The color is more like a turquoise (you can also say light teal or aqua I guess) and I’m loving it. I looked up the reviews before purchasing this to make sure about the color and yes it is exactly like in the pictures. So I wouldn’t call it blue. The material is thick enough to provide a good shade. It is tall and large enough to cover my small patio. Seems well made when I checked the stiches and the metal pole feels sturdy. It fits to the umbrella base that I got from another store. So far so good.