Idyllwild sapele soprano ‘ukulele from Monoprice in Norco California revue...

I've buying electrical and electronics items from Monoprice for over 30 years. They've never let me down. I'm pleasantly surprised that their soprano ‘ukulele for a mere price of $39 bucks is an intermediate and not a beginners quality instrument. Even with my arthritis, I am able to play this fine instrument with confidence. The case alone is worth more than it's meager price.
https://youtu.be/0gepP1aJyYM

I've never bought electronics or anything else from Monoprice, except this uke. It was my first, and it sat in a closet for I think over a year. I had no interest in ukuleles, but it was on sale for $30, so I bought it just to mess around with. I had no other ukulele to compare it to, and at the time, I didn't know how serious or expensive ukes could get, so I didn't think anything of the quality. Now, some years and ukes later, I hafta agree with you: surprisingly good quality. I've played a number of ukuleles that were lower in quality yet cost several times as much. Do I prefer playing on a Hawaiian-made, solid koa instrument? Sure. But just going by a dollar to quality ratio, I don't think anything beats it. I've thought about getting a few more to use as car ukes, and maybe sending one over to gotaukulele.com just to hear Barry rave about the bargain that it is.