The alternative, for a hobbyist, would be something like this new iFixit iron, the Pinecil, Miniware TS80/TS100 or one of the variety of chinese irons from amazon and Aliexpress that take Hakko T12 tips (Quicko and similar).
On the high-end, professional side, it's JBC and Metcal. Expensive.
The handle is so light! Active tips! Heats up in 2 seconds. Goes to standby mode when you put away the handle to save the tips.
There's even a lighter compatible precision handle that you can buy.
Luke Gorrie posted a bunch of Twitter threads where he compare the sizes of soldering handles. Can't find it now but https://github.com/lukego/soldering might lead you to them.
Then I quickly learned that I had adjusted the temperature calibration. I reverted what I had done but now I am not confident about the temperature its operating at, at all. Seems a terrible interface design.
I recalibrated by using the thermocouple on my multimeter.
That's not my biggest problem though - my biggest problem has just been keeping tips tinned properly. I've succeeded once, but it constantly feels like a struggle.
Also keeping the tip at moderate temperature range helps avoid oxidation - most manufacturers recommend to never exceed 400 C. JBC recommends to not exceed 370 C.
Hope this helps.
