Review on 🔧 Hakko FX888D 23BY Digital Soldering Station: Superior Performance and Precision by Jay Jeong

Yes, the build quality is good, and yes, it does its job well. However, there is something you should know before buying. I wish I knew. Other reviewers, very condescendingly, described the controls as "non-intuitive". To warn future buyers, I'll be blunt: the UI is a smoking heap. Hmm garbage. You get a three-digit display and two buttons, each with multiple functions. As others have pointed out, the design decision itself was stupidly stingy. A pen and another number (to indicate short words) would do wonders, and I'd happily pay the extra $3 for the hardware. In addition, these controls are required for even the most basic operations, such as setting the temperature. The two buttons you get are labeled: UP and ENTER, but these labels are misleading as neither correspond to the function of the corresponding button in the normal operating state of the device. When you get into the settings menu (which you can't do with just buttons), the top four categories are represented by cryptic, unrelated numbers: 01, 03, 11, 14. Even if you're a programmer who usually converts decimal to binary convert, the menu is still pointless. It's even more annoying that the letters *like* can appear in a submenu; just not here on the menu where they are most needed. Do you want to increase the temperature while you work? Pressing the UP button does not do this. You have to hold the ENTER button for a while, then wait, then repeatedly press the UP button until the first digit of your target temperature appears (and then nine more times if you exceed it), then press ENTER and do this for each one repeat more digits until the target temperature appears in the display and you press ENTER for the last time. It's like programming a VCR from the 1970s/1980s. just to set the temperature of your soldering iron. Okay, so this madness isn't the end of the world, but hurting the insult, can you guess what happens when you accidentally (and understandably) press and hold the UP button instead of ENTER to set the temperature? It walks you through the same process, first making it look like you made it, then going back to showing the original temperature. Want to know why it didn't work? It was a procedure to recalibrate the machine's temperature control. Congratulations: Now every temperature displayed by the machine is false, and will remain false even after turning off and on because the machine fooled you. Oh, and that doesn't say what happened, so it's entirely possible you're just soldering at a much higher temperature than you think. Hope you didn't damage any components. What if you somehow find out what happened and want to fix it? Too bad. The instructions don't say how. It doesn't even mention that it's possible. You'll have to wait to contact Hakko Support, or you'll find a message online from another unfortunate soul who's also been burned by this unforgivably awful UI excuse. I hope this was during business hours and you have a phone nearby or somewhere with an internet connection. For the record, here is the secret reset procedure: 1. Turn off the power switch.2. Press and hold the UP and ENTER buttons.3. Turn on the power button while holding these buttons.4. Wait for "A” to appear on the display.5. Release the buttons.6. Press UP so the display shows 'U'.7. Press enter. Hope this saves someone trouble. Dear Hakko, please do better in the future.