Manduka eKO vs Yoga Design Lab Combo: Which One Should You Buy?

The Manduka eKO lists at $114 and the Yoga Design Lab Combo at $110. In OutdoorGearLab’s current nineteen mat test the eKO scored 87 and came second overall. The Combo scored 52 and came seventeenth.

That is the widest score gap between two similarly priced mats we have run into. It does not mean nobody should buy the Combo, but it does mean the case for it has to be specific, and it is.

Comfort and support: 9 for the eKO, 6 for the Combo. Grip: 9 against 4. Materials: 8 against 5. Care and cleaning: 8 against 6. The eKO won every scored category, and grip and comfort together carry 65 percent of the weighting.

The eKO’s cons were heavier, creases easily, and more slippery when wet. The Combo’s were slippery for dry and wet grip, collects lint, and narrow. Its pros were machine washable, easy to clean, towel and mat combo, and absorbs sweat, which is a coherent product description rather than a list of performance wins.

10 out of 10 dry, tied for the highest GearLab measured, and 7 wet. Great traction when dry and no break in period lead its pros. It is natural rubber with a moulded texture and textured outer rails, and it plants from the first session with nothing to break in.

The Combo measured 4 dry and 4 wet, the lowest of any full size mat in the test. Microfiber on its own is slick. It becomes grippy once it takes on moisture, which is the whole design, so a standardised dry test is close to the worst case for it.

Owners who practise hot report the Combo works well for them, and that is consistent with how the surface behaves rather than contradicting the score. What it means is that the Combo has one operating condition and the eKO does not need one.

The eKO is closed cell, so sweat sits on the surface. More slippery when wet is in its cons and its wet score of 7, while good by the standards of the test, is well below its dry 10. A heavy sweater on an eKO still wants a towel.

The Combo is the towel. That is the argument for it: no separate towel to buy, align, and stop bunching, and the whole thing goes in the washing machine afterwards. If you have been practising on a mat plus a Yogitoes and hating the shuffle, the Combo removes it.

If you want a mat that grips wet without needing to be wet first, neither is the answer and the Manduka GRP Adapt 2.0 at 8.5 wet is.

The eKO is 5 mm of dense natural rubber foam, and GearLab described it as a stable foundation that works on hard and soft ground. Nine out of ten for comfort and support is near the top of the test.

The Combo is 3.5 mm with a fabric layer on top. On carpet it is fine. On tile or hardwood it is thin, and kneeling work will have you reaching for a folded blanket. Yoga Design Lab does sell a 5.5 mm version of the Combo if that is the problem.

The eKO is 7 pounds on Manduka’s spec, measured at 6.3 by GearLab, and heavier is the first item in its cons. The Combo is 4.9 pounds, measured at 4.6.

Neither is a travel mat. The Combo is the easier carry by a couple of pounds and it also packs down smaller, since a thin mat rolls tighter. If you walk or cycle to a studio, that difference is worth more than it sounds.

The eKO wipes clean and dries in minutes. Rubber does not like oil based cleaners or direct sun, so use water or a very diluted mild soap and store it out of a window. Creases easily is its other quirk, and the fix is to avoid folding it and to avoid cinching the roll tight.

The Combo goes in the machine on cold and gentle, then hangs to dry for several hours. That handles sweat properly in a way wiping never does. It also collects lint constantly, so expect to be picking hair off it between washes.

Neither carries a warranty. Manduka gives 30 days on the eKO, Yoga Design Lab gives 30 days on unused mats only.

The eKO is natural tree rubber with over 30 percent recycled content, sourced outside the Amazon, and Manduka states plainly that it is not recommended for latex sensitivities. The Combo’s base is natural rubber too, with a recycled PET microfiber top.

So the allergy question does not separate them. If that is your constraint, the mats to look at are TPE or PVC: the Manduka X or the Manduka PROlite. GearLab scored materials 8 to 5 in the eKO’s favour, which reflects the rubber content and the build quality rather than the recycled fabric.

The eKO is 71″ × 26″ and the Combo is 70″ × 24″. Narrow is in the Combo’s cons and two inches of width is the kind of thing you notice in a wide legged fold. Manduka sells a 79 inch eKO Long if you need the length.

The Combo wins on appearance without much argument. Nineteen printed designs in the 3.5 mm against five plain colorways on the eKO, and the prints hold up because they are dyed into the fabric. That is a legitimate reason to buy a mat, as long as you know what it costs you in performance.

At four dollars apart, buy the Manduka eKO. It is the second highest scoring mat in the test, it has the best dry grip GearLab has measured, it is far better cushioned, and it will outlast the Combo. Check the price on Amazon, since it discounts more often there than on manduka.com.

Buy the Yoga Design Lab Combo if you practise hot, you are already using a mat towel, and you want the two to be one thing you can throw in the wash. It is on Amazon in a long list of prints. Outside that specific case, the numbers are not close.