Alot of people aren't going to like this...the shitty cheap yihua stations from eBay or aliexpress are just fine. Yes, the calibration can be off by like 50 deg but thats easily remedied with a thermocouple and turn of the adjustment screw.
My main station is a metcal like π has. But it's kinda over kill for what I do. Can I trust it? Yes, but I'm not gonna go hog wild with temperature anyway. I have a cheap little yihua that was spot on in temp with 1/8 of a turn to the adjustment. Uses hakko tips elements and we'll whole irons if you wanted. Stay away from the 2in1 rework stations with the hot air gun. Only bad experience with those.
I work with old tube stuff, mostly point to point wiring. The station is sort of pointless for that, I'm gonna use my big weller gun, or my 175w big kachunka-chunka for stuff like tabbed in shields or chassis soldering. You need alot of heat when you can only heat the leads or are soldered directly to the chassis.
Now if I get ANYTHING with boards, especially the old phenolic thu hole. I'm pulling out the station.
Main point, the Chinese stations can be fine. This is the one I've been using for years now.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/936B-110V-ESD-Electric-Iron-Soldering-Station-SMD-Welder-Welding-Tool-w-Stand/331812509781?epid=0&hash=item4d41911855%3Ag%3AjzMAAOSw6VVesnF6&LH_BIN=1