ERSA, JBC, Weller and Hakko are all roughly equal footing as long as we're talking prehistoric tech temperature-controlled irons that create heat by making angry pixies beat their heads against a piece of iron wire; it's just like listening to folks argue over whether Lincoln or Miller welders are best. The difference is both of their top of the line weld like crap compared to a mid-range ESAB; and neither of them can even get close to ESAB's plasmarc gear. Their technology is just that much better.
Similarly, MetCal (and clone/spinoff company ThermalTronics) have better technology; it works completely differently than ANY conventional iron. Their irons use high-frequency current to inductively heat an alloy slug to it's curie point, which by its elemental nature then operates at a fixed temperature. But the high-tech doesn't end there; the way it senses and closes the loop temperature-wise is similarly unique.
Instead of using a closed-loop circuit monitoring wherein the control cycle is: Tip at temp, tip touches work and cools, thermo senses drop in temp & turns on heat, heater heats metal slug and work, thermo senses tip at temp again, etc... the SmartHeat system monitors the HF inductance of the tip, and as soon as the tip touches the work that inductance changes, so the increase in applied energy is instantaneous. The "tip touches work and cools, thermo senses drop in temp" part of the loop is effectively eliminated.
This is true of both MetCal and Thermaltronics SmartHeat systems.
You see this as an advantage, but I see it as a major disadvantage from a professional point of view.
I should probably explain though, working in a research setting I tend to encounter a large mix of different solder alloys day-in day-out. One moment it's SAC305, the other SnBi54, and the next day I might be "playing" (if health and safety people permit) with SnCd solder. Given the price of Metcal tips, and the fact that we'd have to get one of those specific rather expensive tips (double to three times the cost of ERSA ones) for every single alloy is already a massive deal breaker, and in fact unless they changed it I doubt you can get one that can do 150°C? I often have to solder on plastic (don't ask - we work on weird things), and there smooth temperature control is an absolute must. And yes, I love all the metcal marketing wank, but they don't exactly cater to those of us who aren't running lead free assembly lines 24/7. Additionally I don't feel guilty about taking an ERSA tip to the grinder and changing it to whatever shape I happen to need, doubt the same would be a great idea with metcal tips.
The (un)Holy Trinity of ERSA, JBC, Weller and Hakko will ALWAYS have their loyal followers; especially among those with a "turn it up to 11" mentality who simply MUST HAVE a knob/button they can mess with. But those who solder to get the soldering DONE AND DONE RIGHT prefer MetCal and Thermaltronics, because they know their gear will always be at the RIGHT temperature for the job at hand, and they will always be able to get the exact right tip for that job. I learned that lesson long ago with my Weller GT7 soldering gun; when you need bigger, you simply need bigger, not higher temperature. It has 150W power, 6-second heat-up time and solid-state temperature control. It is old-school tech, but sometimes it simply is the right tool for the job.
I dislike JBC and Weller at this point actually, they're good enough for hobbyist usage. (Now if we're talking Weller Magnastat, those I do like. And actually those are employing a system in the same spirit of Metcal.) But when talking conventional stations Hakko and ERSA are on their game, they fixed the deficiencies using software and some clever hardware design apparently. And Weller and JBC are still catching up in my opinion.
And before you ask, at home I use a 80 Euro ERSA iCON I bought of eBay as "not working - for parts", took about 10 minutes to fix and 50 cents in spare parts.
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