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

This unit works perfect for my need. Heats up quickly and I never have a problem with it.

Great products !!!

The hype is true, this thing is great.

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

I purchase my Hakko 888D August 3, 2013. It is simply the best soldering tool I have ever used. Heats quickly, and maintains its temperature very well it makes assembling stuff like PL-259s a snap. The adjustable temperatures are are real nice you can dial it in from, 120 to 899 degrees F. So what ever soldering situation, and alloy of solder you have it covered. There is a large variety of tips and others have told me they last for years of much heavier use then I will ever give mine. A very important thing in how the manufacturer supports their products. My 888D took a plucked goose dive off of the bench, it shattered the plug, and cracked the front panel skin. I thought I was going to have to purchase a new one but a check at the Hakko USA website revealed they have all of the necessary parts to repair it. I called their customer support line and the phone was quickly answered and Mary took my ordered for the replacement parts. The front panel skin was temporally out of stock. I was told they would be restocked around the 2nd week of March. I received the parts I ordered that where in stock in just a couple of days. I waited until the start of he 2nd week and used Hakko-USAs live chat line and asked and was told the parts where indeed in stock and was told to call. I did so and the phone was quickly answered and I was able to order the front panel skin which arrived well packaged in just a couple of days. When I took the control unit apart the quality of its design and construction was notable. A high quality control board, with quality parts, large and heavy transformer not at all a cheapy. A real nice touch is the length of the point to point wiring to the plug is much longer then is necessary which makes installing its replacement very easy. The repair was straight forward and the Hakko is once again in service. The worst part of the repair was being forced to use a crummy old Weller pencil.

The price on this unit was more than I usually like to pay, which is why Ive struggled most of my life with inadequate soldering irons. But one day, while trying to take some capacitors off a circuit board, holding the iron on there endlessly in frustration, I decided enough was enough. I scoured the reviews in Amazon, initially looking at a Weller unit, but someone pointed to the Hakko unit and I was impressed by the number of positive reviews. So I plunked down my hard-earned cash, and waited. One week later, I unboxed the unit, noticing the solid construction. And after trying it, I knew I had reached soldering iron nirvana! Here are the features I really appreciate: 1. Hot in seconds flat. Theres a little red LED on the front that tells when the iron is heating. When it goes off, the tip is ready. I didnt time it but turning the heat dial up half-way only takes about 5 to 10 seconds before the tip is ready. Wow! so different from what I was used to. 2. Performance. Most soldering can be done at about half temp. A few times Ive cranked it up all the way, to melt some stubborn joint, and it really works! 3. The brass tip cleaner. I really like the little brass wool that you can rub the tip on. It works very nicely and is much more convenient than water/sponge (although you can use that too). 4. Good stand. Its solid and doesnt fall over easily. Same with the transformer-temp control unit...its really heavy. 5. Flexible cord. Dont you just hate it when you get a tool that has a stiff plastic cord that never seems to straighten out? Well this one doesnt have that. The cord from the iron to the controller is nice and flexible. 6. The heating takes place so quickly that as soon as Im done a joint and have a break, Ill just dial the temp down and leave it on low, knowing that I can get it back up in less than 10 seconds. Im sure that helps the tip last longer. Theres really nothing not to like about this unit. Well, the tips are a bit expensive (about $10), but they look like they will last a while. Ive also seen some sets of tips on eBay for less...not sure about the quality of these though. Im in my early 50s now, and am a bit ashamed that Ive been doing occasional electronics work for about 30 years without such a good tool. Im pretty sure, unless my unit suffers from a defect, that this will be the last soldering iron I buy for the rest of my life. Should have bought it a long time ago...

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.

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.

All I can say is I wish I had bought one sooner. The Days of waiting are over, this thing is ready in seconds.

I used to use Wellers professionally, but its been a long time, and so as a non-professional, Ive been using cheap crap for the little jobs Ive needed. I decided to splurge on this Hakko instead of a Weller mostly because theyre nearly identically placed in the market, but I have a bunch of heat set insert and other tips that will work on this Hakko without having to buy new ones. My god, how fast this heats! Its ready to go pretty much by time I get my jar of flux open. Im not sure what everyone is complaining about with the UI. Maybe the under 30 crowd thats only ever used touchscreens? Its a classic UI used on professional test equipment and industrial controls since the dawn of the microprocessor. If youve never used either of these types of equipment, it might be strange to you, but its certainly not hard to use. If youre over 30, its a bit nostalgic! I wish Id gotten this years ago.