Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station FX-888D FX-888 (blue & yellow)

Ive been a technician for over 30 years and always used the big W brand soldering stations at work. I finally decided I wanted a decent station at home -- instead of a direct plug-in type pencil. I looked at the usual suspects but decided to try simple instead of high tech. Hey, all I want is a soldering pencil, not a flashy tech toy. This little guy has a classic retro kind of Art Deco of look to him. From the photos here you might think that the brightly colored bodies of this Hakko station are plastic. Theyre not. Everything is cast metal, maybe aluminum or more likely pot metal. It feels very sturdy and solid and definitely not like cheepo plastic. The bright color is baked on and matte in finish. The unit is quite heavy (transformer) as well as sturdy and simple. You dont get a fancy digital temp readout or glitzy high tech gizmos to impress your non-techie friends. This is a simple and competent iron with good temperature control and a nice solid feel to it. It would be nice if it came with a few more tips but the one supplied is the type of chisel point I use most often. The price could be more reasonable but its made in Malaysia and not China. If the heating element is reliable then this little guy could last indefinitely. Although I didnt look Im sure the temp control circuit is very basic and reliable. Ive used it for three projects and it works great. It heats up to mid dial @700F in 30 seconds and is immediately responsive to temperature loads. I like it.

ive always just used a walmart soldering iron, and they always work great for very generic use cases (e.g. soldering automotive wire). bought this for the heat control and finer-tip to work on soldering up proffie/arduino boards. the user interface isnt the greatest, but its not too difficult to understand. heats up crazy fast and solders like a freaking champ. 10/10 would recommend.

Good for just about anyone as long as the price works for you, feels like it should cost more

Just buy it. I Needed to do quite a bit of soldering for a low voltage LED strip light installation. Professional results were the only option. Having realized the assorted hardware store irons and soldering guns I had would quickly make a mess, I decided to get a proper soldering station. Quite simply put. Worked like a charm. Made me feel competent at soldering, when I had generally succeeded in making a mess before. Ergonomics are great. Feels like a quality tool. Doesnt even flinch when soldering larger wires, that even my soldering gun would struggle with. +1 The brass sponge works really well for cleaning the tip. Once you use one of these you wont be able to live without one. +1 Stand for the iron is metal. Thought it would be plastic from looking at the pictures, so I was pleasantly surprised. +1 Power unit is compact, but the iron heats up in seconds, and did not even flinch at soldering 14 gauge wires. +1 Includes a small chisel tip that everyone seems to recommend. Not one of the pencil tips every other iron seems to come with that are generally not recommended by people who know what they are doing. - 1 Printed manual seems to lack information on using presets. - 1 Tips could be easier to change, but this is not a problem for me since I can set it up with the tip I need, per job. Overall. I am very happy. Best $90, I could have put into a soldering station.

It was fine but I ended up replacing it with a pinecil, which is less bulky, way more controllable, and has all sorts of cheap tips available.

Well built adjustable temperature this is the one to buy

Esta es una de las mejores estaciones calidad precio desde que empiezas a abrir el paquete empiezas a ver lo pequeño que es el cautín, la estación, la calidad de los cables, la calidad y detalles que tienen está estación. Es una estación simplemente hermosa que hace que el lugar de trabajo se vea bien, es súper pequeña, pero un poco pesado el transformador, solo un poquito. Quise compra está estación desde hace unos meses pero la verdad no me decidía ya que, no me decidía entre hakko o weller y la verdad depues ed mucho me decidí por está estación. sabía que podría ser un poco costosa para mí pais por detalles de importación y envio. Pero la verdad no me arrepiento de de haberla comprado ya que el control de temperatura es exelente. Lo único que creo no es muy intuitiva es la interfaz que solo son dos botones. Pero si la configuras a modo memoria, que tiene 5, es fácil de usar. Lo que más me gustó fue la rapidez con la que alcanza la temperatura deseada en menos de 30 segundos, está lista para usar. Y la verdad antes tenía cautines y tardaba demasiado en calentar. Recomiendo al 100% está estación. Y recomiendo el vendedor fue muy rápido el envío y metardo como 5 días en llegar, solo por qué DHL en mi pais no trabaja sábado y domingo si no me llegaría mucho antes. Espero y aya servido mi opinión, y para los que no saben o no se deciden cuál estación comprár, les recomiendo esta estación.

This should be everyones 1st iron. Well built, aesthetically pleasing, ergonomic, powerful and accurate. This would have made my journey into to soldering a lot smoother and more enjoyable had it been around when I started. Night and day from the cheap irons. Maybe the programming needs an instructional video watched, but Youtube has plenty of how to videos out there. This setup will handle any casual or hobbyists tasks with ease. It really is a quality soldering station. Tips are cheap enough, but the included 1.6 x 10mm chisel will handle 90% of jobs, and last a long time if taken care of. Watch a few tip care and maintenance videos and this will be the only station most will ever need. Parts are easy to acquire and cheap to replace if necessary. This also performed better than the Weller WE1010 head to head. Warmed up quicker, held temp better, and has less recovery headroom than the Weller. Cheaper too.....!

I didnt know soldering could be this much fun. If you have never used a nice soldering iron before (like me), this thing is genuinely amazing. Soldering is hard, even with a good soldering iron like this, but the last thing that you want is for some cheap soldering iron to be adding to the inherent difficulty of soldering. This thing does the opposite of that. It makes soldering a lot easier and more fun. That might sound kinda crazy if you havent used one, but this really makes soldering a lot more pleasant. It heats up very quickly, and maintains its temperature very exactly. It maintains its temperature so well that even when I spend a bit too long heating something up, it doesnt damage anything. Thanks to the awesome temperature stability, it melts solder amazingly well without oxidizing it too quickly, I didnt know I could make solder joints this nice. I cant properly explain just how nice this thing is. You have to try one. Its just a joy to use. A nice soldering iron like this makes a huge difference, its night and day versus a cheap soldering iron. The base is very sturdy, the soldering iron itself is comfortable, it comes with a wedge shaped tip standard (which is much better than those needle point tips). I also like how small the whole thing is. It takes up a very minimal amount of desk space which is good if (like me) you dont have much desk space to spare. I personally enjoy the unique colors and design, but Im sure not everyone will like them. They actually look nicer in person than they do in the pictures. I also enjoy that the soldering iron holder is separate, and it feels like its made out of metal and some kind of ceramic stuff, its great. I really cant say enough good things about this. Soldering is still hard, but this thing makes it a lot better. I enjoy using it so much that I actually find myself getting sad when Im done with something and have nothing else to solder, which never used to happen before. Of course, if youve read anything about these, then you probably know the user interface leaves a bit to be desired. Its even stranger in person than the instructions make it out to be. But thats a minor flaw overall. Once you set it the way you want it, you pretty much dont have to pay attention to that anymore. Still, itd be nice if in a future version they made a better user interface for this thing. The user interface is its only real flaw.

The title says it all, really. Ive never had an easier time with delicate soldering jobs. This iron replaces my old Weller iron with the dial-type temperature control. That iron, while good and definitely held its own, was moody at times and prone to heat-recovery delays. Heat recovery is important, and not just for someone doing dozens of joints at a time. Reliable heat recovery means that the iron is predictable, and also heats initially quickly. Other irons Ive used would be prone to losing heat at an odd time, then youre sitting there pressing the solder into the joint and nothing happens. You leave the iron to heat, then its too hot and burning resin or the board substrate. This iron heats to the right, precise temperature quickly, and holds that temperature. It performs consistently and quickly so your components arent risking damage. The user interface isnt the greatest, but I didnt find it counter-intuitive as some have. I do like that the temperature control can be dialed in to just a few degrees hotter than the melting point of the solder. That eliminates the guesswork that can come with a dial-based system, and with the consistent heating, allows for a quick solder flow with a minimum of fuss. This iron has allowed me to solder up prototyping circuit boards with joints that look machine-made, and I am by no means greatly practiced. This has been a purchase that was well worth the few extra dollars.