Yihua vs Sugon T12 soldering station?

[Pizzabroodje]

Hi!

I'm looking for a soldering station for in my hobby (/bike-repair) workshop. For now just to do some occasional soldering jobs like soldering a guitar switch, soldering two wires together, soldering a connector onto a cable, and stuff like that.

I don't have much experience with soldering, but learn stuff like this very quick (only soldering done so far is soldering wires together, always turned out fine). I'd love to be able to solder SMD components.

In my search I stumbled upon a lot of brands and types of soldering stations. First I searched locally and was about to pull the trigger on the Yihua 937D or 939D+, but then when looking for options directly from china I found a lot more.
T12 tips seem the way to go, so I'm mainly looking for a station with those now.
C245 seems superior but fake C245 tips are still more than 3 times the price of fake T12 tips, though don't even seem to last as long. Also there aren't many types of fake C245 tips available, and for the price of one real C245 I can get 10 fake T12 tips. The C245 stations themselves are more expensive too.
A lot of the T12 stations don't seem reliable though (KSGER/Quicko/etc.); which I need it to be though, as it'll be my only proper soldering iron. And I generally don't like purchasing stuff that'll likely break within a year.


Of all the stations I found I'm still deciding between two:

A new station by Yihua: the 948DB+ II
Yihua seems to make some well reviewed products, that are safe to use, and last for a good while.
The 948DB+ II pretty much doesn't have any reviews though as it seems to have been released less than a month ago.
Yihua's products are also certified by 3C, CE, UL, SGS, and ROHS.

Sugon / Aifen A8
Sugon seems like another brand that delivers quality products. I can't find much about reliability though; but their customers seem to be mostly businesses, who I think are less likely to post about this.
I don't find many reviews of the A8 at all; but more of the A9 / A9-Pro, which seem to be the exact same station but with JBC tips, a higher powered PSU to accommodate those, different handle, and power percentage displayed. Quality wise they should be the same though?
Their products should be certified by CE and ROHS, though I'm not 100% sure as there doesn't seem to be a sticker on the station (seen CE on stickers of other Sugon stations though, and they do have CE and ROHS certification listed on the KAISI site).

Function-wise they seem to be mostly the same, except for the sleep function. On the Yihua I'm guessing you have to shake it to wake it up again (if not, you'll have to press a button); on the Sugon it uses a stand like with the JBC, which detects it by completing an electrical circuit (so sleeps by putting the handle into it's holder, and wakes by getting it out of there).
Because the Sugon has the holder built onto the station and the Yihua has it separate, the Yihua is a smaller overall package which is a pro for me to be able to store it more easily.
The solder tip to finger tip distance with the Sugon is shorter.
The Sugon costs €92
The Yihua costs €57
So a difference of €35


Can anyone give me some useful insight to help me come to my decision? Is there any difference in quality between the two brands? Should I go for the cheaper, simpler, smaller Yihua, or the more expensive but also more advanced Sugon?

[MM0SDK]

Hi

I'm in a similar situation. Struggling to decide on either a t12 Quicoo iteration, Sugon/Aifen A9 or Aixun T3A.

[Pizzabroodje]

Hi

I'm in a similar situation. Struggling to decide on either a t12 Quicoo iteration, Sugon/Aifen A9 or Aixun T3A.

I thought about the Quicko / Quecoo and Aixun too, but they don't seem realiable. If you get one of those you better get a second with it to fix it (and in case of a Quicko: to even make it safe at all). That's why I scratched those off of my list.
The Yihua is similar to those but most likely grounded properly and not a safety hazard. I also think they have a better build quality in general.