A fork and a spade are not the same digging tool
I have seen people buy a shiny spade and then wonder why it will not lift potatoes. I did that once. I drove the blade under a row and brought up halves. The tubers were fine until I cut them. A spade cuts and moves soil. A fork loosens and lifts. On a small plot I want both, but I would not use them as substitutes.
The difference is in the head. A spade is a blade. It slices an edge, lifts a spit, and will chop a root if you mean it to. A fork is tines. It slides under a clump, breaks a pan, and lets soil fall back through. Try the other way round and you will see why they are not substitutes.
Digging remaining potatoes is a fork job. Tines slide under the tubers. A solid blade slices them. Preparing a bed is often both. I would use a spade to cut an edge and move soil. I would use a fork to break a compacted patch without smearing it into a pan. Wet clay on a spade face is a polish. You can feel it go smeary. Stop. A fork is kinder there, and even a fork will smear if you work soil that is too wet.
Dividing a tired clump is a fork under the crown, then a tease. I would not chop a crown with a spade if I can work it apart. A spade is the backup when the clump is a woody knot and I need a clean cut through soil I am moving aside. That is the same autumn work as September cut-back is a tool choice. The blade choice follows the job, not the month on a catalogue.
Shaft material is the check that actually lasts. A cheap welded socket where the shaft meets the head is where these tools fail. Look at the join. If it is a thin weld around a painted tube, it will split the first time you lever a stone. I have levered a stone. The shaft stayed in my hands. The head stayed in the hole. A strapped or solid socket costs more and stays on. I would also look at the tread on the blade or tines. A small step you can put a boot on saves the arch of your foot. A sharp painted edge with no tread will cut the sole instead.
Length has to match your height. If you are bent double, the shaft is too short. If you cannot get your weight over the blade, it is too long. I would stand the tool beside me in the shop. The top of the handle should sit around my hip or a little above, not at my knee. A D-shaped grip helps when you are turning soil. A long straight shaft is easier if you want reach more than twist. Neither shape saves a weak socket.
Do not buy on looks. A powder-coated blade tells you nothing about the steel. Paint hides a thin head. I would look at the thickness of the metal, the way the tines are set, and whether they are already sprung on the rack. If the tines are already bent in the shop, they will bend in my plot. I would also flex the shaft a little. A tube that oil-cans in your hands will oil-can on a root.
Skip any fork or spade sold with no shaft length and no head size. Skip the "border" pair if the only thing small about them is the steel. A short head is useful in a tight bed. A toy head is not. Skip stainless if the only reason is shine and the socket is still a cheap weld. Shine does not lift potatoes.
This pair works all year, but the mistakes cluster. Late summer into autumn is lifting and dividing. Winter is digging when the ground allows, then the wipe and oil I wrote about in Winter tools need a wipe and a film of oil. Spring is beds again. A fork also empties a compost bay, which is why A compost bin is a box, not a bag of compost is a hardware note and not a recipe. If I cannot get a fork into the hatch, the bin is wrong.
I hang both. I do not store them in a bucket with soil on the heads. The rust starts in the socket, not on the showy face.
If I later add a buy link here, it will be a paid promo.