I was a total newbie thrower two months ago, and I found the Sage to be an excellent starter yoyo. Smooth and stable and durable. It too can be “upgraded” to unresponsive play with just a bearing swap, but chances are you’ll want to jump straight to a metal yoyo the moment you feel ready to learn to bind and go unresponsive.
At that point it comes down to your budget. The sweet spot in metal yoyos right now seems to be $45. That’s where quality and performance meet affordability before you start stepping into “high end” territory, and there are countless good $45 monometals to choose from. They all are pretty much equally good, and so when you get to that stage, I recommend going with one that has a shape you like and a colorway you find appealing.