I have a Sora Shimano hand brake with shifter integrated. However, when I compare to the Shimano 105, I found the 105 is a lot easier to pull with my fingers. It is a lot snappy and smooth on the hand brake. I doubt there is anything to do with the brake calipers. Again, my Sora brake is like greases stuck inside the joint but I brought the bike brand new and I lubricated the joint with Tri-flow recently. Unfortunately, no improvement at all after lubrication. My Sora hand brake require more force to pull and it is a bit slow. A cheap MTB hand brake is even a lot better than the Sora hand brake.

Should I upgrade it? Don't judge me wrong, I am not rich. When it comes down to safety, the money I spend today could be well spend than tomorrow.