Hakko USA FX888D29BY/P ESD-Safe Digital Soldering Station w/ FX8801 Soldering Iron and T18D16 Tip (Gold)

Man is this nice. Gets right to temp. No fighting the solder. Plenty of tip options.

A+++

A lot of people recommended this soldering station to me and Im glad I followed through. It works great. Heats up super fast and it controls the temperature wherever you set it.

I got this for my husband for Christmas. He said it is awesome!! He loves it!! The tip doesn’t corrode. The wire to the soldering iron doesn’t melt, he tested it, since it says in the description that it won’t. The heat output is very nice, you can melt huge blobs of solder with it. Very very nice soldering station.

This is my 3rd Hakko soldering station over 30 years, all of them still working. Wouldnt hesitate to recommend. Cost a little more than most, but worth the peace of mind it will last.

After years of using regular soldering pencils, I decided to invest in this soldering station and am mighty glad I did! The unit reaches its target temperature almost immediately, and the lengthy cable between the iron and the station base is extraordinarily flexible and thus easy to use. The only complaint is what others have commented on in other reviews - it is a bit difficult to learn how to adjust the temperature, but once you do, its not bad. The digital temperature gauge is nice to have and quite easy to read. And the ON/OFF switch is located on the side, not in back, so that is easy to access.

I am a novice to soldering. Bought his for my RC hobby and this thing is so nice it makes me want to solder for the hell of it.

Fast, keeps perfect temperature. Head stay well over time, the liner at the bottom of the tip holder is made of metal and is removable

I 100% agree with Nick M.s review - this item is not for professional use. I am an IPC-A-610 certified solder operator / solder inspector, I use Weller WXMP soldering iron at work. Of course it is not fair to compare $1k item with $100 item, but I expect proper functionality from both. My major inconvenience is related to tips as well - the wetting is kind of weird, when you take some solder, the drop of it doesnt stay on the edge, but rather climbs up 3-4 mm, which makes soldering process inconvenient. Ive found a temporarily solution - to use a bent tip, the drop of solder does the same, but at least I am able to touch the soldering point with it - it is not precise such at the tip is thicker at 3-4 mm from the edge, but at least it works. It doesnt work for soldering using a microscope though. I would replace this station as soon as I will be ready to invest $500-$600 into Wellers single WXMP station (at work I use a dual one) for my home hobby projects, but I wouldnt recommend this particular Hakko station for any precise or professional soldering. I regret about this purchase and will not buy Hakko tools again, it was not a good experiment to save some money on an important for me item.

This Hakko replaced a Weller that served me well for several years. So far good performance from the Hakko. Heats up fast also.