Hakko FR810B-05 SMD Hot Air Rework Station

This company has some of the best products in the industry along with support that is second to none. Not only do you get an exceptional tool, the staff will be right there for you should you ever run into a defect. Very highly recommended without hesitation.

Having purchased this a few months ago and used for many, many hours now. I would not recommend this station, at all. My biggest complaints: 1. The menu system is counter intuitive and clunky. 2. You have to press far too many buttons to change temp/air flow, what a waste of time. Not to mention you have to take your eyes off your work. 3. You can't stack any gear on top. I had to waste time building a metal shelf to fit around mine so I could put my iron on top. 4. The wand will hardly ever register that you have put it back in the cradle and I have to waste time wiggling/turning it in the cradle to get the station to beep (signalling it is in cool down). 5. This tool is so awful to use, it really deserves a zero star rating. Having gotten sc**wed paying $850 for this thing, I feel like I should list some pros, to at the very least make myself feel better. 1. Vacuum pickup. This feature is handy, sometimes. I would not say it is worth the huge price tag of this unit though. 2. Build quality, it is made well and _should_ (hopefully at this price) last a long time. Hakko: Should you happen to read this, you are better than this. A good tool should last a long time and make a job faster/easier. This tool definitely makes rework harder and slower.

One of the best hot air stations available. Stop looking and buy it!

Works as expected. The removable nozzles are a bit hard to remove after few heat cycles but certainly better than other hot air systems I have used.

Thinking you get what you pay for, I spent $850 on an FR-810B about four years ago. Go check out some of the reviews on YouTube, especially the one by Rossmann comparing it to the Quick. The user interface of the FR-810B is a nightmare, consisting of a few LED digits and pushbuttons that require an inordinate number of pushes to control anything. There is no indication of C or F on the display, that is buried in a parameter menu. Like others have said, placing the handle in the cradle is finicky and doesn't always result in a shutoff. The airflow and temperature control may in fact be quite good, but it's not a very usable instrument, and I see no reason to pay $500 extra over the competition for this piece of garbage.