The case overall is nice. I got it mainly just to protect the screen. If you plan on dropping your nexus on or more times then i'd go with something more expensive. The case feels nice and holds the nexus nicely, I can just see the thing popping out if dropped (sorry I don't feel like testing it). If your case comes defective read below!The first one I received was defective. When the front cover was flipped around and against the back, the magnet would put the device to sleep. Contacted amazon and the sent me a label to return it and allowed me to reorder using one day shipping. They then refunded me the shipping charge! I thought that was pretty awesome. 

Question: How is the side?
Answer: The case overall is nice