Finding the best model to describe the α-decay process is an old and ongoing challenge in nuclear physics. The present paper systematically studied α-decay half-lives for the favored ground-state-to-ground-state transitions of 344 isotopes of nuclei with 52 Z 107 using 28 versions of the proximity potential model in the framework of the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation. The present paper introduces the best proximity versions with the fewest deviations with respect to experimental values. The models for Proximity 1977 (Prox. 77)-set 4, Prox. 77-set 5, and Dutt 2011 with the root-mean-square deviations (RMSDs) of <1 were found to predict α-decay half-lives better than the other models. Comparison with fusion studies shows that Dutt 2011 is an appropriate model both for α-decay studies and for the prediction of the barrier characteristic in heavy-ion fusion reactions. The calculation of α-decay half-lives was repeated for even-even, even-odd, odd-even, and odd-odd nuclei. This detailed comparative study reveals that for these versions the half-lives of the even-even nuclei with RMSDs of <0.6 show less deviation than the even-odd, odd-even, and odd-odd nuclei.
