There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
There aren't a lot of things DESIGNED the way you described just because sharpening takes a lot more metal off and there aren't a lot of use cases where precision isn't a good thing (the form factor of a honing steel doesn't lead to precision.
That being said, there are some diamond sharpeners that have a "paddle-type" form factor that might be suitable for what you described. But once again, you'll be taking a lot more off of your blade, so I'd echo everyone else's recommendation that the 10-20 minutes isn't too big of a price to pay (especially because you'll probably only need to do it every 3-6 months unless you're under really heavy use, with honing in between of course).
Diamond sharpeners don't need water or oil (though a little water is typically advised), and a guided one just clamp in place and go over the edge a few times. The Lansky is kinda the standard. all fits in a little box that goes in a drawer. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes per knife.
Grab a Lansky kit, they are fairly cheap.
If you really don't have time to learn, just find a local guy that can help you out. A guided sharpener is going to cost you upwards of $250-300 - The payback is never going to happen. The guy a few miles down the road from me does all the local chef's knives. It's $1/inch. You really can't beat that. I'm sure you can find a similar deal or a reputable guy willing to have knives shipped in.
A honing rod is NOT a sharpening rod, but there are some sharpeing rods out of ceramic (good), diamond (bad to mediocre) and tungsten carbide (junk).
Messermeister, Tadea and Idahone make halfway decent ceramic rods. they will not ge your knife anywhere close to a good stone, but it works well in a pinch. Do not buy no-name ceramic rods, they might work, but a 10 dollar difference over 10 years is only a dollar a year for better quality. And if you thought you were saving money, you're not. A Messermeister or tadea will still be around a doze years from now, and give you superior performance. that no name might not last 5 years and the money you thought you saved was NOT savings, especially when you have substandard performance in the meantime.
Do NOT use carbide rods
Diamond can be OK based on grit level, based on the adhesion layer. Do NOT buy cheap diamond rods. They are a waste of money. They are really rough on knives and wear them away. So if you have a cheap knife that you'll replace later as you build skill, go ahead and use diamond. If you have a good knife only use diamond sparingly.