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

This is very affordable and high quality! Dont hesitate to buy this, its very quick! Very happy with this purchase, my only regret is I didnt buy this years ago. Live and learn yeah?

Ive had the same old Ungar iron for over 20 years, but Id been wanting a multi-temp unit for a while. I waffled between the Hakko and analog Weller and eventually settled on the Hakko. Once you get past the Fisher Price colors, youll find that the unit is pretty nice. Like everyones said, it gets to temp insanely fast, and I really like the integrated sponge/wire cleaner. The footprint is pretty small, and the iron cable is flexible. Ive had the chance to use the iron in a few different scenarios like normal soldering for components on my 3D printer to some thicker R/C motor wires that my previous iron couldnt get through. The menu process can be a little counter-intuitive. Out of the box my unit had no presets configured. And it took a while to figure out oh, I need to enable presets and then go in and put temps in. Once the presets are in then its simple to quickly go between them. But then I wanted to change a preset temp and had to go back and look up how to do it. Im sure its a matter of just getting used to the unit, but this was a good example where I wished Id got the analog Weller so Id just have to turn a knob.

This soldering station is a dream! Coming from a cheapie Radio Shack station, the difference is night and day. It reaches full temperature (650 f) in under 10 seconds and more importantly it stays hot while using it. People complaining about the lack of analog controls havent spent the time to properly set the iron up. Its designed to be used with presets. For example, I have 3 presets: 650, 700, and 750. Cycling between them is extremely easy. Having a digital display to show you what temp the iron is is really nice too. Spend 5 minutes to set your iron up before you complain about it! The soldering iron stand is 100% ceramic and metal. I expected most of it to be plastic, but its not so you dont have to worry about melting anything accidentally. The brass sponge is extremely effective at cleaning the tip. I havent used the wet sponge yet. The power control base unit is super sturdy and just the right weight to not move around during use. The cord for the soldering pen is extremely flexible and stays out of the way. Also to note that my iron came with a fine chisel tip, which I actually prefer. Some might prefer a round tip (but you shouldnt really) so be aware of that and order a replacement tip. Altogether, this is the perfect iron for any level of skill or experience. At work we have very high end ($600+) stations and in my opinion this is every bit as good. There isnt a thing I would improve about it. Its rare to find a flawless consumer product, and this truly is one.

This solder station is a great upgrade to a plug in hand held Weller type from your big box type DIY stores. What this solder station is not is something along the lines of an all day every day use station. This is a solder station for light to medium use at home or a small shop type setting. When I purchased this I researched a lot about fakes and was skeptical about this purchase before it arrived. I checked online with the video from 2016 about the differences and I am comfortable to say this in my opinion is a genuine Hakko solder station. What I found in my research while confirming its authenticity is that a very large brick and mortar, as well as online now, retailer is selling a very obvious knock off of this very same model with just the Hakko name removed from the front. The model is even named FX-888D and it costs $79.99 currently at that place that rhymes with ALLMART! Really shocked places that well known and established are allowed to sell obvious counterfiet items. Anyhow, I feel this is real. The solder station itself is really great once you are comfortable using its less than welcoming controls. Why Hakko decided to put just 2 buttons on this I have no idea other than for cost savings and to annoy people learning to use it for the first time. With that said, I did have to watch their low budget video tutorials to learn how to use the 2 button commands. I highly suggest you do as well as you can set the station to a setup mode that effectively will lock you out until you command it out of that mode as another purchaser stated in another review. The iron heats up and cools down extremely quickly with a digital display rapidly counting up or down a single digit at a time so you can see the precise temperature it says it is. I have no reason to believe the temperature is off at all yet as it seems correct when melting certain materials with it. The iron stand is great for the price total but it is a little light and could be tipped over if bumped hard enough. The base unit for the power supply and temp control is heavy and solid and sits firmly on a table or desk. The materials on all parts except the power cord to the wall is top notch materials wise, but the power cord is off the wall generic hard plastic cord, no big deal though. The iron cord and rubber base at the bottom of the iron where it meets the cord is soft and allows for easy manuevering of the iron in one hand. The iron cord does not roll on itself like cheap cord does which is great. One thing to add is that I forgot to grab some extra tips and assorted tips. This only comes with a small chissle tip which is great but not for every project!

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?

Having safely made the jump from a $20 soldering iron (Velleman) to this wonderful $80 soldering iron I can now say that I know how to solder. If you are trying to decide if the extra $60 is worth it then stop right now and just buy this one. I went from putting down globs of solder to creating finely shaped tiny works of art. Here are a couple of things that are different between this soldering iron and the one I came from: The Hakko gets AT LEAST 200 degrees F hotter. I dont know how hot the other one gets, but I had a hard time getting lead free solder to melt with it. The Hakko does so easily at 700 degrees (goes up to 900). I havent tried it out at a lower temp yet. It is nice to know what temp I am using. The tip that came with the Hakko is larger than the one that came with the velleman. In spite of this it is considerably easier to solder small parts. Replacement tips for the Hakko run about twice as much, but they also last at least twice as long. Ive done more soldering with the tip that came with (T18-D16) than I did with the last two tips I used on the velleman and it still looks brand new. It was next to impossible to tin the Velleman tips. It is quite easy with the Hakko. The Hakko comes with setup, calibration, and cleaning instructions. The Velleman came with a box. Having a flexible cord is quite nice, although personally it isnt a selling point. One extra thought for anyone else who is considering upgrading from a lower end soldering iron: This one comes with an on/off switch. This is important to note so that you dont just turn the dial like you did on your cheap one and then panic when it doesnt do anything (like me). The tip in a bag that is pictured up top is the one that comes with it. It is not an extra tip. You only get one tip. It is a good general purpose tip. I am going to buy the T18-B, T18-BL, and the T18-I to complement it. Oddly enough, this isnt iron I meant to buy. I had added it to my cart while I looked at the Weller with the LCD screen. I ended up deciding that I wanted the digital temp readout but forgot to add the Weller to my cart. When I was done shopping for other things I didnt look closely at my cart and didnt realize I had the wrong iron. So far I do not regret my mistake, but I DO wish I had a digital read out and a tip temp sensor. Oh well :D

Not a soldering guy, but I wanted to try my hand at a semi advanced job attaching a ribbon cable to an smb to an n64. Used my 20$ soldering iron...BIG MISTAKE. completely botched the job, my iron wasnt able to keep a consistent temperature and my cheap solder immediately stuck many legs together. Tried to save it but ended up reading more about the appropriate tools. Well... a few practice rounds later with the dead n64 an it so crazy how different using this soldering iron is. Expensive, but holy moly does it do a good job and Temps are amazingly stable.

So everyone raves about this gun. I bought it a few years ago and used it one time. Worked great. Tried to use it again temp reads 800 but will barely melt solder. Tried multiple tips thinking that had to be the problem. Used a thermal heat gun to measure tip and shaft temp. Read 180-200 deg even though unit stated it was 800. Gonna try a different unit -- bummer because I spent 120 bucks on this thing

The UI is hypersimplified so its a bit unintuitive. You will need the manual. Otherwise, its a great soldering iron.

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