Why iFixit's FixHub Soldering Iron Station is my favorite new tool

Today, iFixit launched a brand new product: the FixHub Soldering Iron and Power Station. You can buy just the Soldering Iron, a bundle with the Iron and Power Station, and a bundle with those two plus soldering tools. Pre-orders are available today, and will ship on October 6th.

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Soldering Iron Station provided by iFixit.

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#review #ifixit #soldering #repairable #fixhub

[anoraker]

A couple of other things I'd like to note based on comments I've seen:
1) This is not a sponsored video. iFixit didn't pay me for this video, they didn't get any editorial input, they didn't even get a preview. They saw it when you did. Even if you click a link and buy one, I get nothing for it. These are not affiliate links. The only thing iFixit did was provide me a review unit, and that doesn't make this a sponsored video... it just makes this video possible to exist. It's how nearly every tech review works, whether it's on YouTube or on some blog.

2) iFixit clearly isn't trying to convince you to ditch a soldering iron you're happy with in releasing this product. This is a company that actually speaks out against the idea of "upgrading only because something new released." I can say with certainty they'd rather you keep your soldering iron you're perfectly using. But if you are unhappy, or you don't have one yet, or you have specific needs met by this solution... you're who they made this for... and that's ok too.
It's perfectly valid to spend less on a product that meets your specific needs.
It's also perfectly valid to choose to spend more if you feel that option meets your needs better or nets you some other value.

[anoraker]

Based on these comments, I'm going to acquire a Pinecil and a Miniware and do a showdown video between the three. I'll grab three copies of a kit project and see what's what.

[nikscha]

Ts80p is 80€, and you can get a pd power bank with it. Much better deal in my opinion

[noah_the_nerd]

Curious to see how this compares to the community's other favorite portable iron, the Pinecil.

[power]

Lol i love ifixit i have the toolkit, but you can't make me part ways with my pinecil and omnifixo!

[inflatablemicrowave]

Honestly, its easy to compare this with cheaper comparable irons with feature sets as absolutes, but as a whole package, I think people will be willing to eat the enormous cost for something with such a high amount of great features in such a nice package...
Still, yeah, insane cost. Gonna be hard to rationalize. It is probably gonna be slightly easier if you consider what this kind of power bank would cost from someone like anker, but still crazy high for this market. They might want to make a battery-less version of the power bank with built in controls, but at that point it would lose one of its key features and come closer to the direct comparison areas of the cheap sub 40 dollar options even, such as the pinecil.

[AlexusMaximusDE]

Once this goes on sale, I might replace my Weller WS80 with it. That station thing is a workhorse but I really don't have the space to always have it out and because it's heavy and annoying to get out and put away it really takes away the "let me fix this real quick" aspect of replacing a component and turns it into a chore.

[blackmedia]

Seems nice. But how to adjust the temperature when using the Iron without the base station? On their website it only says something like it should be adjustable via Wi-Fi, but I'm curious how that would work or how practical it would be

[MrKeith]

While a good idea this soldering iron is outrageously overpriced for its limited features. For that price you can buy a full size digital Weller.

[TominiOfficial]

Cool, I was curious when will iFixIt come up with a soldering station/iron, but I will keep my Pinecil V2 and I would buy it again even today. The price to performance ratio is just unbeatable.
The iFixIt FixHub certainly is more of a all round package with nice QoL, but not worth the price imho.

[logictechratlab]

What's the communication protocol between the iron and the station/ computer? If it's serial, I wonder if we could hack together an Arduino with an encoder to make our own dirt cheap soldering station.

[jdoe]

Ifixits tools are nice but I recommend Sequre S20 Nano for small smd work, they use JBC C115 tips and they're half the price. Or the S60, it uses the C210 tips.

[RuneHolmgren]

4 tip designs is not enough, and makes this a trap for buyers who really should have gotten into a system with better support.

1 manufacturer of the tips means you are at the whim of a company that might stop making tips.

iFixit releasing a poorly supported proprietary standard is shocking, and the opposite of what the company is pressuring the industry to do. Honestly @Anoraker these are problems you should cover in an review, not a 7 second bullet point to mention.

[markdi]

I have a neat Ryobi device that outputs 150 watts at 120 volts from a 18-volt Ryobi battery I can plug any of my numerous soldering stations and soldering irons into it

[AndrejaKostic]

Very interesting soldering station, but the tip selection, as it is right now, does feel a bit limited. Price of the tips would be really interesting... If they could put it somewhere around 10-15 USD, they would be competitive, and be an interesting alternative to Chinese brands. The expensive kit, if the consumables are good, also looks like it would be a good starting point for people who have no idea how to solder, and don't know where to start, although I'm a bit divided about the lack of soldering sponge in the kit.

Is it possible to switch the tips while iron is hot without too much fuss? It's not clearly visible from the video. I come from background of Pace soldering stations, which also use tip-sensor-heater cartridges. Stations come with heat-resistant tweezers, and the iron stand also have slots for tips, and changing a tip takes only 4-5 seconds. Just grip the tip with tweezers, pull it out, place it on the stand, get the new one and push it in, software detects new tip, and starts heating. It seems that the same solution could work with iFixit iron, if the software doesn't make it too complicated.

Also, having to use a web application for configuration of iron itself without the power pack is not really something that looks too much appealing (but maybe I'm just too old), plus there doesn't seem to be a demo mode in the application. If they're making an iron for use in inaccessible places, having to connect to the Internet to change settings isn't really all that nice. Having a couple of buttons and maybe 2-3 LEDs for different temperature memories could have fitted onto the iron. At least having an off-line Android/iOS application, or desktop application would be useful. Maybe someone make one, if it becomes popular enough...