Jade Level One vs Lululemon The (Big) Mat 5mm: Which One Should You Buy?

The Big Mat is 84″ × 28″. The Level One is 68″ × 24″. That is sixteen inches of extra length and four of extra width, which is a bigger gap than almost any other pair of mats we compare.

Everything else follows from it. The Lululemon weighs 7.1 pounds and costs $128; the Jade weighs 4 and costs $66.5. Both grip well. What you are really choosing is how much floor you want and whether the mat ever leaves the room.

You need about seven feet by two and a half of clear floor to unroll the Big Mat, which rules out a lot of apartment living rooms once the coffee table is accounted for. It will also not fit in most studio storage cubbies, and it hangs well past your hip on a shoulder strap.

What you get in exchange is real. Hands stay on the mat in a wide plank, nobody runs out of length in a full-body pose, and you can travel across the mat in a flow without stepping onto the floor. If you have the room and you practice at home, it changes the experience more than most upgrades do.

The Level One is open-cell natural rubber. Sweat soaks in rather than sitting on top, which is why Jade mats hold a damp palm so well, and the trade is that the moisture now lives in your mat and has to be cleaned back out.

The Big Mat has an absorbent polyurethane face over an FSC-certified natural rubber base. It works on the same principle and is good rather than exceptional at it: GearLab scored the standard-size version of the same mat 6.5 out of 10 dry and 4.5 wet. Plenty of people use one in hot classes with a towel. If you sweat heavily and grip is the only thing you care about, Jade’s rubber holds up better.

The Big Mat is 5 mm and the Level One 4, and neither is a plush mat. GearLab scored the standard Lululemon 10 out of 10 for comfort and support, the top score in its test, which reflects the combination of thickness and the way the rubber base holds still under you.

The Level One is firmer and gives you a very clear read on the floor. On tile a long kneeling sequence will find you either way, and a folded blanket is the usual answer on both.

The Big Mat is reversible: the polyurethane face for grip when you are sweating, and the textured rubber underside if you want a firmer, less tacky surface for a dry practice or for general training. That is genuinely useful and it is part of why the standard version took GearLab’s award for mixed fitness routines.

The Level One has a single practice surface and a textured back meant to stay on the floor. It is a yoga mat and not a general-purpose training mat, and it does not pretend otherwise.

The Level One is about 4 pounds and rolls small, so it is an easy commuter and fits any bag rack or cubby. For a studio practice that alone can settle the question.

The Big Mat is 7.1 pounds and 84 inches of roll. You can carry it, and you will not enjoy carrying it far. Lululemon designed it as a home mat, and if you want the same surface in a commutable size, the standard Lululemon Mat at 71″ × 26″ is the version to look at.

Jade gives the Level One one year of coverage, excluding sun damage and harsh cleaners, which tells you what actually kills a rubber mat. Its rubber softens and sheds slowly with heavy sweaty use. Cleaning is a damp cloth and mild soap, more often than you would need on a closed-cell mat.

Lululemon covers the Big Mat under its Quality Promise, which has no set term and is handled case by case rather than as a defined warranty. Its absorbent top is the wear point, and GearLab scored the standard version 7 out of 10 for care and cleaning. Both mats contain natural rubber, so neither is safe with a latex allergy.

$66.5 against $128. Neither is sold on Amazon. Jade sells the Level One on jadeyoga.com and Lululemon sells the Big Mat on its own site and in stores, both at close to full price most of the year.

That $61.50 is buying square footage more than performance. If a standard mat already fits you, it is hard to justify. If you are tall or broad and have been working around a mat that is too small for years, it is the best money on this page.

Get the Level One if you carry your mat, if your practice space is tight, or if you want USA-made rubber with a tree behind it for under $70. Its only real problem is size: 68 by 24 inches runs out under a tall body, and there is no version of this mat that does not.

Get the Big Mat if you practice at home, you have the floor, and you are tired of running out of mat. The absorbent top handles sweat, the reversible underside covers general training, and 84 by 28 inches is more space than almost anyone else sells. Just do not plan on carrying it anywhere.