The Original X-Tronic 3020-XTS • 75W Soldering Iron Station • LED • 2 Helping Hands • Roll of Solder • Brass Sponge w/Cleaning Flux • Wet Sponge • °C/°F Conversion Switch • 10 Minute Sleep Feature!

I'm not a professional, but I am an experienced hobbyist/DIY-er with high expectations. I had this saved in my cart for months before I finally made the purchase, and during that time, I would occasionally look at competing products. Of the many soldering stations I considered, this was the one that stayed on top (based on price, function, and customer reviews). When the soldering station arrived, the first thing I noticed was how small it is! Like, it's TINY! Regardless, the tool performs quite well. I like being able to adjust the temperature, which is a capability that I've never had before, and the iron itself is comfortable to use. So far, the temperature seems accurate and stable. The one feature that impresses me the most is just how FAST it heats up -- it took just *seconds* to reach 300°C. The LED display was confusing at first; when you first turn on the controller, the display will show what the temperature is set to for just a brief moment, then it'll display a much smaller number that rapidly increases to that setpoint. After using the iron a few times and observing this, I realized that it was showing me the actual temperature of the iron. Every time I turn on the iron, after watching that number climb and then stop, it's ready! It's small size and light weight really make it seem cheap, but it seems to perform well, so I'm pleased with my purchase and would definitely recommend this tool to any electronics hobbyist.

I had a very bad experience with the Aoyue 937+ Pro Series 45 Soldering iron as it stopped working within 1 month of purchase. I have purchased this soldering iron and it has worked perfectly so far. I am quite impressed with how little time this soldering iron takes to reach the set temperature. Maybe my experience has been tainted with the purchase of other soldering iron, but I don't need any fancy features for the soldering iron and this one foots the bill perfectly. The soldering iron weighs around 18.5oz (which is roughly 1 pound). The iron comes with an iron holder, solder roll holder (which needs to be screwed in with the provided screw, you just need a Phillips head screwdriver to do this), Brass sponge, and a regular sponge. I have worked on several of my Arduino projects and it has been working fine so far. The temperature control jog dial is in the front and is very smooth and precise enough to control the temperature. You can set the temperature from 200C to 400 degree C. This soldering iron also remembers the temperature setting even if it is turned off or goes to sleep. The soldering iron goes to sleep after 10 minutes and this time is not configurable. All in all, I am very happy with the purchase. Though I do wish that the soldering cord was detachable for easy storage but at this price point this soldering iron seems to be a very good purchase.

Out of the Box: The unit came with the base station, hot pen holder, Tip Cleaning scrub with Rosin basin, Cleaning Sponge, Solder Roll holder/dispenser, and Manual. Pros: I found these to be very well design elements of this unit both before, during and after using it: Base unit: The base unit has a holder for your brass filings tip cleaning with rosin on the bottom, large spring pen holder, built in reservoir for the cleaning sponge, adjustable temperature setting, and a soldering roll holder/dispenser. Sleep Mode: I found this very useful. During my DIY project I often find myself getting side tracked by non soldering activities. The device goes into a sleep mode after about 10 minutes of non use. Then somehow, not sure how, it knows that you have picked up the pen for use and immediately reactivates. Granted it doesn't instantly go back to the temperature you set, but for this feature I can wait a few seconds. Long Pen Cord: This is very important when working with soldering project, not having to fight the power cord. The Pen cord is totally separate from the power cord which both are connect via the base unit. Not to mention that the pen cord seems to be tangle free! Pen: The manufacturer doesn't use cheap hard plastic here, they went the extra mile to provide comfortable and heat resistant materials on the pen. Not one time did I get fatigued or felt as though the pen was getting hot. Nicely done! Cons: Temperature Knob: This really isn't a con but more of a I wished they would have done something different. The knob has a smooth rotation, and getting a precise temperature is rather hard to do. Sometimes the temp advances multiple degrees at the slightest movement. But at the end of the day, how often are you going to need an exact temperature for soldering. Manual: This has to be the first time I have listed a manual as a con for a device, but in my opinion this needs to be updated with a bit more information on the product and descriptions of the accessories and their uses. Wish List: This is my own personal things I wished would have been included on this product that would have put my rating over the top. Extra Soldering tips: The unit comes with just a basic needle point tip. A set of an additional 5 basic tips would have been perfect for inclusion within this package. Adding a clicking feature to the temperature knob. In my opinion this would allow for better control of the temperature setting feature of the unit. Again, this is just a wish they would have included this, but this seems to their basic model, and for what you get, it is most impressive. They also assume that you already know how to solder and therefore know how to set up a soldering pen/iron by "tinning" it. Unfortunately they do not have a procedure for how to do this in the manual. There is a section in the manual on page 4 is a sort of trouble shooting of why solder isn't sticking, but the all important method of tinning isn't described in detail and I wished it was. This would be a nice item to have in the manual, and I hope they read my review and act on some of these items! Assembly: Really, this has to be one of the easiest parts of the whole thing. Within minutes you are up and running and ready to go! Maintenance: Tip maintenance is required as it is with all soldering units. other than that and adding water to the cleaning sponge before use, there really isn't any. Personal experience: I'm building a DIY powerwall for my house, and a lot of soldering is required. The needle tip the unit came with will not work for the project I'm doing, which lead me to ordering a extra set of tips. Once I got the new tips, the unit has performed perfectly and my project is moving at a nice pace. Bottom Line: Overall this product works as advertised, and performs perfectly on both large and small jobs. Recommendation: Damn Good Buy!

I have purchased 3 of these. I purchased the first one after my Weller LCD temperature controlled iron would not maintain any temperature after about a year, just out of warranty. The Weller was much more expensive so I purchased this unit instead of replacing the Weller. The first unit worked great for about a year and the temperature became unstable. I do solder a lot (100's of hours per year) so while I was disappointed, I am grudgingly accepting that I should not expect these to last forever. At least it was less than half the price of the Weller. I purchased another one and it has worked great for about 2 years now. I purchased a 3rd for use at another location, but have not done much other than turn it on and tin the tip. For the price, this iron is great for circuit board / surface mount soldering. The pen has a nimble feel to it. The cord has slightly more memory than my Weller had but it is very resistant to tangling/twisting and will lay generally lay flat without coiling. The temperature control works very well and it heats up fast. The sleep mode is handy if you accidentally leave it on. I do like the included solder roll holder, and included cleaning sponge/cleaning compound. I did purchase some Hakko Soldering tips that do work with this model with different tip types. The iron cord or heating element cannot be (easily) replaced as the cord is hardwired into the soldering station / iron and there is no disconnect, supporting this to be a "throwaway unit" if it breaks. All in all I find this to be the best temperature controlled iron available at this price point, given I've had the same issues with more expensive units. I'm very pleased with it and recommend purchase with the caveats mentioned above.

After purchasing and returning 2 of these because they did not work, the owner of the company contacted me personally to apologize and offer me another one to try in order to see if it would work better. This third one worked perfectly, exactly as I had hoped the first 2 would. I can say that the customer service from X-TRONIC gets an A+ and their product works great! This was my previous review: I needed a soldering iron for some electrical/circuit board work I was going to be doing. I looked online and read articles and reviews of different soldering irons before I bought anything. This particular soldering iron from X-Tronic was rated as the best soldering iron in a bunch of head-to-head reviewed tests online. I always try to buy the best tools and the best quality that I can afford, and I figured that I should get the best when it came to soldering irons. My goodness, was I in for a surprise. I ordered one of these soldering irons and I immediately noticed that it did not seem to melt solder very well. I kept it for about a day and tried to work with it, I thought initially that maybe I was doing something wrong. The solder that I was using had a melting point somewhere in the low to mid 400°F range, so I set the temperature on the soldering iron to about 530°F. You would think that this would work perfectly, but it seemed like the iron was not heating up properly and it just did not really want to melt the solder. I have never seen anything like it in my life. I turned the temperature up on the soldering iron to 600°F and it still was having a difficult time melting the solder! I would hold the iron on the solder for literally 15 or 20 seconds and it would deform the solder, but it would not melt the solder. Unreal! I figured I must have gotten a defective unit, so I returned it to Amazon. I then ordered the exact same X-Tronic soldering iron again. I figured this time I would get a good one and everything would work the way was supposed to. Wrong again! This new soldering iron was just the same as the first one. It had the exact same issues where it did not seem to want to melt solder. I kept this iron for a couple of days, I even had my father-in-law try it out to see if I was crazy. I thought he might say that the iron was fine and it was user error. My father-in-law is much more experienced in soldering than I am and he's very good at it. After using it for about five minutes he looked at me and said it's no good, just return this junk. He pulled out a cheap soldering iron that he bought online for about eight dollars and he used it on the same stuff that he had just tried the X-Tronic on and it melted the solder like a hot knife through butter. There was no comparison. The cheap junk soldering iron was light-years better. So I actually returned my soldering iron for a second time and I bought a different soldering iron, from the same brand that my father-in-law purchased his cheap one from. I'm here to report that the new one from the cheap brand works great. Can't say enough good things about a soldering iron that came with a case and set for less than $20! Here is what I got: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0744P55YR/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I don't know if the two X-Tronic irons that I purchased and returned were both defective and from a bad batch or if the design is just no good, but it's just shocking to me that this iron has so many great reviews but yet I bought two of them and neither one worked well at all. It might be a defective heating element, it might be that the thermostat is calibrated wrong from the factory. I just don't understand it.

I've had this for a couple of months now. It's my first soldering station, but I've been soldering for a decade with simple irons that plug right into AC. I've been very pleased with this iron, it just works. I purchased it because of all the good reviews and the price. However I must say to the people who've left negative reviews: for the price and the fact that it comes out of China, you pretty much need to understand that QA is going to be crap on it and you have a higher chance of getting a defective one. There's no need to virtue-signal and say "I'll never do business with this company again," every inexpensive thing that ships out of China has QA issues. I happened to get a working one, and I can tell you if you get a good one it'll be your daily driver for a long time. If you're worried about it dying, buy two and you've still saved money compared to a Hakko 88. It's got everything you need - temperature control, and a switch to display the temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit; a solid iron holder; a spindle to hold your solder; a sponge and holder; nice long cord on the iron; and tip cleaner. It has a sleep mode for the inevitable hour you'll spend between soldering jobs debugging your Arduino code; sleep mode automatically turns off when you grab the iron. Just a great unit for a great price. You just have to understand that for Chinese goods at this price, things like quality assurance go out the window, but if you get a good one you'll be super happy with it.

I purchased the original style X-Tronic with the temperature dial. I've been using this since 2018, and it has never broke. I'm still using the original tips that came with it. The tips never pitted or corroded, they've always maintained their tin. This soldering iron is the best looking. The station's plastic base, and the look of it is just a lot nicer than anything else on the market. The Weller is just plain stupid, because it looks like a soldering station from 1995. I remembering seeing the same Weller soldering stations back in 1995. The X-Tronic looks modern. It's extremely light, it feels like there's nothing inside of it. But it doesn't tip over, and it's easy to move around. Note: many other soldering stations have 2 parts, and so they aren't convenient to store or move around on your desk, because the base is separate. Some others have a narrow base with the cord coming out of the center of the tiny narrow base, which can tip over. The X-Tronic got the design fundamentals correct. The only thing I don't like is the angle, and the diameter of the metal coil that holds the soldering iron. But this is just a person gripe, and it has no effect on the actual function or operation. I just wish the soldering iron was a little further away from contacting the "spring" that holds the soldering iron. The way it's designed, some of the heat can transfer to the spring, but this really doesn't affect anything, and I've never gotten burned from it. The "Sleep Mode" is not ideal, because I'm not sure what the point of it is? It goes down to 350F, but that is way too hot for safety. I think it should simply shut off completely after 10 minutes of non-use, for safety reasons. It NEEDS an auto shut off for safety reasons. However, the sleep mode will prevent it from getting damaged or self destructing with heat, so it's a lot safer than nothing at all. It heats up so damn fast, in less than 30 seconds, that you don't really need it to stay "pre-warmed" unless you're a complete idiot and trying to solder something and finish the whole project in 41 seconds (not a good way to work on sensitive electronics or important tools).

This soldering iron has been absolutely perfect for what I need. It's so much better than the simple 30 or 40W one I used previously. It heats up ridiculously quickly, the temperature can be set quite precisely, and it will turn itself off automatically (I haven't needed that feature, thankfully!). I bought it specifically to use for building a tube amplifier, which is mostly larger, point to point connections, and it worked great. I haven't yet used it for smaller projects, but I'm sure it could work for just about anything with the right tip installed. The tube roll spot on the left side is neat, but it's too fat for my current roll of solder. Oh well, the extra stability of having it attached is actually quite nice. My one complaint is that the handle can get quite warm, and almost uncomfortably hot if left on for several minutes (I was operating anywhere from 650 to 750F). However, I rarely need it on for more than a minute or two at a time, and it heats up so fast that I can simply switch it on when I need to solder a few joints, and switch it off when I'm done. (Also, I imagine this is a common problem with this type of soldering iron, at least in this price range, so I can't really dock it). If you plan to use this for more than a few minutes at a time, I would think about finding some extra insulation for your tender fingers, or at least gripping it further back.

Never soldered until I bought a low quality iron model (i ended up returning!) recently for some jewelry soldering. I looked up this one after I saw it was recommended in a newspaper. Love it. Easy to use for a beginner. Good, comfortable grip, even for small hands. Even heat. The soldering wire that comes with it works like a charm. A great kit for an ambitious yet newbie craft solderer !

Nice unit, heats up quickly and the temperature control panel shows set temperature but also the current temperature as tip heats up so you know when it's ready rather than waiting an arbitrary time until you think it's ready. The solder spool holder doesn't click in place so if moving unit around the solder roll will fall off but that's only an issue if not using it on a bench.

Im not going to say im the master of the soldering iron by any means. but for me this iron gets the job done. learn from my mistake and remember to remove the plastic protector on the end of the iron prior to turning on or itll be a smoky mess... one thing that irks me is they did not include any flux but included a bit of decent solder in the box. because of the size of the whole unit the "helping hands" are rather useless for anything larger than a business card as there is no counter weight. the little sponge to assist to clean your tips was a nice thought but doesnt really assist. as for the soldering iron proper, the display is very easy to read however i didn't check the accuracy of the readout to actual temperature but it feels relatively close. I would say prior to first use allow the iron to hang with the wire stretched out as there is a fair amount of memory which creates awkward bends which are a bit annoying. final critical thoughts: I like how there is included solder however( a problem with every soldering iron) there is no included flux. both are required for 80-90% of connections you will do when soldering so why not include a small amount of general purpose flux? also they included a tip cleaner but no solder wick? Small inclusions like this would turn it from a 4 star item to a 5 star item as it would set them apart from the competition

This soldering station works great.. The only part i think could be improved is the temperature. Im not sure but i think the temperature readout is based on how far you have the dial turned over..... as opposed to the temerature of the iron in real time. Basically what im saying is when i set the iron temperature to 400, what is the true temperature of the iron. Otherwise really gòod product.

This is the best soldering iron I have owned. Quite an upgrade from the cheap Source one I had. This heats up very quick. I like the actual temperature gauge. I don't have any way of measuring the actual temp so i assume that is within a few dgrees of actual. It's excellent for my application which is soldering small gauge wire to circuit boards for model RR engines. The only thing I could suggest for improvement is the plastic ring that helps hold the soldering iron in place. It doesn't stay in place and doesnt seem to really fit the actual holder.