The hardcover I treated with velvet gloves, because honestly I was afraid of cracking the binding and beginning the flurry of dropping pages. The softcover is easy to open, does not feel flimsy, the print towards the binding is easier to read because the book is more relaxed (i.e. the pages sit flatter when opened), overall it is something I like to grab whereas my hardcover was for my players mostly as I preferred the pdf. Preferring a pdf is a rare thing for me. Simply this was a great buy for me.