Before buying this backpack I read so many reviews, good and bad, so I was anxious to see for myself was it worth the money. I will try to address some of the issues that the negative reviews had mentioned.1. It is leather. It is real leather. No question about it. I worked in the auto industry for years and was around leather seats and vinyl seats on a daily basis. This backpack is made of real leather. Is it the top grade leather used by more expensive brands, no. It is similar to the leather used in autos. It actually seems to be made to withstand daily handling. It is shiny , because its new and clean, but over time it starts to dull a little and have more of a leather feel and look. You can put saddle wax on it and it will come back to life again. Typical leather. Anyone that has a leather jacket should no what I mean.2. It has a slight leather smell to it when you first get it, but it has more of an overwhelming ink smell. I personally assume that it comes for the coloring used to give the leather the blackness it represents. Overtime, that ink smell fades and the leather smell will become more noticeable.3. The zippers are shiny and stand out against the black leather. This is something I am not crazy about. I wish they were black but that is just a personal reference. But as with everything else, they are new and overtime the shiny zippers dull a little and they don't appear as "loud" if you know what I mean.4. One of the first things I checked when I got the back was the zippers operations. I had read that they stop working after some use. Yes I can see why. As I stated the bag is brand new so the metal of the zippers is of a rough texture feel. So when opening and closing, its like metal grinding on metal, and after sometime it can cause failure. I have some zipper lube that I have for other zippers and once applied, the zippers were easy to open and close. (plenty of brands out there, I use the stick lube as it has not smell to it). Hopefully this will be the proper solution , but so far I have had no issues.5. The bag has plenty of space and plenty of compartments. The reason I gave it 5 stars is that it looks so compact but seems to be able to fit everything. I was amazed at the amount of items it holds and keeps separate for me.I paid $200 for this bag. I went from a $700 coach leather backpack to this. (Coach Bag lasted me 11 years, loved it but wear was starting to show really bad). I must say, i like it as much as I like my coach bag. The style and the looks are very impressive. I think i made a great investment. Not sure how long it will last, but only time will tell. Great backpack for the value.With like everything else you buy, a little preventive maintenance will make it last longer. I use saddle wax and stick zipper lube every 3 months or so. Both of them don't have a smell and given a good time to dry they don't bleed into your clothes.