Orion Sleep Review

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The Orion Sleep System is a smart mattress cover paired with a control tower to regulate your body temperature during sleep. Water flows through tubes embedded in the mattress cover to heat or cool your bed throughout the night. With the Orion App, temperatures can be set to change on a schedule, and each side of the bed can be programmed for its own temperature and schedule.

For prospective shoppers who are unsure how to best use the system, an optional, one-time Orion Sleep Disruption Test can provide insight into how your core body temperature fluctuates throughout the night, how the fluctuations compare to what’s ideal, and when they lead to sleep interruptions. This information clarifies how temperature is likely impacting your sleep quality, and how to program the Orion Sleep System in a way that is optimal for your body’s unique needs.

I tested out the Orion Sleep System for a week and noticed positive results in terms of my perceived sleep quality, mood, and mental sharpness. While using the smart mattress cover, my wearable showed that I slept a little longer each night and woke up fewer times.  I especially liked that my partner and I could adjust the Orion Sleep individually, since we have different body temperature needs.

Read on to find more detail about what the Orion Sleep does, how to decide if it might be a useful sleep tech tool for you, and how to set up and use the device. 

What Does Orion Sleep Do?

The Orion Sleep System heats and cools your bed’s surface as you sleep by circulating water from a nearby control tower through a smart mattress cover that sits beneath your fitted sheet. A standard outlet powers the control tower via an electrical cord, and the Orion App allows you to set temperatures and schedules for the cover. Dual controls enable individual settings for each side of the bed.

In addition to regulating the body’s core temperature throughout the night, the Orion Sleep System uses a combination of sensors and Orion Intelligence to track your sleep. These sensors help the device adapt to your specific needs and make adjustments based on your unique biometric data. 

Orion Temperature Regulation

Sleepers are primarily drawn to the Orion Sleep System because of its ability to regulate body temperature throughout the night. This feature is especially attractive to people who sleep hot, those regularly experiencing night sweats, and couples who share a bed but disagree on the ideal nighttime bedroom temperature. The Sleep System’s goal is to reduce nighttime awakenings by supporting core body temperature fluctuations that naturally occur during sleep.

The Orion Sleep System adjusts the temperature of your bed surface by circulating warm or cool water through tubes embedded in the mattress cover. The cover fits over the top of your bed, beneath a fitted sheet. The water originates from a Control Tower that sits next to your bed and must plug into an outlet. If you’re already worrying that refilling the tower will be a hassle, rest easy: you only need to top it off once or twice per year. 

The temperature range is substantial. One side of the bed can be cooled to as low as 50 degrees Fahrenheit, while the other may be heated as high as 113 degrees. The Orion Sleep System also offers a rapid cooling feature, which allows you to drop your side of the bed’s temperature quickly. It is ideal for managing night sweats, hot flashes, or other instances of sudden, increased body heat, so you can cool off and fall back asleep fast.

As someone who tends to sleep hot, the Orion Sleep System was a success for me. I never woke up feeling hot and sweaty, and I generally slept better than usual. My partner and I set our respective sides of the bed to different temperatures and were both satisfied with the result. 

Orion Nightly Schedule & Sleep Test

Rather than having the Orion Sleep System maintain one temperature for the entire night, you can set it to vary in a way that complements the body’s natural core body temperature fluctuations during sleep. For those who sleep hot like I do, that means programming the system to begin cooling down about an hour or so before bedtime. The Sleep System stays at that temperature during the early stages of your sleep cycle, then cools even more to support the body’s needs and prevent heat-prompted awakenings during the deepest sleep stages.

During rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the Orion Sleep System makes minor temperature adjustments to prevent awakenings from feeling either too hot or too cold. The body cannot regulate temperature well during REM sleep, making a stable, neutral bed temperature essential for preventing sleep disruptions. Additionally, the Orion Sleep System warms during the lead-up to your usual wake time, so you feel comfortable and cozy as you transition out of sleep and ease into your morning.

Pinpointing your ideal nighttime temperature schedule can involve guesswork, which is where Orion’s optional Sleep Disruption Test comes in. I tried this one-time test and it was fairly simple. I wore a small sensor patch for one night, and the sensor tracked my baseline core body temperature throughout the night, along with every time I woke up (even when I didn’t remember it). After I reviewed the test’s report during a free 30-minute consultation with my Orion Sleep Advisor, the system then used my data to program my baseline temperature schedule.

If you’d rather opt out of the Sleep Disruption Test, you can still achieve the same results from the Orion Sleep System. Instead of beginning with a schedule tailor-made for your body, you’ll begin with one of the app’s default schedules, then manually fine-tune it over the next several nights until you find what works best for you. When two people share a bed, each partner takes their own Sleep Disruption Test, has a free Orion Sleep Advisor consultation, and is given their own baseline temperature schedule for their side of the bed.

Orion Sleep Tracking

In addition to regulating core body temperature, the Orion Sleep System can also double as a contactless sleep tracker, which means it monitors your biometric data without you needing to wear the device. This feature is available when you subscribe to Orion Intelligence, and it works through sensors embedded into the smart cover. Orion sleep tracking records the following measures:

• Time spent in light, deep, and REM sleep stages
• Number of awakenings and total time spent awake
• Continuous resting heart rate
• Breathing rate
• Heart rate variability (HRV)

Orion uses this biometric information to learn your sleep patterns and automatically adjust your nightly temperature schedule to reduce disruptions and support deep sleep. For couples, the cover tracks data for each sleeper on their respective side of the bed, adjusting the temperature for both sides independently.

Although these features require the additional Orion Intelligence subscription, keep in mind that you do not need the subscription to access the Orion Sleep System’s basic features, such as manually adjusting personal heating and cooling schedules for both sides of the bed.

How Does Orion Sleep Look and Feel?

Overall, I found the Orion Sleep System to be discreet, comfortable, and easy to use. Before setting it up, I wondered if it would give my mattress a “water bed” feel or make my bed’s surface lumpy, but the tubes running through the cover were undetectable. 

The smart cover fits over your bed, beneath a fitted sheet, just like any other mattress protector. It has a soft, quilted top and feels like a thin mattress pad. The top of the cover is made of a polyester and bamboo blend knit fabric designed to be breathable, while the sides are a polyester and spandex blend with elastic corners to keep the cover firmly in place. The tubing is strong and tear-resistant, so you don’t have to worry about water leaks, though there is a waterproof layer beneath the tubing to provide extra protection.

Aesthetically, the system blends into a bedroom well. The mattress cover stays completely hidden, and the two-foot-tall Control Tower sports a sleek, minimalist design. At a glance, it looks like a cylindrical nightstand or luxury air purifier. The top of the Control Tower is flat and measures 9 inches across, so you can easily use it to stash your phone, an alarm clock, books, or a glass of water. It runs quietly, too. I couldn’t hear the water pump turn on or off during the night. 

Buying Orion Sleep

Here’s what you can expect when purchasing the Orion Sleep System:

The Bottom Line

The Orion Sleep System is a remarkable piece of sleep technology that could be transformative for anyone whose sleep is routinely disrupted by night sweats, body temperature spikes, or a bed partner with different temperature preferences. It is unobtrusive and quiet, and the design integrates into your sleep space without changing the feel of your mattress.

Deciding whether or not to maintain an Orion Intelligence subscription requires some consideration. Budget-conscious sleepers can skip that yearly fee and rely on manual temperature schedules through the Orion App. Those who prefer comprehensive sleep tracking and automated temperature adjustments will get the most value with a subscription.

Dedicating space to the Control Tower and taking on the initial investment are the main commitments here. However, the Orion Sleep System comes with a two-year warranty and the option to extend coverage to five years, which helps mitigate the risk. If temperature shifts are the root cause of your sleep troubles, passive bedding changes likely won’t bring about the same results. For people who need it, this system is a sound investment.

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