I ran into the same with the “D1 Mini”. The few cases available were expensive for what they were and not a great fit for my needs.

If you have access to a 3D printer, there are some pretty good models on thingiverse and printables. But YMMV depending on which board you’re using.

Another possiblity… I wanted to permanently put one in my car, so having some basic protection with the least amount of bulk was important. I ended up buying some shrink tube large enough to go around the entire board (IIRC it was 40mm, 2:1 shrink ratio), got everything wired up, slid the tubing over and shrunk it down. Could probably “double wrap” for more complete coverage. Again, this is board dependent and worked well for the D1 since it doesn’t have pre-soldered pins.

Cheers!

You’re right about the shield being the most capable box out there and, IMHO, worth splurging on.

On the other extreme, if you’re in the U.S., the Walmart “Onn TV 4K” streaming box is only $20. It should have all the stuff you listed and will be way more responsive than the anemic HW the TV makers use. Note: The remote feels a bit chinsy but it has a lots of buttons (many can be remapped with apps available in the Play store).

“Middle” option might be a “Chromecast with Google TV”. More than 2x what the Onn box costs but the build quality is noticably better.