Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series

Overall verdict:
I've owned it for 1.5 year. It's simply hard to beat a USD$200 guitar because there just aren't any competitors at the same price point. However it is far from perfect right out of the box and you can expect some real works be put into this such as fret leveling and parts replacement. Floyd Rose Special is indeed unreliable. I enjoy the fixing processes but do not recommend anyone who expect perfect guitars to buy this, and buy the Indonesian made Harley Bentons instead.

Tuners:
They are pretty bad. It is not a problem just because this guitar has a locking nut. The tuners slips tuning, often jumps between notes and just feels bad. They work alright if just dialing in the rough tuning before locking the entire system up. Feel free to replace them if you want.

Truss rod:
Really, really, really tight. Every time I have to clamp the hex key with a wench and use my upper body strength just to turn it (Yes I'm weak). However it works. It's double action and do its job just fine. I've turn it a couple times throughout the year during string changing between 42 and 46 string set, and it kept the neck straight every time.

Locking nut:
Solid nut. Some shallow grooves are dug under the strings after the year but it's not a problem. Both the screws and the threads on the nut side are still intact and not stripping. The clamping blocks have some indents from the screws locking them, but the string clamping face is still perfectly flat with minor surface wears. Overall the nut works well and I have no complain about it.

Fretboard:
The wood is really black, almost as black as ebony as those I've seen in person. There are obvious wood grains and the surface is overall rougher which set them apart. After the year of playing there are wear marks in between the strings but it's usual business and it kept its colour pretty well. I'm more of a rosewood guy but I still like this fretboard wood.

Frets:
Just sub-par and possibly the component that needs the most fixing. They're really dirty out of the box with black, sticky goo (almost glue-like instead of leftover polishing compound) all over them. I cannot recall how much rubbing alcohol I've used just to clean them off. After cleaning it's revealed that the frets are quite rough and a bit rusty. Unsurprisingly there are gunk under the skirts of the frets and I have to clean them out with a utility knife. Fret ends are pretty sharp as per cheap Chinese strat standards. The more problematic side is that the 1st fret is too low and I cannot properly play open chords without fret buzzing (and straight up impossible for F chord), and there are minor low/high frets here and there up the 15th frets region. I've tolerate the issue for a while before doing a fret leveling and polishing job myself, while filing down the fret ends. These "little" moves brought up the playability of the guitar to an whole other level and it's now basically neck-and-neck with many more premium big-brand super strat I've played. It had shown moderate wear throughout the year but it's the usual amount for nickel ones. I am pretty contempt with them after all.

Neck:
It's a 2-piece maple neck just like in the photo. Mine has a more interesting, less unidirectional grain line for the main section. It even has some slight flamed effect around the grains. But that never seems to affect the stability and it never show shrinkage/warping through out the year's seasons changes, and always stayed flat as set.

Neck size, shape and finish:
20.5mm at 1st fret, 22.3mm at 12th fret. It's D-shaped but with a shorter shoulder, unlike some Jackson D-shape I've played that feels like a rectangle. I can comfortably reach the higher frets with my thumb still under the neck (around 16th fret) instead of hugging the heel joint area which I hated. The back was satin but is glossed over after the year of playing. Still being nice and smooth.

Bridge:
The Achilles' Heel of this guitar, being the Floyd Rose Special cast zinc saddles. They originally worked fine but after a year of playing the high e and B saddles started popping out strings because of the countless marks and grooves inside them resulting from string changings. They are completely irreparable so I replaced them with aftermarket stainless steel saddles, which works wonder and solves the increasing tuning issue with the failing saddles. So yes, the Special is indeed a liability over long term. Consider replacing the saddles anytime. I do not find replacing the whole trem necessary as the knives edges are still fine and just need some filing over. Personally I replaced the trem block to a bigger brass one. Overall the trem one works and feels fine. Heavily reconsider your options if you don't want to mess with Floyd Rose Special's problems.

Pickups:
Bright, metal oriented humbuckers. There is a video on Youtube that compares them with EMG 81 on a Ibanez and that demo is a pretty good representation of the sound. They have their characters and work well.

Electronics:
Mostly fine. The 3 way pickup switch needs replacing as it could lose connection with a slight touch when on the bridge position.

Conclusions:
Not much regrets after the works done because it's still an affordable investment. But you need to be patient to deal with the issues and bring out the potential of the guitar.