Tudia Merge case first impressions - Razer Phone 2 Accessories

Hey everyone, haven't done a review of anything in forever but I just had to take some photos and get my first impressions out for the Tudia Merge since for the Razor Phone 2 our case options thus far have been limited mostly to the OEM case which have been getting some mixed reviews. This review is NOT sponsored, I bought this myself. At the discounted price they were offering pre-release through a coupon code on reddit it was a no-brainer to try out considering the cost and availability of the OEM options.
The Tudia Merge is a two piece case, made with what seems to be a slightly thinner TPU material with a polycarbonate plate. Anyone familiar with Seidio and Spigen will immediately recognize this kind of construction. Compared to my Seidio Dilex that I had for my U11, i would say the TPU material is a little more rigid and with a more paper-like texture. It is more matte but picks up less of my greasy fingerprints. Being a two piece case means that you can keep your skin on the phone for when you wanna still have some abrasion protection should you want to run without the case at any point. The polycarbonate plate has a matte soft touch finish to it. I generally hate soft touch black matte because it has a tendency to show grease marks. I put this up on my forehead (gross), and it didn't automatically turn in to a freshly detailed black car. As a bonus to having a two piece construction like this, the annoying peeling sound from the stock glass back when you push down on it is gone since you can't push down on the back anymore...not exactly a fix for the problem in the first place but its a good side effect nonetheless. My generic wireless charger still works through the entire case.
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Aside from the two angled bands at the bottom and some debossed branding, the back of the case is without much flair, and maintains the slab profile of the phone. There are cutouts for both the camera and the RGB snakes on the back. Personally I would have loved to somehow have the RGB covered by clear polycarb but as recessed as it is I feel like the light will be adequately protected.
I was hoping the front would move in towards the screen more as we do have some significant screen bezel on the side which could be used for a more secure hold. The sides of the front should have no issues clearing most tempered glass screen protectors unless you have one that goes all the way to the edge of the glass. Because of the relatively shallow grab of the front, it is possible to peel the case off with the polycarb plate attached. I have had other cases where you could do that but they never fell out of the case in a drop.
Volume buttons are your standard raised pieces with tabs keeping them connected to the case. The tab sections are pretty robust and the buttons retain their clickiness, with the added benefit of having a slightly bigger footprint due to the shape. The bigger shape also makes it feel a bit more like a rocker switch to the touch.
Charging port is recessed quite a bit due to the case thickness. Tudia did make the opening bigger too accommodate all sorts of fat cable plug ends. It works with the stock cable of course but will also fit the more generic metal wrapped ends.
Power button is recessed with enough of a taper and a large enough cutout to not interfere with fingerprint sensor operation. It did take a slight bit of an adjustment on my part due to the fact that I have small hands so my normal grip when unlocking from picking the phone up is at a bit of an angle instead of fingertip dead on. If you can comfortably grip the phone and your fingers land perpendicular to the screen surface, it should not be much of an issue.
On my Spigen liquid crystal case for my U11 there are some cutouts on the corners where the phone does not actually make contact with the case. This is supposed to allow for better deflection of drop forces on the corner which should provide better protection by having less points of contact in the critical corners so more of the force makes it way though the case body instead of transferring to the phone. The Merge also looks to have this feature, whether it works I hope I never find out.
Overall I would say that at this price, first impressions are that it would probably do the job while maintaining the industrial aesthetics of the phone. Unfortunately I don't drop my phones very often nor am I going to drop my personal phone on purpose for a drop test so it might be awhile before there's any updates from me regarding the actual protective properties of this case for those of you that would depend on this to protect from daily drops. I will say that in comparison to many cases that I've owned from various brands, this case is probably about 80-90% what a Seidio two-piece non active or rugged case would be which should do the job for most people that aren't Ethan Hunt.

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Excellent informative review! I really appreciated your breadth of coverage and greatly appreciated the photos you took. Thank you!

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I also have the exact same case, like it so far. Hope I never get to "test it out" by dropping it... Does exactly like the OP says it does. Feels nice in the hands, takes the sharpness off the squared edges of the phone, puts my mind at ease. I'm no longer afraid to set it down anywhere anymore. I would recommend it

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Is it bulkier then Spigen air cushion case?

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I've had this case for about a month, but mine is grey. I'm not pleased... The back I'd super easy to scratch, and quite ugly.