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Yep, hand-soldering SMT components, while possible, is decidedly challenging. That's why one of my friends used to have an SMT reflow oven in his living room. Mind you, he also had an SMT pick and place machine on the island unit in his kitchen, and an industrial spec EMC chamber in one of the bedrooms. He took these things seriously.
Brommers
Things have changed since then. Only the most dedicated home gamers will want to tackle surface mount, which is one of the major contributors to making consumer electronics small, cheap and reliable but also makes repairs a "swap out the whole board" procedure in most cases for economic reasons.