Agreed. I quite like the Valk 3 Elite, though admittedly it has a very different feel from most cubes. But, it does require some basic set up, which is really easy to do yourself. The biggest thing for me was the amount of time it took for me to get it “broken in.” Most cubes “break in” after a few dozen solves. The Elite took me almost a hundred or so.
Also, you might consider the Gan 354 M v2, which is $25. Really nice right out of the box. I like the Valk Elite a lot, but the Gan 354 M is still my favorite.