You don't want the insulation melting back, or the solder wicking up the cable and losing flexability.
Good points. I've done both of those
You definitely need to practice first with some spare cable and terminals, but I found that by using a small blowtorch flame to heat the terminal fairly quickly, and feeding in the solder to fill all the gaps around the wire, I ended up with a neat and very solid joint. The solder does tend to wick up the cable about an inch or so, so you lose a little flexibility. The cable I used has flexible insulation, so you can pull it back about half an inch before soldering, to prevent it burning. I also fit short lengths of heatshrink insulation over the ends of the cable insulation and terminal tube after soldering to cover any small gap and give a neat finish.
As you say though, someone with no experience can produce better and more consistent results by crimping if they have access to the right tools.
