Harley Benton HBJ-25

To be fair, it's a miracle they've managed to make a banjo that holds up this well, given its low price. It's put together quite well and you can at least rely on it not falling apart even after a year.

But let's talk about the elephant in the room... The neck is extremely uncomfortable to play, especially when fretting four-finger chords. The playability is low and the strings aren't aligned properly. Adjusting the neck sort of helps but it's still uncomfortable. The sound is very "dry" and completely lacks the warm tone you would expect from a banjo.

Overall, it "works" but please refrain from getting this banjo because you're not sure if you will enjoy playing it. It will kill your motivation. I didn't want to touch it for weeks until I get a proper one.

For the cheapest banjo you can get, I understand that you shouldn't expect amazing quality, however the quality of this instrument is shockingly bad.
The first banjo sent was broken and a replacement sent out very quickly. The review is based on the replacement.
The tuners on the banjo are unresponsive and jumpy, making the instrument very difficult to accurately tune.
The banjo has terrible amounts of fret buzz, and body rattle when playing.
I even had to file the first fret of the first string as the string was dead due to very poor placement of the rubber saddle holding the top of the string.
The intonation of the banjo is horrible as you go up the fretboard. Chords in tune at the bottom of the board are very out of tune at the top.
I bought this to write music for TV shows. If you're OK at mixing recorded instruments and this isn't used as a lead instrument, it should work...but otherwise the quality is pretty bad. That being said, it has done its job and will be heard on TV shows, although the quality control of these needs to improve.