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JurekB
Tricky question but to a point how long they stay sharp and how comfy they are in your hand. Steel that’s been heat treated and worked more is more brittle (harder) and so can be sharpened to a finer angle without deforming. Softer steels cannot be sharpened to the same angle but are less prone to chipping.
Cheaper knives tend to be made of softer steels so when sharpened to a reasonable angle so that you chop things easily, the edge doesn’t last long. Knives of harder steels can maintain a finer cutting edge for longer but before they deform but take more effort to sharpen. Knives made of very hard steel stay sharp for ages at normal angles or can be made very very sharp. But the brittleness means they’re prone to chipping against hard surfaces.