Soldering Iron XS25 from Antex with Silicone Cable

I wasted money on two fancier looking soldering irons before buying this - it may look old school (no digital display etc) but it is built by a firm that knows what it is doing. The silicone cable makes such a difference but above all it reliably and continuously gets heat to the tip, and the method of attaching the tips is obviously well engineered. A job that has consumed me for hours (and for which I was blaming my lack of skills at first) was completed in minutes with this. Excellent value for money - highly recommended.

I bought the Antex XS25 soldering iron on 09/05/2025 for occasional electronic hobby work. It had a reasonable test today 8/06/2025 in the assembly of a Nano VNA testboard which involved an array of 49 close solder points and a further 30 points to fix the SMA connectors. To say I was pleased with the XS25's performance would be an understatement. This iron is an excellent piece of kit and am glad I resisted the lure of other less expensive soldering irons which appeared to be offering more, ie variable temperature control, digital temp display, higher wattage and a selection of tips. The 25 Watts of the XS25 is more than adequate. It is also certainly worth paying the extra for the silicone flex. I undestand that Antex have been producing soldering irons for many years and it certainly shows in the quality and performance of the product.

I've been making guitar pedals for the last few months and have completed four projects succesfully with three circuits to debug. I've been using a 60 watt cheap soldering iron with a tiny tip but my guess is that one of my problems has been far too much solder leaking accross the stripboard gutters because the soldering iron was too hot and delivered heat too fast. Advice on line seems varied and sometimes contradictory but there were a few votes for a lower wattage soldering iron and this model had a lot of good reviews for the price. My soldering improved immediately. Stripboard is pretty unforgiving for clumsy hands and while I still run a knife allong the gutters, by eye there seems to be no overspill. I didn't think that the chisel tip was ideal as a defult but gave it a go and actually it's good because the flat delivers heat to the strip and the tip heats up the component leg quickly and safely (I'm expecting to find some blown components in my debugging pile because of excessive heat from my old iron). In the count of two the solder flows into the heated intersection neatly. I haven't tried the model without the silicone cable but the soldering iron is very light and I wouldn't want any excessive pull on it from behind so I can see why this has been highlighted as a feature. This was the same price on Amazon as it was on the Amtex website but there were additional charges there for shipping if you want to save money. I

I bought this as an upgrade - i was using an old 30w iron and wanted something more up to date. With all the positive feedback i opted for this Antex XS25 which came straight from Antex (I bought the matching stand too). I am impressed with the feel of the iron - its very comfortable to use. I agree with other reviewers - the silicone cable is a must! Its soo much easier to work with. I will need to order more tips as the one it comes with is a angled flat tip which isnt ideal for detailed soldering. The tips just pull off (well i slowly twist it off gently) there is no thread. This also means if you do stick to the fitted tip you can turn it to face the way you want (with the iron off and cold obviously!). I was a bit disappointed to see the tips are around £5 each so what you think is a cheap iron can soon become premium if you need different tips fitting. Overall i am extremely pleased with this and would recommend it.

I can't even remember when I got my previous Antex XS25 soldering iron - I think it must have been some time around 1987. I stood on it some time in the 90's which cracked the body, but I taped it up and it continued to work fine. Even up until recently I was still on the original bit, with no signs of wear. I decided it was time to treat myself to a new one, and with many choices around - too many - thought I'd pay up and get another Antex. This new iron seems to heat up and solders ok. However, it's missing the hook that the previous iron had, which allowed it to be hung from anything convenient nearby while in use (i.e. empty tea mug). I was interested to try the silicone cable given positive reviews elsewhere but I actually found it's too floppy: with the old style cable you could kink it into place, and it would stay there - handy for keeping the iron where you need it. I just found the silicone cable annoyingly floppy. In all it does the job of soldering very well - just didn't quite meet my (high) expectations.

can't go wrong with an Antex

Love the silicone cable whch lasts, unlike the PVC mechanically insulated, and the heater element lasts long enough before needing replacing at a very reasonable few pounds. There is no temperature control on this model, think this is more for small IC's and light quick soldering as opposed to a full temperature controlled solder-station, but for literally all your electronics projects or repairs this is pretty spot on. I wouldn't try solder anything heavier gauged (like tinning end of speaker cable, if you're the cable tinning type) as it is a 25 watter and so you will be there all day and it will Kill your irons heater element and tip. Having said this it does come with a little stand thing to aid in the process of tinning lighter gauged cables. Having used a big make blue coloured solder station some years ago which are great in a production environment but a bit overkill for the house these British Antex iron's are perfect for their intended market and have a large range of specific job bits that you can buy to cover any job from leather 'patterning' (?) to foam cutting to electronic soldering, great !

This soldering iron is high quality, easy to use, and offers great value for the price. It heats up quickly and works well for various tasks. A solid choice for beginners and experienced users alike.