I really like cheap stamped stainless knives. In the photo are a Viking, a Kiwi, and something unbranded. Total was $8.20 USD. They are garbage, the handles are terrible, though the ridiculously small Deba has wood scales. They sharpen beautifully.
While you huff and curse under your breath, I have owned custom made Japanese knives, vintage carbon steel Sabatier, as well as all the other stuff, Wusthoff, Global, evs. They aren’t better, just much more expensive.
I am happiest with a cheap carbon steel cleaver (bit of a misnomer as these are really slicers) or a stamped stainless blade. Not Victorinox though, they have too much Nickel and Chromium so they aren’t as prone to rusting. It makes them a bitch to sharpen.
I modified my cleaver too. I like to choke up on the blade and the spine was sharp. I ground the spine down and added a rest to the back of the blade.
Here’s what I have here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HNWBVGB/
Had to remove that tab behind the edge because it was annoying. Had to chamfer the spine because it was sharp as shit. Then I had to stabilize the shitty handle it came with because it had splits and holes in it from their shitty attempt at stabilizing it.
Even after all that though it’s still a great knife for the price. Just needed a little love.