8 bed’s customizable firmness should please all sleepers. Not only can you adjust the firmness levels to suit your current weight and sleep style, but you can also adjust them whenever you like if your build and sleep preferences change at some point down the line. Couples will also enjoy the feature which allows different firmness levels for each side of the bed. 

✅ 2. As a smart bed it keeps hot sleepers cool  

Along with deep pressure relief, the i8 bed offers advanced temperature balancing properties, making it a suitable choice for those who tend to overheat at night. Hot sleepers should stay cool with the bed’s breathable design and cooling ceramic gel-infused layers, which absorb and release excess heat as you cool down so both you and your partner can strike the right temperature balance.  

✅ 3. It could help you sleep better and longer

When paired with the free Sleep Number app, the i8 smart bed can give you personalized insights into– and recommendation based on — your sleep patterns using in-built sensors. This is perfect for anyone who’s health-conscious, athletic, or eager to improve their overall sleep quality and wellbeing. 

These insights are in the form of a SleepIQ score, which arrives every morning so you can see whether your sleep is improving. On top of that, SleepIQ scores, you can also get personalised weekly snapshots of your sleep patterns and manage stress and energy levels with recordings of your heart and breath rate.  

Why you shouldn't buy the Sleep Number i8 bed this Black Friday

❌ 1. A lot of extras are sold separately 

While your mattress will be delivered and set up for you by professionals, removal of your old mattress has a $49 fee and will be cancelled if the removers feel it is not in adequate condition. The i8 bed is only compatible with certain bases, and the adjustable base optimised to fit the smart mattress (the FlexFit base) is sold separately, as is the remote to adjust firmness. These extras can unlock some of the bed’s features, so it’s a huge minus that you need to pay for them separately. 

❌ 2. There are cheaper ways to sleep better

While smart mattresses are designed to improve your sleep and overall health, they can be astronomically expensive even in the Black Friday sales. If you’re not interested in keeping track of your sleep, but want an adjustable mattress to keep you cool, there are many tech-free cooling mattresses with customizable firmness levels out there. 

If the idea of smart mattress still intrigues you, you can modernise your regular mattress with a smart mattress cover instead as they’re much cheaper than a full-blown smart bed. Our guide to the Eight Sleep Pod 2 cover, for instance, points out that the app-controlled mattress cover can cool you down and give you health insights without having to swap your trusty mattress. 

7 other top Black Friday mattress deals to shop

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.