Lululemon The Mat 5mm vs Amazon Basics 1 Inch Extra Thick: Which One Should You Buy?

The Amazon Basics 1 Inch Extra Thick carries north of 70,000 ratings at 4.6 stars, which makes it one of the most-owned exercise mats in the country. It is 25.4 mm of NBR foam, 74″ long, with a strap in the box, for about $38.4.

The Mat is Lululemon’s $118 rubber mat with a polyurethane top, which GearLab placed fourth of 19 in its 2026 test at 81 out of 100. Both are popular for good reasons and those reasons do not overlap much.

Soft NBR at that depth compresses more under your heel than under the ball of your foot, so the surface tips as you shift weight and your ankle spends the pose keeping it level. Balance holds get harder without getting more productive. Read the Amazon reviews and the enthusiasm is about knees, home workouts and stretching, which is a fair account of what it does well.

The Mat does not deflect. GearLab’s perfect 10 for comfort and support is measuring exactly that: 5 mm of dense rubber holds you up rather than absorbing you. If you do standing sequences, that is the property that decides everything else.

Lululemon bonds a polyurethane layer to a natural rubber base, and the polyurethane takes moisture into the surface instead of letting a slick film form under your hand. GearLab measured 6.5 out of 10 dry and 4.5 wet, which is lower than the mat’s reputation implies and still well ahead of closed-cell foam.

The Amazon Basics has a light surface texture and nothing else working for it. Sweat sits on top, and the softness underneath means your hand shifts the foam before it shifts on the foam. In a warm room it is not a yoga surface.

If a hard floor is the thing stopping you practicing, the Amazon Basics solves that outright for about a third of The Mat’s price. Rehab exercises, core work on your back, seated practice, long stretching sessions: all of it is more comfortable on an inch of foam and none of it needs grip.

The alternative is a firm mat with a knee pad or folded blanket, which adds padding only where it helps. That is the route to take if standing poses are part of your session, because you cannot add stability back to foam.

Flip The Mat over and the natural rubber base becomes the practice surface: drier, easier to clean, better for weights or bodyweight training. Lululemon uses FSC certified rubber for that layer, which is a real certification rather than a marketing badge.

That flexibility is why GearLab gave it the award for mixed fitness routines rather than for yoga specifically. If your mat is doing more than one job, it counts for something the Amazon Basics cannot match.

The Amazon Basics is 74″ × 24″ against The Mat’s 71″ × 26″, so it is three inches longer and two narrower. Width is the dimension you feel, in wide-legged stances and anywhere your hands land outside your shoulders.

Weights are closer than you would guess: 4.6 pounds against 5.2. An inch-thick mat rolls into a bulky cylinder that is awkward to store even when it is light. If you need a longer Lululemon, our The Mat vs The Big Mat comparison covers the 84″ × 28″ version.

The Mat’s polyurethane top is the wearing part. It grips well and owners commonly report flaking or peeling after a couple of years of heavy use, with harsh cleaning or soaking speeding it up. Lululemon covers the mat under a quality promise with no stated term.

NBR foam takes permanent dents where knees, elbows and heels land, usually within the first year of steady use, and the edges tear before the middle gives out. Amazon Basics offers a one year warranty, which is more than most mats in this class publish. Our half inch against one inch comparison covers the thinner version, which is steadier.

Lululemon sells The Mat through its own stores and website only. There is no Amazon listing and no third-party price to hunt for, and the US list price is $118. Several review sites still quote $98, which is out of date, so check lululemon.com rather than an older article.

The Amazon Basics exists only on Amazon, where you can check the current price. It also comes in a half inch version at the same length.

Buy the Amazon Basics 1 Inch if your joints are the limiting factor and your session happens on the ground. Seventy thousand people are not wrong about what it does; they are just mostly not doing vinyasa on it.

Buy Lululemon The Mat if you practice yoga in the usual sense, especially if you sweat. For a cheaper mat that still grips when wet, our Jade Harmony vs The Mat comparison covers the natural rubber route at around $100.