Tudia Essential Phone case lineup review

The Essential Phone is the first device from a new company and is being sold in fairly small numbers. As such, third-party support for the Essential Phone started out really weak. Cases were few and far between, but Tudia has created an entire lineup with a case for every person.

The Tudia GLOST is the flagship case and is advertised as “ceramic feel.” The inside is hard plastic with a nice texture while the edges are made out of rubber (harder than the average TPU material used in cases). The rubber edges are pretty substantial and protect from shocks as well as protect the display when the device is placed face down.

The “ceramic feel” portion of the case is a tempered glass back. Tempered glass sounds like a terrible idea for a case, but it creates an amazing, higher-end feel for a device that feels so premium that it’s almost criminal to keep it in a case. The feel of glass in your hand is amazing while grip is uncompromised thanks to the rubber edges. The rubber also features four feet, one in each corner, to keep the glass from touching the surface it’s placed on. This means the back of the case is thick.

All of the cutouts for the camera, fingerprint sensor, earpiece, and everything else are perfect. The buttons still feel good with the case on. The fit and finish of this case is flawless and the great feel of the glass back is icing on the cake. Plus, the marble texture looks great. You can either match the color to your black or white phone, get gold, marble, or the beautiful Ocean Green (while we wait for the official Ocean Depths color). Unfortunately, you can expect the tradeoff to be a shattered back panel in the event of a serious drop.

You can pick up a Tudia GLOST for $19.90 in five colors.

The Tudia TAMM is the most “regular” of the four cases. It is a basic TPU case similar in design to the GLOST, though without the tempered glass panel and with the addition of the futuristic design.

The fit and finish are absolutely flawless and all of the cutouts are well-shaped. The fingerprint reader cutout in particular is nice because it has a “ramped” part at the bottom to guide your finger in. The buttons feel great as well, remaining clicky and easy to press. Unfortunately, the “futuristic” design is a bit polarizing. Thankfully it’s not as two-toned as it looks in photos, as the entire thing is black with some gloss bits.

It’s a lightweight, very protective case for a low price. You can pick up a Tudiia TAMM in black, gray, or blue for $12.90.

The Tudia SKN is a TPU case made for maximum grip. The entire thing is a single color, and you have the choice of clear, smoke, or black. The clear case is fully transparent with a dotted texture on the back that nicely accents the Essential Phone’s ceramic back.

For better grip, the sides have a very strong diamond texture while is very helpful when gripping the device. Just like with the other cases, it has a lip to keep the display from touching the surface it’s placed on, the buttons remain clicky and easy to press, and all of the cutouts are great.

You can pick up the Tudia SKN for $12.90.

The Tudia LULA is an odd one. It’s a polycarbonate shell with a giant cutout for the 360 camera. It’s for people who use their 360 cameras often but still want protection, as even a skin can stop the wireless USB signal.

It’s a very slim and sturdy case with a soft touch, slightly grippy finish. The metallic slate version has a very nice metallic color to it. All of the cutouts are perfect, including a great cutout for the 360 camera to snap into. The fingerprint sensor hole has the same “ramp” guide for your finger.

The only problem is the power button; it plain sucks. It’s very difficult to press, likely because it doesn’t have enough material on it. Slipping a thin piece of cardboard under the button (I used a sliver of the cardboard that came inside the case) actually makes it feel perfect and clicky. It goes from awful to awesome. If you pick this case up, give that trick a try.

You can pick up the Tudia LULA in matte black, metallic slate, mint, and rose gold for $10.90.

Tudia has put out a low cost, high quality lineup of cases for a phone that many could consider “niche.” The only flawed case is the LULA but it’s easy to fix. It’s great to see a manufacturer support the Essential Phone! I do hope that Tudia makes a bumper case for the device next. Hit any of the links if you want to pick one up!

source: androidandme