Could you please share some sources for that? F.e. some reviewers that make good analyses? I’m new into that and would really welcome such pointers.
I’m also fairly new to knives, but I do watch reviews. I must confess that knife reviews are often boring and not very informative, as opposed to flashlight reviews that are also often boring but tend to be more informative. I can not recommend any particular knife reviewer that has the best information, information is diffused, some comes from video’s some from blade forums, some from BLF.
I liked reading the information on knifesteelnerds.com (was it you who provided a link to that site?), a guy who is a metallurgist and does an awful lot of tests. But that is mainly on steels, not really on knives. It is like we have HKJ who is the battery and charger god.
Absolutely. The recent wave of releases from Kershaw, CRKT, and Buck are full of overpriced knives in obsolete steels. For instance, CRKT just released an assisted opener in 8Cr13Mov with an actual retail price over $70! That's insane. You can get a Civivi or Sencut under $50 with great manual action, better fit and finish, and 9Cr18Mov with an excellent heat treatment.
Of course, brands like that aren't there to compete at the sporting goods counter at Walmart. Steels like 7Cr and 8Cr won't feel obsolete if you don't know that you can get a lot better for less.
Just for fun, here is a quote from Buck's description of one of their 2022 models: "A drop point, 7Cr steel blade provides the ultimate performance." :FACEPALM:
Yes, it was me. 
Not mentioned: I have a small collection of EDC knives now (no, nothing compared to my flashlights, they fit in one tiny drawer) and those gave me a lot of information too, not on steels, sharpness or anything else that needs testing equipment, but ergonomics, how it carries, how does it suit my everyday needs etc. Some appeared pretty unhandy while not much about that is found on the internet. Being lefthanded for instance causes challenges with some knives. And blade steel is often so thick that the knife performs lousy for many tasks. So I’m developing a personal taste and it is pretty different from what the average (US) knife reviewer likes; I like designs that are very tailored to the actual real life uses while I get the impression that many knife owners always have self-defence/the zombie apocalypse in the back of their minds.
I have learned a lot from this single knife, the Ganzo F759M (a Spyderco clone). I do not really like the looks of it but I bought it in a deal for 8 dollar shipped. So extremely budget, and a steel (440C) that is classic quality but is not a fancy new steel. The blade is relatively thin (slicy) and the (G10?) handle has thin steel liners that go to about halfway the scales. The lock is a classic backlock. So there is all the reason to expect this knife to be mediocre, and I did not find that to be the case. Because it was cheap and ugly, I abuse it at work for anything, of course opening packages but also cutting things to size, wood cutting, and I scraped raw bones clean for hours with it which is very tough and applies a lot of force on the knife and the edge (why would I scrape bones?: I demonstrate bone strength to school children, I work as a teaching assistent). The knife handles all that extremely well, the edge is still sharp without any sharpening and the construction holds up fine with no blade play. It has gained my respect over time.
This Ganzo knife is known to be good value, but it did teach me that to want more expensive knives is mostly for sentimental reasons, I’m sure that almost no one really needs that extra quality and performance that expensive knives certainly will have.
(not my picture btw, I’m not at work atm)
Most knife reviews are far too long, IMHO. I absolutely cannot stand it when you’re over 5 minutes into the review and the knife hasn’t even been taken out of the packaging. Or, the reviewer spends about 10 minutes comparing the knife to other knives. Some reviews stretch on for 30 minutes! Frankly, I can’t see any good reason for a review to go for more than 10 minutes, unless it’s a really unusual piece with a very interesting back story.
Design. Materials. Performance. Ergonomics. Test runs… Then summary with good, bad, ugly, and exceptions.
Some reviewers have an entertaining style and they can make it enjoyable, but for the most part I do a lot of skimming. Usually when I’m interested in a particular knife, I’m going to zero in on the negative points being raised, make note of them. And then see if more than one reviewer brings it up. Sometimes negatives are on an early example that doesn’t exhibit the problem and the reviewer never came back to make an update, or even revise the description. Case in point, Nick Shabazz didn’t like the CRKT Squid and dinged it on a number of points that were addressed later on.
Reviews can be useful. I’m glad people make them. But I really appreciate it when they provide an index so I can skip around on the long ones.
It depends.
For example, I only get nice assisted-openers.
It's really tough to find a nice A/O knife with a 8cr13Mov blade for less than $25
There's a small percentage to choose from, but most of them are over $25
I know, I know, I have the curse of only loving A/O knives. 
I just ordered a Kershaw automatic pocket cleaver. I had a Kizer cleaver (regular folding) that I ended up giving to my buddy
I was in the A/O camp for years. It was liberating to leave it, but that only happened when great manual actions came way down in price. My flipper knives from Civivi, Sencut, Petrified Fish, Bestech, etc. really hit the spot.
Do good manual actions really not do it for you?
A/O can feel rather slick & satisfying if you fidget a lot with your knives. But frankly, I don’t seek it out. I find manual deployment perfectly fine for most of my knives. So easy to do. The only time I see a practical need for A/O is if your use is a ton of frequent short uses. But if you’re taking your knife out a handful or less times a day… not really needed.
What are your top 3 favorite A/O knives? As for 8Cr13Mov, if it wasn’t a good steel we’d hardly ever see it. It’s decent, but when other steels like 440C are available at about the same cost… seems almost like a no-brainer to go with 440C. Or even D2 for that matter. But then, there is that issue of steel quality. Not all makers employ the same quality control or heat tempering.
They really do not.
Here's my top 4...
Kershaw Payout 2075
Kershaw Link 1776GRYBW
Kershaw Leek 1660
Kershaw Dividend 1812GRY
Got the pocket cleaver. Cook little blade!
Are you talking about the Kershaw Bracket 3455?
I'm looking to buy that one, but I'm waiting for the price to drop.
Greetings my friend… it is Kershaw Launch 14 Automatic Knife Cleaver Gray Al (3.4” Black SW) 7850
Only slight fault I’ve found is when I fire it horizontally it wasn’t locking open. (Not good). I put some oil on it and cycled it a bunch of times and I think it’s good but I’m going to be extra careful for a little while
Nice – I didn’t know the Leek is now available with A/O. I don’t own a Kershaw yet, though the Leek has been on my wishlist. Did you ever see that version with the blade having a blend of 2 steels, and a wavy line separating them? That’s what had caught my eye.
I just learned that my city removed gravity knives laws few years ago, and people no longer get prison sentence for a folding utility knife as they did before. (my friend is a state provided free lawyer, she tried dozens of such cases,) so i can now carry a folding knife that i can open with 1 hand. Wish i found out sooner.
Wow that’s crazy. Everything’s legal to own and carry here except ballistic knives
Do these even work on Mars with lower gravity and all?
That is crazy that people are imprisoned for knife possession in the USA. Thank God for the Constitution and people who fight evil politics. Choose freedom. Claim freedom. Someone will always try to redefine it and take it away.