Today we’re looking at a trio of protective cases for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. These cases come courtesy of Tudia, an accessories firm founded in Minnesota in 2013. We have two different models to show you — the Tamm in black (right in the picture above) and the Merge in metallic grey and mint (centre and left, respectively). Let’s get right into it!
We’ll be accompanied on this brief review with our new favourite friend, a mysterious craft used by a Doctor of some renown.
You can see that each case possesses a two-tone design; the Tamm has a carbon fibre effect on the top and bottom while the Merge has a simpler black section on each of its ends. The colour of this is black in each case, which looks fine for the darker colourways but doesn’t suit the Mint quite as well.
Inside, you can see subtle labels for each case along with an internal structure. The Tamm has a more rigid-looking crossed box design, while the Merge has a series of crossed lines — it looks almost like a line drawing of a globe, but there are a few extra lines that make it more of an abstract.
Looking at the Merge, you can see there are cutouts for each of the ports, camera elements, fingerprint reader and other features. These are cut exactly, ensuring easy accessibility. There are also covers for each button, which are a little spongy.
The mint colourway offers a more distinctive contrasting look which makes it a little easier to see where each button is. The branding is present towards the bottom of the case, and thankfully isn’t too prominent. You can remove the coloured section if you’d like, which is a distinct piece of polycarbonate.
There’s a thin lip around the top of each case, which should help to ensure that the Note doesn’t take a direct hit to its screen (unless it falls onto something pointy, anyway). It’s still easy to use the screen, although scrolling to the edge doesn’t feel quite as clean as it would without a case installed.
Like the Merge, the Tamm has minimal branding and precise cutouts. Both the carbon fibre and the case are black, so it’s difficult to see the different zones at a difference. The silver and blue colourways have a similar issue, with matching colours for the carbon fibre and main body, ensuring a consistent look but at the expense of showing off that you’ve got a bit of carbon fibre texture on your phone.
Tudia’s Merge and Tamm cases are each well-made, with a solid feeling and a reasonable design. All should provide a decent measure of protection against knocks and scratches, with the dual-layer design of the Merge proving the better armoured option. While the cases aren’t revolutionary in their design or materials, they are certainly consistent with other protective Note 8 cases at their budget price point. If you like how they look, you should have no problem pulling the trigger.
