I don't have a great deal of experience with knife sharpening and this is only my second sharpener but it's vastly superior to the discount one I had previously. I like that it has specially angled and labeled slots for both standard and Asian knives. The handle is well designed so that you can hold the sharpener steady without having your fingers anywhere near the blade. There is also a scissor sharpening feature which I haven't used yet but definitely will.