At this price I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised at the tonal qualities of this small and simple instrument. It's a great addition to the studio for recording live glockenspiel parts. The tuning is not perfect but it's close enough, and it's perfect for that lively, quirky sound somewhere in between toy and concert instruments.
The mallets do their job but it's probably the first thing I'd consider upgrading. They are a bit lightweight and thin for my big hands. As an experiment I used regular 5B drum sticks which greatly improved playability, and added a thick wood sound I could imagine working well under certain recording circumstances.
Very happy with this purchase!