I'm not too experienced in them but find a properly made one to be a real joy musically. So my only advice is to source an instrument from a maker guaranteed to know what they're doing and be reliable, so that the only challenge is getting used to the instrument, and to never put yourself in the fate of dealing with a faultily-crafted instrument. And to not know the difference can be VERY frustrating!
The mouthpiece area is critically important, the blade design, and the seal that's possible at the end of the tube. The instrument will likely have a sweet spot, where the air flow, if directed properly, will suddenly make a very musical tone, clear and rich. A poorly made one, like one of the rapidly carved out gimmick pieces sold to unsuspecting tourists at music festivals, for a low impulse-buy price, is a risky venture. From there, check the intonation, but if the bamboo or other material is reasonably consistent along its length, then intonation from a skilled crafter, should be acceptable. But test it out if you can. If you can't, buy only from an acknowledged maker of instruments getting consistent good reviews.
That being said, if you ever drop into an importer store in North America and happen to try out some instrument that has a nice character to it, give it a fast test drive. Maybe one of the cheap instruments is a gem and you can walk out with a great little instrument. I've browsed through such stores and played the various instruments. Some types of instrument are more reliably made than others, but still, from instrument to instrument of the same "model", you can have a wide variety of qualities and responses. But there are some gems in such places, and usually the store owner or person traveling the world in search of clothes and gifts and items to fill their store, isn't a keen musician and isn't sharp on detecting which ones are low quality and which ones are far better.
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