I know from my experience, any kind of solid wood is going to be louder than a laminate and sound better
This is not true from my experience - it depends on what models and how they are made.
There are laminates that are louder than solid-wood ukes, and vice versa. And sound 'better' is a matter of opinion. There are those (including myself) who have concluded that a well made laminate ukulele can sound more balanced and pleasant ('better') than a solid-wood ukulele of similar price range.
This topic is actually one of the prime examples of this.
The Kala Koa concert is a laminate instrument, and the Applause is a solid-spruce top.
So-called "book-knowledge" that a lot of people have about solid/laminate woods will say that the solid-spruce top is the louder instrument.
But it just so happens that Applause ukuleles are not that great as acoustic-instruments. They have a quiet, muted sort of sound and are primarily electronic instruments designed to be plugged in.
The Kala Koa laminate concert on the other hand, is actually quite a loud instrument that is just as loud as a Kala solid-mahogany uke (I've compared them side by side before), and can also be plugged in.
I daresay the Applause has more versatile electronics, since they're famous for their pickup/preamp system, but it won't be the best choice in the purely acoustic department.
The Kala Koa will sound fuller and louder in the acoustic sound department, but the electronics are not as fancy as the Applause's (though Shadow pickups are pretty good anyway for amplification)
When judging a uke, you cannot just assume solids will be louder and 'better' than laminates. You have to look at each ukulele yourself, because you'll find that the generalisation does not apply to a lot of them
My main concern is that these ukulele's will be too quiet if played acoustically. Is that a common feature of acoustic-electric's?
Acoustic-electrics are the SAME as acoustics. They're just acoustic ukuleles with a pickup installed.
But then there are acoustic electrics with different properties. Some are designed to have a quiet acoustic sound, but sound excellent plugged in (eg: Applause ukuleles, Kala Archtop jazz-uke), while others are perfectly fine acoustic ukuleles that are designed to have a loud acoustic sound, and also have the option of amplifying (eg: Kala Koa concert acoustic-electric).
