So I've been using this brush for a good little while, and I'm honestly perplexed.
The thickness and softness of this brush is on-par with my Simpson Duke 2. It whips up gigantic mountains of dense slick lather just as well and just as effortlessly as any other brush in my rotation (my PJ2 has been a benchwarmer for a while, it may need to be put out to pasture).
This brush has great backbone, some may think it has too much. It's always a bit jarring watching the knot splay out against my face, and I need to remind myself that this is a synthetic knot, so it doesn't really matter if the individual bristles splay awkwardly: they're plastic, so let them do what they do. This knot has shed maybe two hairs in the whole long while I've had it, which is better than any animal hair brush I have ever used.
The two areas where this lags towards the back of the pack is handle shape and heat retention, which for a brush this inexpensive are miniscule prices to pay. Heat retention is an easy issue to work around: just leave your lather a little on the dryer side and dip the bristles back into the hot water. It's actually a really nice little treat, especially on colder days. The handle is a very common shape, and since brush handles are highly individual this is a personal preference rather than an objective one. My personal handle preferences lean more towards Maggard's two-piece blue and white handle.