Manduka eKO Superlite vs Gaiam Essentials 6mm: Which One Should You Buy?
Four times the thickness for less than half the money, and yet these are not really competitors. The Gaiam Essentials is 6 mm of soft PVC foam, 72 inches long, sold with a carrying sling at a $22.13 list price. The eKO Superlite is 1.5 mm of natural rubber that folds into a bag and costs $54. The question is whether you want cushion or portability, because neither mat gives you both.
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The quick answer
For cushion per dollar, nothing here touches the Gaiam. Six millimetres of foam is easy on knees and elbows, the mat is 72 inches long, it comes with a sling, and Gaiam puts a lifetime guarantee behind it. The catch is the surface: soft PVC foam slides once your hands are damp, and it takes compression marks over time.
The Superlite is the better made object and the worse home mat. Natural rubber grips properly, it folds flat into luggage, it weighs 2.2 pounds, and it comes in more colorways than almost anything else. On a hard floor it offers essentially no padding. Buy it for travel, not for the living room.
Get the Manduka eKO Superlite if...
- You need a mat that packs into a suitcase
- You want rubber grip rather than foam
- You practice on carpet or over another mat
- You want a wide choice of colorways
Get the Gaiam Essentials if...
- You want the most padding you can get for $22
- You do floor work, stretching or gentle classes at home
- You want a mat 72 inches long with a sling included
- You have a latex allergy that rules rubber out
Side by side
Price
The Gaiam Essentials lists for about $32 less.
$54
List price · check price at Amazon
$22.13
List price · check price at Amazon
Thickness
The Gaiam Essentials is 300% thicker.
1.5 mm0.06″
6 mm0.24″
Weight
The Superlite is 1.3 lbs lighter.
2.2 lbs1 kg
3.5 lbs1.59 kg
Size
The Gaiam Essentials is 1″ longer; same width.
Same on both
- Both roll up and fit in a normal bag
- Both work on carpet as well as hard floors
- Neither needs breaking in
- Neither is a good choice for a heated room
Full specs
Dimensions
Materials & build
Buying
Cushion or packability, not both
Four times the thickness for less than half the money, and yet these barely compete. The Gaiam Essentials is 6 mm of soft PVC foam, 72″ long, sold with a carrying sling at a $22.13 list price. The eKO Superlite is 1.5 mm of natural rubber that folds flat into a bag, at $54.
One of these is the cheapest usable mat in the category and one is a purpose-built travel mat. Deciding which you need takes about ten seconds once the question is framed that way.
The Gaiam is four times the mat underfoot
Six millimetres of soft foam is forgiving on knees, elbows and spine, and for anyone doing floor work or a gentle class at home that is the single most useful property a cheap mat can have. It is also why this mat sells in the volumes it does.
The Superlite has essentially no padding. GearLab scored it 2 out of 10 for comfort and support, near the bottom of a 19-mat test. On carpet it is fine. On a hard floor, anything that puts a bone against the ground becomes uncomfortable quickly, which is the price of a mat that folds flat.
The thin mat is the grippy one
The Superlite is real Manduka rubber, tacky from the first unroll, and GearLab scored it 7.5 out of 10 dry. For a travel mat that is unusually good, and it is the reason people buy it over cheaper folding mats.
The Gaiam has a textured sticky PVC finish that works well enough while your hands are dry. GearLab measured Gaiam’s comparable 6 mm foam at 6 out of 10 dry and 4 wet, and that is about the ceiling: fine in a cool room for a gentle practice, unreliable once your palms are damp. Soft foam also moves under a standing foot, so balances feel less settled on it than on the much thinner rubber mat.
Folding against rolling
The Superlite is 2.2 pounds and folds flat, so it goes inside a bag next to your clothes. The fold lines are visible for a few sessions and then stop being noticeable. Nothing in Gaiam’s range does this at all.
The Gaiam Essentials is 3.5 pounds and rolls to a fat tube. The included sling makes it easy to carry over a shoulder, so it is not awkward, but it travels on the outside of a bag and it takes up real space in a car boot or a closet.
Length and width
The Gaiam is 72″ and the Superlite 71″, so the cheap mat is the longer one by an inch. Both are 24 inches wide, which is the older narrow standard and noticeable in a wide stance.
One thing to watch when you order: Gaiam sells the Essentials in two lengths. The 72″ version on Amazon comes with the sling; gaiam.com also sells a 68″ at a lower price. Manduka’s longer option is the 79″ Superlite Long at $58.
How each one gives up
Soft PVC foam takes compression set. Heels, knees and elbows leave dents that gradually stop springing back, and GearLab has found the same foam in Gaiam’s Premium mats showing compression over time. Gaiam advertises a lifetime guarantee, which is genuinely unusual at this price, but it covers manufacturing defects rather than wear.
The Superlite is thin rubber, so its risks are snags and tears rather than flattening, and a mat put away damp in a bag is how odor starts. Manduka gives it a 30-day return window and nothing after, since the lifetime guarantee is reserved for the PRO line. Kept dry and out of the sun, it lasts a long time for what it is.
Rubber, PVC and the latex question
The Superlite is natural tree rubber, which means latex, so it is off the list entirely for anyone with an allergy. It has the rubber smell for the first few weeks and it fades.
The Gaiam is PVC, listed as latex free and 6P-free, so it is the safe option there. PVC is a plastic with an unattractive end of life, and that is the honest cost of the price. Neither mat carries a third-party certification.
Price and value
$54 against a $22.13 list. Check the current Essentials price on Amazon, where individual colors go on sale independently and it is often several dollars under list, and the Superlite, where some Manduka colorways drop well below $54.
For a first mat the Gaiam is better value and it is not close. For a second mat that travels, the Superlite is the only one of the two that can do the job at all.
Bottom line
Get the Gaiam Essentials if the mat stays home and you want the most padding for the least money. It is comfortable, it is long enough, the sling is included, and it is latex free. Its grip is the compromise, so plan on a towel if you sweat.
Get the Superlite if you need a mat in your luggage. Real rubber grip at 2.2 pounds that folds flat is a specific and useful thing, and Manduka does it better than most. Do not buy it as the mat you kneel on at home unless your floor is carpeted.
Gaiam Essentials 6mm
List price $22.13
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is 1.5 mm really usable for a class?
- On carpet or over a studio mat, yes. On a wooden or tiled floor, only briefly. OutdoorGearLab scored the Superlite 2 out of 10 for comfort and support, one of the lowest in a 19-mat test, and that is a fair description of kneeling on it. It is a travel mat, which is a job it does very well; the discomfort is the price of folding flat.
- Is the Gaiam Essentials grippy enough for yoga?
- In a cool room, for a gentle practice, yes. It has a textured sticky finish that holds well enough dry. GearLab measured Gaiam's comparable 6 mm foam at 6 out of 10 dry and 4 wet, and that is about the ceiling: once your palms are damp it starts to move. The Superlite's rubber is markedly better in that respect, which is the one performance area where the cheaper thicker mat clearly loses.
- What is the Gaiam Essentials list price?
- $22.13, and it very often sells for less on Amazon, where individual colors go on sale independently. The 72-inch version sold on Amazon includes a carrying sling. Gaiam also sells a 68-inch Essentials on its own site at a lower price, so check the length in the listing before you buy if the extra four inches matter to you.
- How long will the Gaiam foam last?
- Longer than its price suggests, but the failure is predictable. Soft PVC foam takes compression set, so heels, knees and elbows leave dents that gradually stop springing back. GearLab has found the same foam in Gaiam's Premium mats showing compression over time. Gaiam's lifetime guarantee covers manufacturing defects rather than that kind of wear, so treat it as a mat with a good few years in it rather than a decade.
- Which is easier to carry?
- The Superlite, by a wide margin. It is 2.2 pounds and folds flat, so it goes inside a bag rather than strapped to one. The Gaiam Essentials is 3.5 pounds and rolls to a fat tube, though the included sling makes it easy enough to sling over a shoulder. Neither is heavy; the difference is that only one of them disappears into your luggage.
- Which one for a beginner?
- The Gaiam, without much hesitation. Beginners spend more time on their knees and forearms, and 6 mm of foam is forgiving while you build the strength that makes a thinner mat comfortable. It is also cheap enough that discovering yoga is not for you costs almost nothing. Come back to a rubber mat once you know you are staying.
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