A "decent" iron makes soldering much, much easier. Decent in my eyes being: has a semi-accurate temperature setting, reasonable wattage, and quick temperature

A "decent" iron makes soldering much, much easier. Decent in my eyes being: has a semi-accurate temperature setting, reasonable wattage, and quick temperature recovery. This lets beginners keep the heat "low" without having issues when using small tips or soldering to the ground plane. In the last few years though, the price for "decent" has dropped a lot. Like the Pinecil is honestly a solid option despite the awful ergonomics. And, if you're only soldering for 15-30m at a time, the ergos aren't going to be a huge issue.