Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
I keep seeing ultra-cheap soldering irons on AliExpress and wondered if any are good enough for beginners or hobbyists. To find out, I bought four different “bargain basement” irons with my own money and ran three simple but highly representative tests, from joining two wires to soldering surface-mount parts. I also compared them to my daily driver, a TS80P, which I’ve used for years and really like. The results were interesting to say the least…
Test Bench and Ground Rules
To keep things fair:
- I used each iron exactly as delivered, with the supplied tip.
- Same solder, same boards, same conditions.
- I didn’t swap tips or add accessories.
- Important UK note: most of these arrived with EU plugs, so you’ll need a UK adapter.
The tests build in difficulty:
- Beginner — join two tinned wires.
- Hobbyist — solder through-hole parts on perfboard/stripboard.
- Advanced hobbyist — place 1206 passives and a small regulator on a PCB.
The Irons On Test
1) The “Monstrosity”: 100 W, wood handle
Part-opened box, rough finish, changeable tip in theory but looks terrible. First impressions were awful. Smoked like crazy when I plugged it in, absolutely do not recommend – SAVE YOUR MONEY.
2) Blue Handle: 60 W
EU plug, short lead, feels quite flimsy build quality, but actually okay in the hand.
3) Red Handle: 80 W with LCD
EU plug, comes as a little kit: instructions, sponge, multiple tips including an absurdly large one. LCD temperature readout, fast warm-up.
4) Black Handle + External Control Unit
Iron connects via a 5-pin plug to a separate controller. Detachable heating element. Front dial for temperature. Uses a standard “kettle lead” on the controller so UK mains is easy. Arrived with a fine, seemingly higher-quality tip.
5) Reference: TS80P
My own iron. Firmware control, changeable tips, USB-C PD so it can run from a battery pack. Not in the same price bracket, but good for calibration of expectations.
Test 1 — Joining Two Wires
Aim of test: This is the most basic test I could think of, soldering two wires together is the sort of thing that might be needed once every couple of years so there’s really no point spending big if you will never use it!
Method: Tin both ends then make a simple butt joint.
- Monstrosity: Immediate, heavy smoke and a horrible smell. Wouldn’t even take solder. Stopped the test on safety grounds. Completely unusable.
- Blue Handle: Hot enough to melt solder just over a minute after power-up. Tinned and joined wires without fuss. Basic job passed.
- Red Handle (LCD): Heats quickly to 400 °C and does the joint with no drama.
- Black + Control Unit: Melted solder fine, but the very fine tip made heating a fat wire awkward, leading to a messy joint. This is a tip-selection issue more than a core performance problem.
Verdict: For once-a-year jobs like fixing a cable, the Blue Handle is perfectly adequate. The Monstrosity is bin-fodder.
Quick safety aside: when desoldering joints under tension, molten solder can ping. There’s a non-zero chance of it heading towards your face. I wear safety glasses. Your eyes are worth more than an iron.
Test 2 — Through-Hole Components
Aim of test: This test was designed to mimic a typical hobby project where you might want to solder some components (e.g. capacitors, resistors, or IC’s) to a piece of Perf board.
Method: Fit a capacitor and an IR2153 IC to a copper clad perf board.
- Blue Handle: It works, but at max temperature it needs a long dwell on copper areas. Soldering the IC was a bit of a slog. Acceptable but not pleasant.
- Red Handle (LCD): Noticeably nicer feel. Capacitor and IC both soldered acceptably.
- Black + Control Unit: Again the fine tip struggles to pump heat into larger copper; longer dwell needed. It does the job, but I kept asking myself why I’d pay extra over the red iron for this experience.
Verdict: All three can build a simple through-hole project. Differences here are mostly down to tip geometry and thermal mass. The Red Handle takes the lead for comfort, usable default tip, and overall friendliness.
Test 3 — Surface-Mount (1206 passives + a small regulator)
Aim of test: Sooner or later every hobbyist gets the urge to make their own PCB, this is great fun… but the smaller they are, the cheaper they are, so surface mount is the way to go! This test represents a typical SMD soldering tasks.
Method: Place several 1206 components, then a tiny regulator / MOSFET driver.
- Blue Handle: 1206 passives were fine using the one-pad technique. The regulator exposed a clear limitation, the supplied tip is too big to get between pins without nudging the part or bridging. Usable only if you swap to a smaller tip.
- Red Handle (LCD): Tip still chunky, but with patience and cleanup it can place 1206 and probably 0805s. Bridging happens on the regulator. Definite maybe for light SMD with a better tip.
- Black + Control Unit: Despite the fine tip, performance was poor. Solder beaded up the tip rather than wetting the pad, classic sign of a tip that isn’t transferring heat or is poorly plated/oxidised. Even at 425–450 °C it felt underpowered at the joint. Lots of effort for mediocre results.
- TS80P reference: Night and day difference. Small tip, proper thermal delivery, immediate wetting. Everything placed cleanly and quickly.
Verdict: None of the bargain irons are truly comfortable for small SMD out of the box. The Red Handle is the least bad with its stock tip. If you’re doing SMD regularly, step up to something like the TS80P or change to a high-quality, fine conical/chisel tip and add flux and hot air to your workflow… you won’t regret it!!!
Why Tips Matter More Than You Think
A soldering iron is a heat pump. If the tip is too small or poorly plated, it won’t deliver energy into the joint. If it’s too large, you can’t get mechanical access between pins. The cheap irons often ship with mediocre tips, so:
- Choose tip size to match the joint: chunky chisel for wires and ground planes, small chisel or fine conical for SMD pins.
- Keep tips clean and tinned. If solder beads and runs up the tip, you’re losing the wetting battle; re-tin or replace.
- Don’t fight physics. If a board has big copper pours, you need either a bigger tip, higher thermal capacity, or more dwell time, ideally with flux.
Bonus: A Cheap Microscope Setup That Actually Helps
For SMD, magnification and lighting make a bigger difference than people expect.
- Camera: A cheap 1080P camera with a C-mount connector for the lens and HDMI output that plugs directly into a monitor (less lag than USB!).
- C-mount x180 microscope: This screws directly on to the camera linked above.
- Lighting: A bright, close light source is crucial. Small USB-C rechargeable panels are perfect.
- Stability: You need a rock-solid mount. Something like a bolted-down monitor arm or a heavy post stand is essential. If the camera shakes when you tap the desk, working at 10–20× magnification becomes painful.
The result is a crisp, lag-free view of the pads so you can see bridges as they form rather than after the fact.
Recommendations
- Absolute beginner, occasional use (fix a wire, once a year)
Get the Blue Handle. It heats in ~1 minute, solders wires, and costs next to nothing. The short lead is the only real gripe. - Hobbyist, through-hole projects
Choose the Red Handle (LCD). It warms fast, feels decent, it comes with a set of tips, and the tip I tried works well. Good value. - Advanced hobbyist, regular SMD
Skip the bargain irons or at least budget for better tips and flux/hot air. If you can stretch, the TS80P class of iron is simply more pleasant and efficient. Your joints will look better and you’ll finish faster. - Universal avoid
The Monstrosity is dangerous junk. Don’t buy it for any reason.
Closing Thoughts
The cheap irons do have a place. For the occasional cable repair or a quick through-hole build, the Blue and Red handled units are absolutely fine and frankly impressive for the price. But the moment you move into tighter SMD work, tip quality, thermal delivery, and ergonomics start to matter more than the few dollars saving that you make. That’s where spending a bit extra saves time and frustration.
My YouTube video comparing the various soldering irons is coming out soon, so please check it out!
