I've been pleasantly surprised by the Tatula CT, I picked up a couple for like 130-140. For price/performance they've done better than I expected. Decent bomb caster and smooth enough after a year of rigorous use. One of them had a noisy mag-z brake but a little tweaking of the palm side components fixed it. Quietest reel I own now. I also liked the Lews Tournament XP and the Daiwa Fuego baitcasters but the ones I own have issues. The tournament XP has a noisy mag brake and the Fuego is at the bottom of lake ray roberts

I have at least a dozen JDM Metaniums. Though they were the best reel made until I bought a new JDM ‘23 model Antares DC MD.

Daiwa Sol - amazing small frame reel back before others were kicking out similar offerings. When paired with a upscale rod like the Kistler Helium this made for an awesome light weight combo that was a joy to throw all day and could work a wide scale of lures..

Garcia black maxx per topic here, it just works well.

Hard to beat a Black Max for under $50.

Abu Garcia Ultra Mag reels. I still have several that are in perfect working order and each cost less than $50

H2O Mettle

Have several Shimanio greenies that have served me for years

The first baitcasting reels I purchased were 2006 Quantum Accurist 500 PTs. Nearly 20 years later they are still working with very little issue and look nearly brand new! I also bought a Quantum Energy in 5.4 gear ratio at the same time for deep cranks.....that has been awesome and has a blue/purple finish that changes color in the light that looks sweet. Think the price I paid for these was like $49/reel at the time on clearance at Academy!

Quantum Energy PT

Quantum reels always seem to be frowned upon but I used them for years and never had any issues. BPS Pro Qualifiers are solid performers especially when bought on sale.

Shimano Bantam Crestfire. I bought it from Montgomery Wards at Big Town Mall in late 80's. It was my first baitcaster and I still use it today. Never serviced it and my 16yo son makes fun of it every time I use it but have caught so many fish with it just cant let it go.

I used to fish with quantum when I was younger and never had a problem out of any of them. BPS pro qualifier is a good reel especially on sale.

I like this real a lot. First time I used it, my partner said (what reel is that?)

never can go wrong with a $99 lew's speed spool.
also, the Tatula 100 is surprisingly solid for $150

Can't speak about durability as none of my reels see that much use. First cast with the Helios Air and I said, "Man. This thing can cast!" Pinnacle Primmus HS Xi mentioned in another thread was also a surprise. Got over 50% off on closeout. Bombs a 3/8 oz. crainkbait on a 7' ML Redbone rated 3/8-3/4 oz. Has been finicky free to cast. A light, good looking reel. An older Cabela's Prodigy (Daiwa reel) feels as solid as a tank. Performed quite well with just a cleaning. Once I went to 17# line and mounted it on a HF rod, my old aluminum framed Pflueger Trion hasn't backlashed once. Hope I didn't just jinx myself. Purchased used and sent out for cleaning.

I was also surprised on how well an old Black Max 1600C would cast an unweighted small fluke directly into a fairly high wind. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, but it was my first time using such a reel.