check around on America's Test Kitchen and see if they have anything to say:
www.americastestkitchen.com/

Because today's knives are not made of soft carbon steel anymore, a "sharpening" steel is used just for honing, not sharpening. Honing is realigning/truing the edge between actual sharpening.

Some people prefer the flattened shape steels, I'm fine with a cylindrical type. I wouldn't drop a lot of bank on it, whatever style you choose - try the Smart & Final model with the industrial white plastic handle. Spend your extra money on getting a professional sharpening instead, then use the steel to maintain between sharpenings. I professionally sharpen about every 16 months.

i prefer the oblong one
they offer two grades of honing
if looked at from the top it is a pointy oval

Chris, I can't really give you a brand, sorry. I can recommend, however, that you get the one that Tri mentioned, with diamond dust on it. It makes the job MUCH quicker. Less wasted energy and motion. That's what it's all about, right? I prefer conical to flat or "two-sided" ovals, myself. Just a personal preference because I feel I get a better stroke when I'm honing my knives. I also, personally, don't take my knives in for sharpening, but that's only because I prefer doing it myself. I bought a large whet stone at an outdoor supply store that I use on my knives, as needed.

I will also say that the white handled industrial from Smart & Final was one of my ALL TIME favorites. I used mine for many years before there was an incident with the stove and my kids and... well, it's too painful to think about right now... I'm kidding. Yeah, they set it down on a hot burner and that was the end of that. Ah, well.

Love and light, dear ones.
Rev

I have opinions about this!:) I use steels a lot, there are definitely different types. Basically they vary by degree of sharpness. They should be made extremely hard, so that they last a long time, no matter what kind of knife they are used on. some knives are extremely hard, like (most?) japanese knives, but I think it would be a mistake to try to use a steel on these, or at least the specialized kinds. I have one steel that can put a quick edge on most knives because it is so coarse. it's handy and I use it on thicker knives. It's a russell from the the flea market or something. My other regularly used steel is very fine. I use it after the coarse steel or for touch up, and most importantly, on thinner knives. My favorite kitchen knives are THiiiiin. I have this theory that in the old days cutlers did a lot more than make knives. I think they may have maintained them by regrinding as well. A thin knife on a fine steel sharpens with a few strokes. if you don't over sharpen and never use a coarse steel, they last a long time. But, eventually they start to wear. As the knife wears away the edge becomes thicker, the bevels wider, and therefore you have more steel to remove, so it takes longer to sharpen. At a certain point regrinding can re-thin the blade to be easy to sharpen again and the honeymoon begins all! Woo hoo! I recently reground a small knife that had worn back too far to effectively sharpen on a fine steel. It was very difficult, pretty sloppy job, but it worked. The level of artistry in grinding showed on some older carbon steel knives is absolutely amazing. Sharpening such a knife on a stone is fairly pointless with a good steel at hand, and I think they were not made to be sharpened that way. So what do you do besides look for old knives and steels at the thrift store or flea market? I don't know. I can't afford to buy new stuff. I would look for the thinest knife you can find if they are even made that way anymore, and a good fine steel as well as a coarse one. BTW, over sharpening on a steel, as on stones, can leave an excessive burr and wastes valuable edge.

As far as the "realigning the edge" thing goes. A steel is a file. A fine file, but still a file. I'm convinced that they all remove steel. If a knife is so hard that the steel can't remove anything, then it's going to mess up the steel. something has to give. If they are near the same hardness, they will both give- like rubbing two files together. Not good. Diamond steels will obviously remove material from any knife. I use one sometimes, but not in the kitchen really. The one I have it usually either too aggressive or not aggressive enough.

I love steels! The edge is coarser!, but I am soooo done sharpening my kitchen knives on stones for all but the most delicate tasks. Not even sure I can think of one delicate enough off hand. That's where I'm at in my co-evolution with kitchen knives and their sharpening.