The brown one is much softer than the black one, but they are both nice leather, smell great and seem to be well made.  My issue was the incorrect product description.  The covers are 7" wide, not 6.5".  It looks like it would work for side-tear checks really well, but my traditional ones didn't fit quite right.  The cover sticks out to the side an extra half inch because of the size and the plastic insert doesn't go far enough left.  The first few letters of the name and dollar amount are protected, so they transfer to checks beneath if you have duplicate copies.  If the plastic insert was the proper size and placement, I'd consider these top notch.  Instead I have already ordered a replacement.