The casing is top. At first I was a bit annoyed because of the push button, because the phone is not completely flat is pushbutton closed and I was used to from my old iphone case Velcro. But now I guess the pushbutton. Unlike Velcro closing force does not decrease. Pleasant, I feel that the shutter is down and you open up the cover up and not sideways. This is ideal for my car cradle.