Solid hard plastic case, look is deceiving i thought it was gonna be all a solid color but the back is clear plastic, i got the black one its kinda cool cause its like textured so it was a interesting feeling on the face but yeah its a pretty hard cover havent dropped it to test it but the screen is protected as part of the case so you dont need that stupid sticker but they give you a sticker as well to put on for double protection because the case already covers the screen. 4 stars because the laniard thing they give you was in nasty condition it was like all rusted seemed recycled from some failure product. ports open so you can charge your ipod while the case in on as well as access the other features and stuff, click wheel fully exposed which i like so you can use it like it should be used. One problem with mine though the plastic leaves a little rainbowish color on the screen on a corner in certain angles in the sun but its a tiny detail 99% of the time the screen is clear you have to try to find the rainbow coloring but your experience might be different. Overall i would recommend this but i thought it was gonna be like the aluminum hard case totally one single color but you might be into the two tone thing, totally worth it for the price.