I just soldered 2 PCBs by hand and 5 PCBs using a solder paste stencil. I was very suprised that the solder paste and stencil were easy to use. Using the stencil, i soldered 5 PCBs in about the same time it would have taken me to solder 1 PCB by hand. The stencil also improved the solder quality. It looks way better than doing it by hand. Even though i used a cheap solder paste, I still got great results.