The bottom is cork so absorbs shock. She was happy it finally came took forever tho Then within the first 4 months of using it, the belt came off of the fan and the resistance would not work. Personally I couldnt tell the difference in ambient mode, but I wont be using that fearure too much anyway. Best ear wax cleaning tools. The upper part of the shoes is soft and does not rub. I didn?t have to ruin my wall and use the screws provided I just used the command stickers (3m innovation stickers) and it?s held up very well. Obviously, this makes changing your ducting or adding to the system very easy as there are no glued joints to deal with. Really good mechanism to hold and release the phone. As a further insult, to make up for their too-thin ear pads, theyre too rigid in order to reduce the amount they collapse.