[tecleandor]

Yep, I discovered late than SMD parts were way easier to solder than I expected. Sometimes even easier and faster than thru-hole components if they aren't too small, as you don't have to be flipping the board back and forth all the time.

I just bought a couple of super cheap SMD soldering learning kits from AliExpress and spent an afternoon or two practicing. They are just 1 or 2 dollars each.

Those kits are just a small PCB with a bunch of SMD resistors and stuff you can solder. When you finish you can measure the resistance of the whole circuit to check if you've soldered them all properly or you've shorted or killed any of the components. Some of them have also a couple SOP and QFP footprint chips or even some LEDs on a functioning circuit, so you can power it later and see if it works.

Edit: Corrected QFN for QFP