Lululemon The Mat 5mm vs Manduka eKO Long: Which One Should You Buy?

Both of these mats exist because people slip. Lululemon’s answer is a polyurethane layer over natural rubber that takes moisture into the surface. Manduka’s answer on the eKO is to skip the coating and let the rubber do it, in a cut that runs 79″ long instead of the usual 71.

The prices land within six dollars of each other, $118 against $124, so nobody is buying up or down here. What separates them is grip, weight, and eight inches of floor.

GearLab’s 2026 test of 19 mats measured the eKO at 10 out of 10 for dry grip, the highest score in the field, and 7 for wet. The Mat measured 6.5 dry and 4.5 wet. That is not the result most people expect from a coated premium surface against plain rubber, and it is the single most useful number on this page.

Both figures come from the standard 71″ versions of each mat. The Long is the same rubber compound in a longer cut, so we would expect the grip to track. Neither mat needs breaking in; both are usable from the first session, which is not true of Manduka’s own PRO.

The eKO Long is 79″ × 26″. The Mat is 71″ × 26″. Same width, eight inches of difference in length, which is the whole reason the Long exists.

If you are over about five foot ten, a 71″ mat leaves your heels or your head on the floor in savasana and your back foot walking off the edge in a long lunge. Below that height the extra length is weight and roll diameter you are carrying for nothing. Lululemon’s answer for tall practitioners is The (Big) Mat at 84″ × 28″, which costs more and weighs more again.

8 pounds against 5.2. Natural rubber is dense, and adding eight inches to an already heavy mat gets you to a mat that plants itself beautifully and is genuinely unpleasant to walk anywhere with.

The Mat is not light either. At 5.2 pounds it surprises people who expect a 5 mm mat to feel like nothing. But nearly three pounds is the difference between a mat you carry to a class twice a week without thinking and one you start driving to the studio for.

The Mat’s polyurethane top absorbs some moisture rather than letting it film over, which is a real mechanism and the reason Lululemon charges what it does. GearLab still only rated it 4.5 out of 10 when wet, which is mid-pack. The eKO’s closed-cell rubber does not absorb anything, and it measured 7.

So the eKO is the better wet mat by GearLab’s testing, but neither is the answer for a genuinely sweaty practice. That mat is Manduka’s GRP Adapt 2.0, which measured 8.5 wet and took the roundup’s hot yoga award. A towel over either of these mats is still the practical fix.

The eKO is natural rubber made in Taiwan, and it smells like it for the first few weeks. That is the most common complaint owners raise, and it is why the mat carries 4.1 stars across roughly 694 Amazon ratings despite scoring 87 out of 100 with GearLab. Unroll it somewhere ventilated and it fades.

The Mat pairs an FSC certified natural rubber base with the polyurethane top, which mutes the rubber smell considerably. Both mats contain natural rubber, so neither is safe if you have a latex allergy. That rules out this whole page for some people, and it is worth checking before you spend $118.

The eKO, most likely. Plain rubber wears slowly and evenly, and the failure mode is gradual thinning rather than a surface letting go. The Mat’s polyurethane top is a coating, and owners commonly report flaking or peeling after a couple of years of heavy use, made worse by harsh cleaners or soaking.

Neither comes with meaningful coverage. Manduka’s lifetime guarantee applies to the PRO and PROlite lines only, so the eKO gets 30 day returns. Lululemon’s Quality Promise carries no stated term. Both mats also degrade in sunlight, so a car boot in August is the worst place either can live.

Lululemon sells The Mat through its own stores and website only. There is no Amazon listing, no marketplace sellers, and no discount to chase. The US list price is $118, and several review sites still quote $98, which is out of date. Check lululemon.com for the current number.

The eKO Long lists at $124 and you can check the current price at Amazon, where it does go on sale. It comes in Midnight and nothing else, while the standard 71″ eKO at $114 has about five colorways.

Buy the eKO Long if you are tall, or if slipping is the complaint that sent you shopping in the first place. It grips better than The Mat in both conditions GearLab measured, it costs six dollars more, and it will outlast the coated mat. The price of all that is 8 pounds and a few weeks of rubber smell.

Buy The Mat if you carry your mat, if 71 inches is enough for your height, or if the same surface is doing duty for lifting and other floor work. It is the more versatile of the two and the easier one to live with, and its rubber underside gives you a drier second surface on the days you want one.