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Being one of the more popular case manufacturers for phones we’ve come to expect a great deal out of Seidio. Seidio makes a lot of different style cases for all types of phones out there, and what phone to better protect than one of the biggest on the market? Seidio’s Surface case for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 gets high marks overall from us for a number of reasons, so let’s start with the construction of the case. This is a snapping type of case, meaning it’s made of two parts that were cut right down the middle horizontally and click into each other when you slide the phone in. This ensures that the phone will never fall out, as the grooves on either side of the inside of the case hold it steady and are impossible to shimmy out of. You’ll be happy to know the inside is made of a nice felt material that won’t cause your pretty phone to get scratched up at all.
The locking mechanism is solid and doesn’t seem like it would come apart after a fall given how much working you have to do to unbuckle one side from the other. The front of the case features a nice raised edge, keeping that beautiful screen on your Galaxy Note 3 from ever touching a surface so long as it’s placed flat. At first I wasn’t crazy about the hump, as I felt like it got in the way of some swiping actions like moving between widgets on the lockscreen or pulling out side menus, but over time this dislike completely went away and now I don’t even notice the raised edge anymore when using the phone.
The case is made out of a nice soft-touch plastic that feels smooth to the touch but still retains a level of grip not usually seen with plastic. You’ll notice there’s cutouts for just about every port and hole you can think of, including the many noise-canceling microphones Samsung equipped the Note 3 with. The slot for the S-Pen is large and helps when pulling the S-Pen out to use it, and the headphone jack is considerably larger than many cases out there ensuring your headphones will be able to fit without needing an adapter. You’ll also find that the back of the case is outfitted with a stand that sits the phone at a 45-degree angle for optimal video watching or game playing when placed on a flat surface. As the stand is on the right side of the phone only when placed on a surface, make sure the surface is flat otherwise you might end up knocking the phone over easier. My only complaint with the stand is that it’s not as wide as it should be given that it’s much further to one side of the device than the other, but again as long as it’s on a flat surface it stays steady.
Overall this is a really great case that doesn’t add a lot of bulk or weight to an already incredibly light and sleek phone, and given the size of the Note 3 you really don’t want a case adding any bulk to the device at all. Amazon sells the Seidio Surface case for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 with or without the holster, and in a rainbow of colors as well to match your style. You can grab it with the holster for around $42 for sheer convenience of having the phone on your hip, or without the holster for $26 and save a cool $20 if you don’t care much for wearing your phone. Oddly enough the gold color I was given as a review unit is sold separately for $34 with no kickstand, and some of the colors are a little more expensive than others on Amazon right now, likely since they are sold by 3rd parties rather than Amazon themselves in some cases. This is a pretty average price for a quality case, and I’d definitely recommend it over something like an Otterbox-style case unless you’re looking for that type of extra-serious protection on your device.