Not true. You are talking as though it is so easy to scratch everywhere. You only sand the small work area around the sink and you can DIY. There is no dust and no inconveniences. With solid surface you can have a curve up to the wall keeping water away dripping at the wall joints.

Stone is stone. Stone scratch too and can never be repaired. Knife it it stays till you change the whole top. Solid surface you just repair with similar colour dye. Man made ma, everything can.

Yes there are better quality SS out there, but they will always be softer and more scratch prone.
Chances of you knifing a quartz are way less than a SS. Plus heat will definitely damage SS which is extremely unlikely with Quartz. This is all basic engineering materials 101

For me I'm not keen on having to sand my countertop every once in a while.

The real advantages of SS are the multitude of colors and flexibility making it easy to match with the overall kitchen design. If you don't do a lot of cooking and are particular about colours, SS is the way to go.

If I had money to splurge though, I would consider Verra Kitchen's ceramic tile tops. Those are really hard.

I'm actually about to do my kitchen in Verra's ceramic material, both for counter top as well as door panels. Will feedback once it is installed.