So far I am impressed with the quality of built of this reel, especially for the price. It runs very smooth, the drag seems to engage smoothly too, nothing creaks or rattles. It's not particularly heavy, but leaves a very solid impression, and raises the expectation that it will last, even with some abuse. So far I have only been fishing 2 days with it, so this review is limited to impressions of a first hands-on. I haven't yet gotten a fish on big enough to test the drag, the comment about that is unfortunately derived from setting the reel up and from clear bites that miraculously turned into snags...I may update once I have used it a bit more and had some more luck with bigger fish, as well as some exposure to snow and ice. I do intend to use it for salmon and steelhead, so cold resistance is important. Winter is coming, I'll see how it fares soon!
I do like the button on the crank that allows it to be quickly stowed without fumbling around with the screw on the crank. The mechanism looks solid, time will tell if it is as reliable as the low-tech solution.