Hakko FX-888D Soldering Station, 70W, AC, 26V

Very well built works perfectly heats up very quickly even from cold the interface is a little strange but it works it's the best soldering iron I have ever used.I have bought several before this one and they were Chinese junk that works for a few times and and must have spent the same amount of money them before ponying up for this one I wish I had bought this one in the first place.

You have to Google for the instruction manual to understand the secrets of how to set the temperature and preferences. Personally I think adding a 3rd or 4th button would have been more intuative. All that said once you have managed to set the temperature you want it's a great soldering iron

Can’t really say Christmas present for my son . He says it’s good

This is by far one of the best soldering stations on the market, and after seeing other use it I decided to bit the bullet and buy one for myself. I can genuinely say that it's fantastic. My only wish is that it looked less like a toy and more like a professional bit of kit, but that might be my personal preference perhaps. Good buy overall!

This is honestly the best soldering iron I've ever owned. If you solder electronics any more frequently than a few times a year, then it is definitely worth getting this.I went through a stream of other soldering irons from cheap Chinese no-names and up to Antec. I was fed up of tips dissolving, temperature being all over the place, tips coming loose with the slightest bit of pressure, collars melting and even entire irons falling apart in my hands.So out of frustration I decided to spend a bit more and got this Hakko... Wow!The temperature is feedback controlled. If I dial it down to 320 degrees C, I can solder chip pins without cooking them. The tip is solid and doesn't dissolve. The base is chunky and holds the iron well. The grip is an excellent heat insulator but is also antistatic. I have been able to easily solder surface mount components.The only reason I hesitated buying the Hakko was because it looks toy plasticy. However it's actually a really solid unit and the solder mount is all metal. They've just decided to go for glossy bright paint.

Everything is great about this station. I use it for working on guitars and it is perfect for the job.

This soldering station is one of the best purchases I have made for my home lab. It’s reliable, heats up quickly and maintains a generous thermal capacity when compared to products of a similar level within the market.The outstanding build quality sets the benchmark for what a robust soldering station should feel like. Everything feels solid and the painted, cast metal dock for the iron is substantial enough to remain in place whilst cleaning the tip, so no more sliding around the bench! Storing the brass wire cleaning balls in the iron holder is a nice (and convenient) touch. The iron itself is also extremely comfortable to use for long periods without major hand fatigue setting in.The tips don’t heat us as fast as the newer direct heat irons but unless you are someone who is soldering a joint every second, or is soldering onto exceptionally large ground planes, it will make little difference. From room temperature to 350°c takes about 25 seconds or so and the station has a working range between 50-480°c.The conical tip that comes with the station doesn’t possess much thermal capacity, so I would recommend acquiring a 2mm (or larger) bevel, chisel or hoof tip to set you on your way. While the official tips are much more expensive than the cloned tips, there is a considerable difference in the performance and tolerances of the product. I tried out some cheap tips a while ago and while they seemed reasonable for the first couple of uses, I noticed some of the more eclectic tips had a miserable thermal capacity. The cheap J & K series tips had a temperature differential of 90° between the display of station and the value I was reading with a soldering iron thermometer at the irons tip – meaning that I would have to turn offset temperature of the station up to almost maximum in order to get 350°c. I’m not willing to do this in order to save a few pounds on tips, so from now on only official ones for me!The only significant downside I can see is the user interface is overly convoluted. To conserve space, Hakko have made some odd choices in regard to how the temperature of the station is adjusted and pre-sets are selected, which some people may find off putting. I generally solder at one temperature for most things (350°c) so it isn’t an issue that I have been butting heads with frequently, but anyone who likes to solder at multiple temperatures may find this awkward or even annoying while the learning curve is climbed.Is this soldering station expensive? Yes and no. It is a significant purchase and priced at perhaps four times the cost of a cheap clone station, but you are paying Hakko reliability and quality. I have no doubt that this station will last me 10 years or more. There is a reason why so many of the inexpensive soldering stations you can buy from various companies online are either direct clones of the legacy Hakko 936 stations or the companies gained their start making such copies. Hakko are the best, without a doubt.

Going from a cheap £10 iron that took more than 10 seconds to melt solder, to this Hakko set was something I wish I did earlier. Soldering now is much easier and more enjoyable. It certainly isn't cheap, but it is a mid-priced soldering kit which I would gladly recommend to people who solder often.