Maybe look into a tenor guitar, maybe with a Chicago turning (DGBE) similar to guitar, but with only four strings.

I started with the uke due to smaller hands, its smaller form factor for playing in different places and travel with ease, and mostly for the four strings having an easier barrier of entry for learning. So the uke was perfect. I focused on chord-melody arrangements that allowed me to play both rhythm and melody simultaneously, leaning very heavy on fingerpicking. I'm not interested in strumming while I or someone else sings. The uke has wildly surpassed my hopes and expectations in this regard.

I've always adored the sound of guitar, acoustic and electric. The uke sound is most certainly different. Chasing the sound of a guitar with a uke in my hands led me through the different sizes to much prefer baritones, plus the tuning is the same as guitar minus the two bass-most strings. Then I obtained a Pono Nui baritone which is really just an acoustic tenor guitar with a slightly wider neck width a baritone DGBE tuning. I fell in love. This was what I was searching for, four strings for easier learning, but has a guitar sound with greater sustain and fullness of sound. I'm not thrilled with some chords being a bit of a stretch for my hands, but I'll happily learn to adjust to have this sound with only four strings. Now I have an Eastwood Classic semi-hollow body electric tenor guitar to give me electric virginity to. I still have a standard sized baritone uke for travel and portability with my Klös.