SainSmart Mini Smart Soldering Iron Tool Set

Wow. I had been wanting a portable DC powered iron for field repairs for some time and heard good things about these...but was hesitant to spend the money. But with a $50 amazon gift card burning a hole in my pocket I decided to give it a try. Wish I had when I first heard about these! The problem was I saw the USB port and the initial product listings I saw for these irons made it sound like they could be powered off USB so I assumed they were a joke. Turns out the USB port is just there for configuration and upgrading firmware. Power is provided through the 2.5mm connector and with the included 19v supply this thing has blown me away. My main soldering station is a Hakko 936 clone that I've had for over 10 years and quite enjoy using. But I suspect it's going to start gathering dust now as I'll be turning to this little guy for most tasks. It's not perfect. Lets just get that out of the way. The ergonomics aren't great. The shape of it just doesn't feel as good in my hand and there's nothing to keep your hand from slipping forwards into the "hot zone". Thankfully the metal end closest to the plastic stays cool so even if you do slip you've got an inch or so to go before burning yourself. Even so I'm thinking about making a 3D printed grip to slide over the body just to make it a bit more comfortable to work with. Also, as almost every other review has noted the cord on the included 18v supply is a bit short. Thankfully I have extension cords near my bench and in the field I'll be running it off a lipo and can make the cord for that as long as I want. But it's a negative worth noting. I've only had mine a few hours so I can't say anything about longevity of the power supply at this time. As for soldering performance. I opted for the PR-BC2 tip as I tend to prefer a chisel over a conical. It's not quite the chisel shape I'd prefer and I'd like to see more tip options, but it's workable. I gave it a try on some XT60 connectors and it was able to heat the 14AWG wires faster than my 936 clone and it held it's temperature better while pumping heat into the connection. Next I tried a few small 22 and 18 awg connections and it worked spectacularly. I tried it on a few through hole components and again the performance was wonderful. I haven't tried any SMT's yet but it seems like it would still be doable if not a bit more difficult than with the slightly smaller chisel tip I'm used to. I may pick up the PR-B2 tip to try for those. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that Sain Smart included the required allen key (and two spare screws) for installing/removing the heater/tip. It would be nice if the tip could be changed without tools since with the heater/tip removed it's VERY compact and easy to travel with. There is also alternative firmware under development here: [...] flashing between that and the stock firmware was quick and easy - though I didn't really find the features of the alternative worth it at this time. I'm really looking forward to working with this iron more. It's not perfect, but the negatives don't seem major enough to justify four stars as overall it's exceeded my expectations.