the outer shell is made of extremely thin plastic, thinner than normal and the inside rubbery piece that goes around the phone is very stiff, not as pliable as with most every other case I've owned. the volume buttons are very hard to get to work, it takes a lot of pressure to work. The precision between the inter %26 outer case is so tight, it is literally, nearly impossible to get the outer shell off with out breaking, cracking or destroying it in the process, I couldn't do it. I tiok it to an expert at the ATT wireless store and it broke while he tryied and it took him over25/30 minutes and it still broke and I was watching him and it gave him a rough time.