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

Using an iron almost everyday and 2 cheap-o irons broke. Decided to get a nice iron and heard good things about the TS-101 but just seemed like it would be better as an iron you don’t use all the time so I bought the Hakko. My goodness this thing is amazing. The flexibility of the cord was the first thing I noticed as the cheap-o cords are very ridgid. Heats up within 10 seconds. The name brand tip is amazing and evenly wets vs the cheap-os. The stand for the iron is all metal and solid. This thing is amazing.

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 put this title in for a reason. My previous experience (other than soldering copper pipes) has been with various soldering guns, but Ive also had a couple soldering irons, ranging from fairly powerful to low wattage for fine. The soldering guns, even the Weller brand ones, invariably died after a while, with lack of heat, intermittent heat due to mysterious issues and rattling. Soldering irons also died, with cracking bakelite handles and tips that got loose. Using this soldering station is incredible different. Soldering has become much more consistent, the tip stays clean and attached and its ready to go in seconds. Playing with the temperature is really nice, to get just the right amount of heat in the right amount of time. Its got good power too. You dont really need 250 W if the temperature is controlled and heat is transferred well. Already this has lasted much longer than any $40 soldering gun would. I love it and thats why Im saying this is a must have. Typical excellent Japanese quality.

First, let me describe how I use this, for reference. Im not even a hobbyist, but simply needed to quite getting bogged down in the middle of making the simplest of home electronics repairs and having piles of unfinished projects build up all over the place. The height of my technical skill is custom-building HTPCs (Home Theater PCs), which I wouldnt sell if Id soldered any electronics components in them, BTW. Also, Ive done a bunch of fun stuff like adding fans to home wi-fi routers, installing my headset into my XBox 360 controller (yes, so I dont lose it--Im THAT BAD), and routine laptop DC jack repairs (that one, for paying clients, with 100% cust. satisfaction in over 5 yrs.). So, my perspective on this unit comes from a 100% utility viewpoint--to the true hobbyist (like many reviews Ive read on this item), that makes me not much better than the grandma who goes out to Lowes to buy a hammer to hang some family photos. Overall, I like the unit--yup, sure wish wed gotten a better color combo for the U.S. production unit than something that looks like a toy, but how many people are using a soldering station made in the same colors as their high school colors? I mean, its not like were asking for red, white and blue here, Hakko--maybe something like, ohhh, basic-black? (GAH!) Past that...who cares? Really? It works as good as everybody agrees it does; I couldve used less hype than some reviewers give it for its speedy warm-up times, though. My last soldering iron was/is a Black & Decker WPS18MP that heated up much faster, even to lower temps. So, why did I even buy this one? Thank you for asking! The B&D used a ridiculous tip system that plugged in with 1/8 mini stereo-type-plugs which were both difficult to find online, AND >$10 apiece. Mine had needed replacing for more than a year, and when the single original tip for it died recently, Id had no luck in finding any local or online source that made it realistic to continue using it. This unit has tips that are easy to find anywhere, including some pretty good looking generic-ish ones--heck, they even threw in a little sheet telling me what other model tips would work with this one, adding to the collection comfortingly, I might add. THIS SECTION REVISED AFTER MONTHS OF USE (revisions in CAPS--sorry) Regarding the warm-up times and temps of the Hakko FX-888, I found them to be entirely quick enough, yet rather routine, considering its size. Aside from the rubber lip in the wand-base, I also like the build of the thing--pretty solid, the wand base solid metal powder-coat. WHUUUUT? WHAT WAS I THINKING?! IT HEATS UP TO 900°F IN UNDER A MINUTE, TRUTHFULLY; SORRY, NO IDEA WHAT POSSESSED ME...MAYBE I WAS BLACKING OUT MYSELF. The controls are very easy to use--just dial up your temp, and basically, if thats not hot enough...turn it to eleven...it makes that next temp in a minute or so...mine reached the highest temp setting in around two minutes. Oddly, my very first job required 750°F, nearly 80% of its highest temp...and this was for a personal shaver repair, so I wonder how truly useful this thing will be on hi-temp stuff Ive been wanting to do, like motherboard cap replacements and more crucial stuff. IN MORE THAN 10 SEPARATE HI-TEMP JOBS, ALL REQUIRING 900°F, EASY...ITS NEVER FAILED TO PRODUCE THAT TEMP IN WELL UNDER A MINUTE, AND IM CONFIDENT EVERY JOB TURNED OUT BETTER--THE BEST I COULD DO, FOR HAVING THIS STATION. I LOVE THIS THING--IF I WERENT (SEMI) NORMAL, AND HAPPILY ATTACHED TO MY GIRLFRIEND, ID GO ON DOWNTOWN AND MAKE THINGS FINAL BETWEEN MYSELF AND MY LIL HAKKO UNIT HERE. One final Yeesh on the color...I kept expecting Rainbow Brite to walk in and start barking orders for me to finish my job on time. IM NOT NOTICING THE COLOR ANY MORE--IT NEVER REALLY MATTERS ANYWAY, RIGHT? MY PARENTS WOULD GET USED TO MY MARRYING A PURPLE/GOLD, JAPANESE-MADE LIL HOTTIE LIKE THIS, SO WHY WAS I SO WORRIED?

In the middle of a project my old (very old) Radio Shack soldering station ceased functioning. For several hours I looked at replacements, Read all the reviews good and bad. Watched some Youtube videos and finally decided on the the Hakko FX-888D. I never pay for overnight or 2nd day delivery but I really needed a soldering station to continue my project and was glad I did to get back to work. The Hakko heats up fast, very fast. Especially compared to the old Radio Shack. I bought some extra different shaped tips. This is my first experience with a tip that isnt a larger/medium cone shaped tip. So far so good. I have had the unit for a week now and have used it every day and I have been very happy with the purchase. Why only 4 Stars - The enclosed documentation is missing 5 pages. The document enclosed talks about the presets but doesnt show you how to. The documentation does have a reference to a web site where you can get the full set of instructions. The 5 missing pages include 3 pages for doing the presets. The other 2 pages are details on the parts and the internal construction of the unit. Its a little point but the cost of a couple mores pages of paper cant be a profit breaker. So for now only 4 stars - but very happy with my purchase so far.

I had purchased a cheap rework station and it was absolutely terrible. Would only solder one leg of a resistor before cooling to the point I could not solder the second leg. Returned it and bought the Hakko 888D. The Hakko made a world of difference and have been soldering with no trouble since! This is the right tool for through-hole and SMD PCB soldering. Do not waste your time and money with the cheap units - you will end up here anyway! The tip that comes with the unit is a small chisel tip that is perfect for PCB work. If you are looking at this for PCB work like me, make sure you combine this with the right solder as well. Kester 63/37 .020” (.5mm) leaded solder is the right solder to go with this station. I have seen some reviews about the interface being difficult. That was not the case for me. There are several videos on YouTube by Hakko that walk you through setting up the device and the settings. I highly suggest watching those while waiting for your unit to arrive!

While I had read all the really good ratings and heard good things about this brand and model, I was surprised how sturdy everything was.

I have one of these that finally broken down after 6 years of daily use. Replacing the soldering iron wand part was nearly the same as buying a new one, so I just bought a new one. And I couldnt be happier, Hakkos gear is just as solid as its always been. People complain about the temperature control interface and I get it -- its awkward. I dont need to change temps a lot so its fine, but if you do you change temperatures frequently you may want something else. If youve used cheap soldering irons because you couldnt quite justify the cost, Ive been there too, and I can assure you its worth it to get a quality soldering iron. You can go faster, the work comes out more consistent, and youre never fighting with the equipment.

So happy with this purchase, always got cheap soldering irons thinking I can replace it if needed and Im no soldering expert so dont use it that often, so might as well go under $50. As I was about to purchase my 4th iron (which would have taken my total spent on soldering irons to around $150) I decided to take a chance and spend the money to get a Hakko. The unit is much smaller than I anticipated (size didnt matter to me so never looked at dimensions) which is great, it is very easy to tuck out of the way. Saw some people dont like the separate iron stand, but personally that is the best for me. The station and stand can sit in the corner under my monitor at all times and I can just pull out the stand when I need to solder and I dont have to worry about any heat affecting my monitor. And the stand itself is all metal and feels quality. Time will tell with the sponge, saw some people not liking it, but havent run into anything myself as of yet. Heat up and temp stabilization are crazy fast, coming from cheap units this one surprised me when I first turned it on, was used to turning on the soldering iron and then in a few minutes could expect it to be stabilized. With the Hakko I turned it on and stood up expecting to have some time, and I wasnt 10 feet away by the time it hit temp and was almost stabilized. So very fast, which shouldnt be surprising if you have only been using the cheap units. Lastly is the interface, that was the thing I saw in reviews that made me almost not get this unit which would have been a mistake. Like I said I am not a good solderer by any means, so for me I tend to have 1 type of solder wire and keep the iron at the same temp almost always. If I changed temps regularly I would take the time to set up the presets to the temps I use most frequently. In my situation though, pressing the enter button and then adjusting the temp takes maybe 10 seconds and is done very infrequently. The interface is similar to another item I own where you press enter to start adjusting the temp and then the arrow to change the number, so for me it made immediate sense on what buttons to push. For anyone that intuitively thinks they should press the arrow to change the temp, I would highly recommend writing on the unit itself so you know what to do. Even a simple 1 and 2 to know which to press first would do it for you. But really that is how the system works, press Enter and the first digit flashes so you can press the arrow to change that digit, press enter again to go to the next digit, repeat till you have the temp you want. Unless you need an exact temp, you will never change the last number away from 0, so you will just change the first or second digit. Most times I am changing it up/down in hundreds so I just change the first digit and then hit enter twice to skip the next to digits. Anyone even remotely tech savvy or under a certain age will be totally fine with this, the only way the interface is an issue is if you are constantly changing temps, and even then it depends on the temps you are using and how many different temps since you can set custom presets to switch between. Will update this review if any issues arise, I expect to never have to buy another soldering iron in my life, so will definitely adjust this review if that turns out not to be the case.

I was pleasantly surprised by this station, the temperature accuracy was within 15 degrees of the displayed temperature straight out of the box. After calibrating with my thermometer, it has remained accurate with little deviation. The user interface is no intuitive, but after watching a video on YouTube, it is fairly simple. Overall, I would recommend this station and I would not hesitate to purchase again.