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

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.

I went through 2 cheap soldering stations that lasted a few months before they failed. This was highly recommended by a knowledgeable Utuber and I am still impressed after owning one since 2018. I dont understand the complaints about the user interface as it is very simple and easy to use. Only thing I can think of is some of the reviews are for a different product, something that is pretty common here, as this doesnt have a touch screen and the controls are separate up/down buttons to change temp and an on/off rocker with on the side - how can that be hard to use? I dunno. I have yet to need to change the tip and I use mine a few times a week. If you want a good iron soldering station this is it, period.

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.

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

I picked up one of these and the hand-held Hakko desoldering gun. I struggled to justify the expense over the cheaper import products out there. In the end, it was one of the things Im really glad I splurged on, both items are just a delight to use. Yes, the Hakko soldering station looks like a Fischer Price kids toy, but in the end I got over that annoyance and ordered the thing. The criticism on the interface and challenges of shifting temperature setting are not that big a deal, because Im not changing temperature all the time. Just keep read the instructions. Why do I love this thing? It heats up super fast, and then locks on to temperature. I have not verified the accuracy of the temperature, but Im assuming there is a circuit that monitors it. It takes just a few seconds, perhaps 15 to go from stone cold to 700 degrees and ready to go. The stand works well, the cord is soft so its easy to work with, and the tip that came with it is just about right for most things I need to do, though it would be a bit wide for micro sized things. This is one of those things that seems expensive until you use it. Its a power tool, and good power tools are really nice to have! Overlook the kiddie industrial design and you will appreciate this thing for how well it works.

Ive used a fair number of irons from Weller and Hakko and have to say this is probably the best value available if you need a temperature controlled station and do not so enough work to justify an FX-951 (or any of the Hakkos with the FM-20xx series hand piece). My primary station at home is an FM-202, but when I had to purchase irons for the lab at work I didnt have the budget to get irons with the FM hand piece. I was replacing Weller units that the thermal control in the hand piece had quit working and figured I would give Hakkos offerings at the sub $100 price a try. I couldnt be more pleased. Pros: -It heats quickly and maintains temp very well -Huge variety of tips available -It looks good and continues to look good over time (yeah, Im pointing out the Weller blue that fades to puke over time) -The grip on the hand piece is closer to the tip than in other stations at this price point (still nowhere near as good as the FM hand piece) -the stand with the brass ball tip cleaner means you never need to wet a sponge again and that your tips will last longer (wet sponge cleaning of hot tips is not good for them) Cons (Its a stretch to find cons really): -It doesnt come with any extra tips (buy the ones you need for your job, I recommend a D16 for a do all tip) -It doesnt make you a pro. (soldering with a good iron definitely makes doing a good job easier, but it still takes still from the operator) I personally prefer the next step up Hakko iron(anything with the FM hand piece) but you cant get a better iron at this price point.

With a few different tips, Ive been able to use this with surface-mount parts (I even did some 0402 parts with this thing. Its a pain, but doable!), through-hole parts, and even some big ol transformer anchor lugs. First off, Im spoiled by the equipment I have access to at work, but thats a full-blown professional setup that costs three orders of magnitude more. (Yes, seriously.) With that in mind, here are my thoughts on this little soldering station: - Thermal control. THERMAL CONTROL. Every soldering device should have thermal control. It just makes life easier. This thing has it, and mine was calibrated well right out of the box. - It takes a 15 seconds or so to warm up. (again, spoiled rotten. By force of habit, I expect the tip to be at operating temperature within 2-3 seconds.) - It takes long enough to unscrew the tip that you really should wait for it to cool before swapping tips. Its possible, but Im clumsy enough that I almost burn myself way too often. - The handpiece is a bit bulky for surface-mount work. Id love to see a handpiece about half this things size for SMD work. - The main power cable isnt detachable. I initially placed the control unit up near head level, with the cable draped down to the stand on the bench. I like having detachable power cables; it makes rearranging cables or moving equipment a little easier to deal with. - And, while you can get tweezers for this station, it only has the one tool plug, so you wont be doing a multi-tool setup. Now. All of that being said, this thing is pretty awesome. For what I paid for it, I am quite happy with it; its been reliable and has done its job well. Its construction is quite robust, its temperature control, while not perfect, is acceptable, and its just flat out easy enough to use. My baseline for an excellent tool is one that becomes transparent to me -- I dont think them about while Im using them; they just work, easily and reliably. This soldering station really does meet that criteria. It doesnt have all the bells and whistles, but it gets the job done, time and again.

I purchased this because I had to solder a new USB port to my Yeti Pro microphone and also to solder a custom build keyboard. I have little to no experience soldering onto PCBs but with the few videos that I saw online, I was able to create beautiful and consistent solders in both uses. The temperature ramped up very fast, and the digital interface shows the temperature as its climbing. I thought it was a bit weird that it only had one up arrow, but for a hobbyist, the temperature control is very easy to work with, although I imagine an electrical engineer that needs to change temperatures often would find it to be a pain. I used the brass cleaning foil after each switch I soldered, and the tip stayed clean throughout the process with no oxidation. Im not quite sure what the sponge is used for, but good to know that its there incase I find a use for it!

An amazing piece of equipment. My last solder was a $50 device from Amazon and it really is like night and day between that and the Hakko. Its super comfortable, my hand doesnt get hot, I dont even feel the heat on the pen while holding it. The temp goes up to where I want it from a cold start within a minute. I highly recommend this product. Theres no reason to buy anything else at or below this price point.

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.