PINECIL – Smart Mini Portable Soldering Iron, Small

I love this little soldering pen. I bought it first because I wanted to see if it actually got hot as fast as I saw online.**spoilers** It doesNow that I've tested it, it will become an actual tool in my kit and not just a curiosity. It gets hot fast and powering it from a battery works perfectly. The tip seems to be pretty lightly seated and I'm not sure if that's typical or if it should lock in tighter, but I'll just go with it for now unless I find out otherwise.

Rarely review but this is worth it. I have many soldering irons they all have the annoyance of a stiff cord. I bought a silicone cord and this is great. It is a little fragile around the tip end and mine broke after a year or so but I put epoxy on it and good to go again. For electronics work this is my go to iron. I'll certainly buy it again. Thingiverse has some nice cases to go with it.

The Pinecil 2.0 is even better than the original, and will hopefully last longer without meeting the same fate as the one I purchased previously wich now has a completely broken plastic shell thanks to an overtightened screw.It heats up quickly, maintains temp well as long as you use a suitable power supply, and has all the bells and whistles you could ever want from a soldering iron.

Verified with the Pinecil Authenticity Checker, it's legit.Even though tariffs have made it significantly more expensive, this is still a good buy. Unless you want to spend twice the money, or more, this is the probably best choice for hobbyists/tinkerers/makers.

*Image caption: If you’re looking at this image and thinking “this guy should be a professional product photographer”… first off, you’re too kind and second, I was thinking the exact same thing.*If you’re choosing between the TS101 and the Pinecil then I’ll make this review short, get the Pinecil.Because other reviewers aren’t as thoughtful as I am, I didn’t have the luxury of knowing the above so I bought both. I first unboxed and plugged-in the TS101 and right away the iron started heating up ridiculously fast. As I fumbled around trying to turn it off I was then thoroughly confused by the menu system, so much so that I ended up going into “boost” mode which made it even hotter. This rough start was not at all surprising considering most Chinese products have horribly confusing software even if the hardware is insanely good. So I did some research and found out that most soldering hobbiests prefer IronOS which is an open-source OS that is (if you haven’t guessed) specifically for smart soldering irons. It turns out that the TS101 can be flashed with IronOS so I thought perfect let’s do that. Which brings me to my final reason for convincing you to go with the Pinecil - depending on your computer, the OS you’re running, the cable you’re using, whether your TS101 is authentic or not, and which year it was manufactured.. you may not be able to flash it or even upgrade the firmware. There’s numerous posts online about this, so much so that I believe the TS101 is no longer recommended by those who developed IronOS. If you are lucky and all the stars in China align for you then you may be fortunate enough to install ironOS on your TS101, I was not. So I put the TS101 away and grabbed the Pinecil.The pinecil V2 (identified by the green grip) already has IronOS pre-installed on it so we’re already off to a much better start. After plugging it in for the first time the Pinecil did not rapidly start heating, instead it presents you with a very thoughtful and easy to navigate menu complete with animated icons and scrolling text describing what each menu item does. In the time it took me to fumble around with the TS101 and unsuccessfully try to turn it off, I was already changing my Pinecil’s settings to my liking and learning about all the many features it has to offer that the TS does not (or perhaps weren’t explained in its horrible menu). Outside of the menu, the Pinecil supports up to 88W OOTB compared to the TS101’s 65W. Supposedly the TS101 can support higher wattages with the latest firmware, but since it may be impossible for you to update said firmware let’s just assume it doesn’t.Lastly, the Pinecil comes with a newer style Pine designed soldering tip (6.2ohms) compared the the longer TS-style tip (8 ohms), but it supports both. The benefit of the short tip (ST line) on the Pinecil (other than the lower electrical resistance and improved ergonomics) is that the thermocouple is closer to the end of the tip itself which provides more accurate temp readings.In conclusion, get the Pinecil V2. If for some reason you’re still considering the TS101 at this point then make sure you get an authentic Miniware and not one of the clones Amazon also carries like Uy Chan. You might have a better chance of flashing the firmware on an authentic but even that is a gamble.

4/5 Mine is weird, when I go to hit the plus to heat up the tip on heat setting 'S', the tip heats up but the screen shuts off during the heat cycle. Other than that, works good for me. Just wish it had a built in battery so it could be truly wireless. I'm working on modding it for just that hehe.Pay attention to the voltage you're using, I saw a review photo that claims "It's not work" but the person was using a 1500ma battery, or around 5 volts when the device is rated for 12 to 24 volts. I made the same mistake initially with a 1000ma battery until I looked on the side of the soldering iron. A traditional 9V battery will however power the device.The shell is sleek and solid, you can even tighten the little screw at the top to secure the tip in place. Well worth the price point, but again, I wish it had a built in rechargeable battery. Will buy another if you sell one or plan to eventually.

Probably the best budget soldering iron, worked wonders, with a good power brick, it heats up in 5 seconds.

Works perfectly amazing heats up quicklyAlthough wish it came with a charger haha