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National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes vs Tektronix Oscilloscopes comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

National Instruments (NI) O...
Ranking in Oscilloscopes
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Tektronix Oscilloscopes
Ranking in Oscilloscopes
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Oscilloscopes category, the mindshare of National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes is 2.8%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tektronix Oscilloscopes is 17.8%, up from 14.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Oscilloscopes Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Tektronix Oscilloscopes17.8%
National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes2.8%
Other79.4%
Oscilloscopes
 

Featured Reviews

AA
Senior Technical Officer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products
The use of this solution does require a specific mindset. Some people are not tailored for it. Try it. The learning curve is really fast, so it's easy to use. We are measuring RF signals, one-sided analog signals, and control loops for system controls. We are not using this product to support connected devices nor are we planning to going forward.
HC
Sr Engineer at a tech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
B-scan is its most valuable feature. However, we are looking for an Intel platform with the newest chipset.
Try it if it is within your budget. It is a good product. The learning curve is very quick. It takes about one or two days. While we have plans to use this product to support connect devices, we are not currently doing so. We are currently measuring signals from 3.0 and 4.0, and looking for 5.0.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The user interface is very good. Their boards are reliable. We buy boards from them, they are reliable, and we don't have problems with them."
"Most of the features are on the screen itself. The naming convention makes it very easy to understand what is needed."
"We haven't need technical support yet because all documentation is well done and there."
"It makes programming simpler."
"It saves me a lot of time. You can click a button and walk away, basically doing a week's worth of work in 20 minutes, it's a pretty good time saver."
"The integrated lateral view makes it easier to develop your test systems and test software flow."
"I can automate a lot of testing very quickly. With just a push of a button, I can test hundreds of different scenarios without having to do all that manual testing myself."
"It helps us to save on our investment with a lot of the stuff that we buy, as we can find defects quickly."
"We have multiple systems for manufacturing tests, and it's critical for our support. The support increases our productivity."
"Tektronix is robust and reliable. It's a hammer-resistant machine, a fact which is most important on our manufacturing floor."
"It is easy to handle, so everyone likes to use it."
"This solution provides high confidence in the data being presented in the measurement to inform a design decision going forward."
"It has very fast response with deep memory."
"The most valuable features are its ease of use, user interface, and PAM-4. The user interface is good and easy to use."
"I trust Tektronix for its accuracy. The probes of solution fit my application. E.g., the speed of probes, the way that it is using probes with designs, and the probes' size."
"I haven't seen anything similar where it has a spectrum analyzer and regular scope together."
 

Cons

"There is a learning curve. It might take a year if you're not well-versed with it."
"National Instruments needs to be focusing on its 5G RF applications. They are aware of this, and that's where most of their R&D is going."
"There is a learning curve. It takes one to two months to get acclimated to the tool."
"I would like to see them increase the productivity and auxiliary functions."
"I would like to have more RF. They're going that way, but still there is some work that they have to do."
"The software has room for improvement."
"It took a good year until I felt proficient using the product, as It is a complex program. Their newest version has a less steep learning curve, but back closer to 15 years ago, it was a lot less user-friendly."
"I would like more speed and a reduction in size."
"They need to add more memory to this machine."
"On the source side, their AWGs don't have enough bandwidth. They need to increase the bandwidth of their AWGs, meaning they have to have a faster sample rate."
"If they could make the user interface even more intuitive that would help. If they could make it easier to read, to know where the buttons are, that's all I need."
"I would like if they could have more customer support engagement."
"I want the system to have a wider bandwidth because high-speed continues to move faster, so there is more bandwidth to cover."
"I am not utilizing the full bandwidth of this product."
"I wish we could turn off the automatic measurement feature of the oscilloscope, for teaching purposes."
"I would like to see more integration into machine learning because that's what we try to apply it to."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products."
"It's a bit expensive. However, you get the entire package, not just the box. It's a box which supports older releases."
"I would like more competitive pricing."
"They have an initial investment cost, which is quite high. But, along the way, there is so much behind it that the product is really invaluable."
"The price is a little steep. A lot of people, like our customers, use a different machine because of the price. The price has to come down a bit so we can do other tests without paying the equipment's high costs."
"The pricing was good. Compared to the others, it was very good."
"It's reasonably priced for what we spend our money on in the lab. It's one of the lower-end purchases."
"These products are a very low-cost, effective alternative to traditional Big Iron ATE hardware."
"They have academic pricing which is helpful."
"The prices are compatible with what they offer. Going forward, I would like them to become more competitive and dominant with their pricing in the market."
"Pricing could be lower. I would want to buy it for an extremely, low price, but Tektronix is a high-end product."
"Tektronix Oscilloscopes are really expensive for small businesses. The low-end scopes don't really compare performance-wise to what the other companies provide, like RIGOL . Mostly that just has to do with the software options."
"In the 100 gigabit Ethernet and 400 gigabit Ethernet category, everything is in the multi-hundred thousand dollar range, so it was fair pricing because everything is expensive."
"It is a great price for a great product."
"It could always be cheaper."
"It's available on the low-end scopes for free, but on the higher-end scopes, it is expensive. Therefore, it's a bit more difficult to make stuff work."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
15%
University
11%
Educational Organization
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise19
 

Also Known As

NI Oscilloscopes
TBS Series, TDS Series, MDO Series, MSO Series
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes vs. Tektronix Oscilloscopes and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
884,108 professionals have used our research since 2012.