The gecko is great but that price seems high. I got mine on amazon for $18 (think $35 is more the norm, but mine had a coupon on the listing for $18 off) and I know the 21 key gecko is currently like $26. That said, I got a lingting since then and I like it far more. The gecko smells nice, sounds nice, has resonate high notes, and easy to read keys.. but the keys are wide and I was already used to finer tines from my first kalimba. After a few weeks of struggling to adjust to wider tines I got the lingting and haven’t for a second regretted it.
Here are mine the gecko k17cap and the lingting sea whisperer k17p image
Here is my recommendation lingting in c
Edit: typo and added picture of the two for demonstrating of key sizing for you.
17 key is standard and a good bet.
I prefer solid body kalimbas. They have a much richer sound than hollow bodies. Especially for the cheaper range ones. I recently purchased this model.
Kalimbas are great for quietly practicing late at night or by yourself. They have a mild sound. And are pretty quiet compared to other instruments.
Example of hollow body sound: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rYH3Tk4jeRg
Example of a solid body sound: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Qut29yzLQ
It was important to me that my kalimba had decent sound when I bought it. I did a lot of research and I’m glad I did because I see people doing covers on YouTube with hollow bodies and they sound terrible to me.
If you’re new to kalimba, I would definitely start with a 17 key, non chromatic kalimba! The company LingTing makes fantastic kalimbas for the price, and it includes a ton of stuff like a hard carrying case and a tremolo chain! I would suggest a solid kalimba, as they normally sound much better and feel much more solid, so for you, I would suggest the LingTing K17AGift-Beginners-Professional/dp/B087RFJH34/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=k17a+kalimba&qid=1631422045&sr=8-3)
Tell me if you have any questions!
Lingting K17A in C tone
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087RFJH34/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_hiAZFb6H3962T