However, that hakko has a weird shape and not stackable.
But it has a really small footprint, so I don't see much of an issue. I'm not sure what you would want to stack on top of such a small and skinny station.
For the cost of the 888, about 80-120 dollars, you are getting a high quality handpiece that is made to last. The cheap knockoff handpieces have a less flexible cord and are made from plastic that is slippery to touch and many of them will eventually crack from heat stress where the plastic ring screws together and/or the heater will eventually burn out. You can effectively consider them to be consumable parts. If you do much soldering, they may not last more than a few years. At the replacement cost, you may be fine just buying new handpieces when you need to, but...
2. Consistency: The cheap knockoffs will vary in specs and construction. The heater to tip fit will vary. The life of the heater will vary. And your replacement wands will take up space. And you will never get the flexibility of the cord or the feel. The knockoffs are not effectively cloning the quality, here.
The Hakko 888 handpiece sold separately costs about $70.00, which is most of the cost of the entire kit to begin with. And in the longrun, $70.00 just for the hakko handpiece might be worth it. Add in the excellent stand/holder, and the 888 really isn't very expensive. I have used cheap soldering stations for many years. After the modest upgrade to an 888, I think $40-$50.00 clones woudln't sell at all if everyone had the opportunity to really try out a genuine Hakko. When I bought mine, I had given away my backup to someone in need, and I was kinda screwing around to see what the fuss was about. What's $100.00? It wasn't long before I was a convert.
As far as the station goes, w/e. Power supplies and the electronics are simple. Clones or DIY, easy. But I can't buy/make as nice of a handpiece. Nor the compact, ergonomic and very excellent iron holder, for that matter. It's about as small as it could be while being secure. I know because I have tried replicating and/or improving on it for another station. I'm pretty handy, but the Hakko 888 holder is pretty close to perfection, and I can't touch it with my skills and tools in the woodshop. You can practically throw the iron back into the stand with your eyes closed, and it holds very securely. It has a place for a sponge and wool. And it isn't a square centimeter larger in footprint than it needs to be, simply to hold an iron securely, even if you were to remove the sponge and the wool! The rounded Fischer Price shape to it is purely functional. The size, shape, and weight are all well thought out and the many hours of design were not wasted. Not many stations come close. If you move your iron around your bench, much, you will notice this, quite quickly. A little board and a coil of wire ala similarly priced Wellers doesn't come close. Stamped sheet metal holders of most of the Chinese irons aren't in the same league. And the quirky shapes of some of the more expensive competition seem to be made for looks first - and ergos not at all.
AFAIC, the X-tronics station I have is perfectly equal. In warm up time and power tests, I can't tell any difference. The handpiece and iron holder are why that iron is in the garbage. The plastic feels slick/oily in a similar way as plexiglass. It doesn't give a good grip. There's no ergonomic closed-cell foam grip, like on the Hakko, so this oily/slick plastic IS the entire grip. The cord itself compares well, but the strain relief is much stiffer and it rattles loosely in the end of the handle. The wand is slightly crooked where it screws together, so it's not straight. The clunky sheet metal holder bends when it falls off the bench and the sharp corners gouge the floor. And the iron rattles around and droops in the holder, which makes it more squirrelly to pick up the iron without looking.
If the Hakko handpiece was cheaper, I'd consider buying them and changing out the connector to use with cheaper or DIY stations. But with the current price structure, the 888 package is hard to beat.