I agree with your first statement and disagree with your second.

A lot of V-type sharpeners use tungsten carbide "blades". They don't really file down the steel, they just tear off chunks of it. The jagged gouges they leave are sharp, but irregular and fragile. No one should ever use tungsten carbide sharpeners.

There are also V-type sharpeners that use ceramic rods. Those do not damage blades and can be quite useful for casual sharpeners. They take off metal gradually and smoothly while the shape guarantees a reasonable (if not usually optimal) bevel angle.

You will also see some where the ceramic rods are embedded with diamond dust. You have to pay attention with those, because they can take off metal fairly quickly, but they will not otherwise damage an edge.

There are also powered belt shapeners that speed up the process, but they are much worse than diamond dust rods at taking off a lot of metal quickly. They can be time savers, but they require some experience and a lot of caution.

Finally, there are an amazing variety of specialty sharpening rigs that are designed to make it easier for a casual use to get consistent results. They usually involve some kind of device that maintains a steady bevel angle. Some are quite useful while others are unreliable, or just more trouble than they're worth.

Learning to sharpen with bare stones is generally the most versatile method, but it also takes more time and practice to learn. There's nothing wrong with using tools that eliminate the need for a lot of that practice. Stones may be more satisfying, but a sharp edge is a sharp edge, no matter how you get there.