Harley Benton Blues Harmonica in A-Major

I have been playing harmonica for over 40 years , back when a Hohner Marine Band cost what these Harley Bentons do now.. Is the HB as good as the Hohner ? . No, but for the current price of the Hohner you can buy enough of these harps in different keys to play most of songs you want to learn . The main difference is that these are plastic with smaller combs . Less air in and out = less volume ,not as good for live acoustic performance but when learning you are less likely to annoy others . Begginners also tend to play way to hard which makes the harmonica go out of tune and makes some notes harder to play which is something you don't want to happen after a couple of weeks with a £25+ harp . Learn to play with HB and once you get better invest in a more expensive harps in most used keys and they should last for years . I believe that these are exact same harmonicas are being sold under many different brandnames for as much as £10 each. at £3.50 these HB's really are a no brainer

I have been playing Harmonica since the 1970s and have owned a number of different brands over the years.
Unable to resist the price, I purchased a few of these Harley Benton harmonicas, in various keys.
Pros: The harmonica comes in a small, plain, plastic case (That’s no longer a given with more expensive harmonicas) and is wrapped in paper.
It seems to be well made, relatively airtight and in (Checked on a tuning app) tune.
I was also able to get semi-tone bends on all of the correct holes, which is nice since, often, it is nearly impossible to do so on cheaper harmonicas.
The sound is OK (for the price it is fantastic!) It may not be as good as harmonicas costing 10 times as much, but it is certainly not 10 times worse. Unlike some other cheap harmonicas, this does not sound like a “cheap squeaker”.

Cons: It would have been nice to have gotten a cleaning cloth with the harmonica, but I suppose for the price one really cannot complain.

In conclusion: The Harley Benton harmonica, like many other Harley-Benton instruments from Thomann, is good value for money. If you just want a harmonica to begin learning on, harmonicas in various keys to accompany other instruments, a good low cost harmonica to practice your bending techniques or simply something to practice with, to “save” your more expensive harmonicas, then the Harley Benton is definitely worth a try.

For its price, it's a decent harp. The sounds are actually nice (for this price I expected much worse).
Compared to more expensive ones (that cost 3+ times more than this one), there are downsides. The airflow is not separated in each chamber, so bending and general responsiveness is not that great. Although unlike other cheap harps, the sound is consistent between individual notes and does not require different power to sound in the same volume.

The case, although included, does not hold the harp firmly, so it bounces inside. Both the case and harp feels like a budget model.

Decent harp for its ridiculously low price, although for serious bending capabilities, higher price harps should be considered.