Bakon 950D 75W 110V Adjustable / Variable Temperature Soldering Iron with 3pcs Bonus T12 Tips

I had to order this thing for no other reason than to test it out. I have seen so many threads and videos over the past 18 months (as of this review), concerning budget T12 soldering stations. This Bakon 950D has been out for over a year now and I was wondering why so many people (in North America and Europe) keep getting the 936 clones and T12 DIY kits that cost as much or more.I have a half dozen Hakko and Pace solder stations that I've collected over the decades. I currently use two Hakko 951's as my primary and secondary stations and have for years. I use a Pace desoldering rig for just that. I keep my old Hakko's (two FP 102's and one FM-202) as backups. So I know how to compare this Bakon 950D to higher quality stations.So I spent an afternoon playing with this thing and I think its fantastic value for the money. No, I would not give up my better quality stations for the 950D. Yes, I still say you should buy the higher class stations if you can afford it for too many reasons to list in this review. However, I will list some useful pro's and con's of this great little station.Pro's first:Its very small and light. This makes it easy to carry or store it if you don't do a lot of soldering. Its much smaller that its pictures lead you to believe. The soldering wand (aka the grip and handle part) are of a reasonable size in diameter so as not to cause heavy fatigue in your hand. The wand only gets a little warm after extended use, so no worries about being to hot to use for extended periods. Infact the grip is covered in real silicone and not cheap rubber so it acts as a great heat shield. For a cheap Chinese product, I was surprised to see that. What was more amazing was the cable connecting the want to the station. Its not only covered in decent silicon, but the wires inside are silicone covered as well. It has almost the same supple, flexibility as my Hakko wands. It doesn't tangle or resist movement at all. I've toyed with quite a few of the cheap knock off handles/wands over the years. Some are ok, but most are pretty bad. They will work, but until you use a quality, flexible, and burn resistant cable, you don't know what you're missing.The grip to tip is pretty close. This is a great thing as it allows far greater control over movement when working with SMD components. Most 936 have a fairly large grip to tip distance. Still workable, but far from ideal. Most T12 stations are using a moded clone of the Hakko 900 handle and go by the name of "907". A T12 cartridge in a 907 handle is just a bad idea. The grip to tip is huge. I have yet to try one, but watch any youtube video of a DIY T12 soldering station and you will see just how huge the distance is between the grip to tip. This one is fantastic for its price and may be the best of the budget wands.Now some Con's:The station is very small and light. It does not have any weight to keep it put, and will want to move around on you. It also does not have any rubber feet and is made of smooth plastic. The AC cord is attached to the station and its not very long. The interface is pretty craptastic. There are five preset temps (which will pretty much cover 98% or more of hobby electronic needs), with P2 and P3 being the two that will be used the most. There are only two buttons to select which preset you want. One button goes up the preset ladder and the other goes down the ladder. I was able to get into some sort of setup with holding the one of the buttons (cant remember which one) and turning on the power. It was either an offset option or the ability to adjust the temp manually. I did not make a change and power cycled it to get back to normal settings. This is undocumented and I wanted to test the unit out before I screwed it up, lol.The cable length of the wand is pretty short and that is its weakest link. Its very light and flexible, but just a bit to short in my opinion. Couple the short length with the light weight station and you will see why its going to move on you. Its connected by a three pin attachment to the front of the station. This makes it kinda proprietary, but they can be found on places like ebay, banggood, and aliexpress for under $10.00 shipped. This means you can't use real or fake FM-2027 or 2028 wands with this unit. Also you can't use any of the 907 wands.This kit on Amazon does not come with a silicone pad for quick tip removal. The grip area unscrews and you push the tip out from the bottom if you want to change tips while its hot. When the tip is cool you simply plug it in from the top and thats it. The strain relief on the wand is a joke and therefore you should be careful about pulling the cable. It might just rip away if to much exertion is applied.The supplied stand and sponge is also a joke. Its better than nothing, but buy a stand. I cant stress this enough. Don't use the stand that comes with it. Buy a stand and wet sponge + brass sponge.There are a few other pro's and con's but they are minor. This Amazon kit (again, as of this writing) costs a bit more than those you can find on ebay and elsewhere. However this is the only kit that I've seen that comes with three T12 tips. Tip number one is (you guessed it), a conical tip. But its not a standard conical. Its small and with a flared tip area. It can be of use for some SMD applications. This is much better than the worthless conical tips that 99% of all cheap soldering stations come with. Tip number two is a small knife or blade type. These are great for small SIO and QFP removal. Again, not highly useful, but great when you need it. Tip number three is an honest to goodness chisel tip. And at 1.6mm its the correct size for most electronic components. This is one of the few budget stations I've ever seen that comes with the most used tip in electronics. You're doing through hole or SMD, this is the tip you will use most often and it comes with the Amazon kit. That alone makes it worth the few extra dollars.On a side note, Bakon is the company that makes most of the clone T12 tips that you find on sites like ebay. They never brand them as Hakko, thats done by nefarious third party resellers. Bakon has always packaged their products as their own, and they have a bit of pride in the quality of their products. No, they are not high end and I doubt they ever will be. What they offer is reasonable clones of major brands. For the general consumer its good value. These stations simply cant handle day in and day out duty cycles like that of a repair shop. These are for hobbyists on a budget.When I started this review I said I would not give up any of my professional stations for the use of this 950D. But I can say that I will now take this station with me to a friends or relatives home when I'm asked to build, mod, or repair something. Its worth it considering how light it is and its overall performance. If you're new to electronics and on a budget, I can highly recommend this kit. It will hold you over until you get a more serious station and should last for years if taken care of. The tips are easy to find, fairly cheap, and come in a fairly large range of geometry and size.

Great soldering iron. I have only used the smallest tip so far. It worked great for 0805, tsop, soic, and mmbt packages as well as thru hole. It heats up extremely fast, and cools off fast as well, (unexpected but very nice when done and want to put it up in a hurry). The highest draw I have seen when checking was 56 watts, but I have only used the smallest tip provided so far and it heated up extremely fast. The grip has a great feel to it and the cord is very flexible and does not interfere with handling and maneuvering while soldering.The only cheap thing is the included stand, which ehh works but if you solder much you will want a better one. For the price and as good as this iron works, the only reason I mention the stand is if you do not have a better on already you may want to look for one.

Quick to temp.Holds set temp very consistently.Cools rapidly when shut down

Excellent and very compact soldering iron. Not sure how accurate the temperature setting is as I have no way to measure it, but it works well on everything from 0402 resistors and capacitors to soldering leads to large copper planes.