Until several issues with followers wont be fixed (either by Beth itself or modders or by myself) I dont use any of them again
As already mentioned while exploring the world and jumping here, rock climbing there, they have issues to follow you, not to mention most have stealth problems. Also most of them seem to be stucked on a fix level when you meet them (PC users can "fix" this with console commands, but there will be often multiple default gear which you have to delete as well).
Also the folloers equip system is plain stupid. While neclases and rings are not a problem everything else is. Often they equip only "highest armor rating wins" that means you never are able to swap a mages default robe by for example the archmage robe because both share armor rating of zero. Also most of the followers with high one-handed combat wont use dual-wield (someone mentioned one that I didnt try up to know). Not to mention they wont recharge their weapons even with soul gems, etc.

Beside the stats or looks of followers, if you really want to use one for long time I recomment an archer or mage type. So far I had good experience with "Aranea Ienith" (Azura Star quest) because she summons flame atronachrs and uses long range spells. Also any hunter should work, Aela did their job pretty well.
I made the experience if they some place their fighting AI is pretty good. Means they do their best outdoor. They hide behinde rocks if necessary, hit on long distance and other stuff.


As far as I know it isnt, also it seems that enable/disable console commands wont help either

Been a personal quest to try every companion I can. I've tried almost all mentioned above. Surprised nobody mentioned Belrand. He's a heavy armor meat shield, swordsman, conjurer and archer rolled into one. Granted, he only summons a familiar, but that's enough to take additional aggro off of you, which is important. Along with a war dog and a summon or two of your own, you sometimes don't even get a chance to draw your weapon when a battle starts.

What I love about him is his personality. Not too talkative, but has a sense of humor and a great attitude about all the "fun" you have on your adventures. Ask him to carry stuff and he makes a little joke. The voice acting and writing make his reckless bravery pretty convincing.