Actually, and just for the record, a N95 properly fitted works very, very well.

But usually you cannot wear (properly) a N95 for more than two/three hours without having your face with deep signs (and of course you need to be clean shaven).

A "generic" N95 used by untrained people and loosely worn, isn't that much better a protection for the person wearing it than a surgical mask, while both are quite good at protecting other people from the "emissions" of the person wearing the mask (of course only if it is valveless).

Previous post with a link to a video of a proper "fit test" and some more info about valve and valveless: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23957506