Hi Alex, It's not a sturdy piece of metal like the Sonys - it's lightweight plastic. There's some flex to it. The keyboard and buttons all have a nice firm action - although the dedicated volume keys aren't wonderful. The cursor keys can also control the volume though. The USB socket grasps the lead tight enough and the SD card cover fits snuggly, so won't fall open. There's no removable battery - so there are no sliding covers to worry about. Thanks T