To me, the variegated Benjamin is by far the best but as I said about the "regular" one, they do decline and get leggy with age, at least those kept as houseplants. I have never lived in subtropical areas and don't know how they do outside, full-time.
I have a "Mother" fiddle leaf that I air-layer. I sell every single division I can obtain and generally have a waiting list of people who want them. My mother fiddle is at least 25 years old and she has been in the same pot for at least a decade. Needless to say, she is extremely root-bound but it does not seem to bother her. As you say, she has to have a "hair-cut" twice a year, and I take a foot off her each time. That's done just so I can get her through my double-doors. I keep her in an enclosed porch (winterized in October and then going back to a screened-porch in April). Air-layering her branches twice a year creates the same end-result as simply trimming her back.
