I haven't used the Essential/Lite, but I got the Tumi Latitude "short trip" (smallest check-in) and like it so much that I'm thinking about getting the extended trip as well. The one huge improvement in the Latitude is the wheels - IMO it rolls better than my Salsa, which is something I never expected as I've always thought Rimowa wheels were better than Tumi.
One odd thing is that the Essential L is 62" linear - same as the Tumi extended - but the Tumi claims 15L more packing space on the website specifications (96L vs 81L). Certainly I never trust the manufacture stated specs, but maybe see if there are some 3rd party reviews on that. The Rimowa is reported on the website as nearly 1lb lighter, though.