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Keysight Oscilloscopes vs National Instruments (NI) 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

Keysight Oscilloscopes
Ranking in Oscilloscopes
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
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
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Oscilloscopes category, the mindshare of Keysight Oscilloscopes is 10.8%, down from 19.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes is 0.8%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Oscilloscopes
 

Featured Reviews

KR
Helps us ensure our materials' performance and DKDF measurements
I would definitely recommend trying this product. It's a really reliable and high-performance machine. In terms of a learning curve on the equipment, I had some training on the VNA before we purchased it, so for me training was done within a week or so. It was not really hard. But for colleagues, it took them some time to learn it. Upgrades are always welcome. Apart from VNA, we need to purchase all the fixtures, other equipment to connect to VNA. They are very expensive tools, and that's part of upgrading what we are doing in the lab. The solution, performance-wise is a ten out of ten. Price-wise, it's a six out of ten.
SeniorEn6bfd - PeerSpot reviewer
The integrated lateral view makes it easier to develop your test systems and test software flow
The application space that this solution targets is 5G and high-speed systems. 5G is where we are developing some chips to test whether it prequalifies for a necessary requirement before we embed it into our box. Then, in high-speed systems, we're still figuring out how exactly we're going to test this out, but it should be also on prequalification. We are not using this product to support connected devices for IoT development nor are we planning to going forward. We are measuring millimeter wave signals. My colleague deals with the automation of the test systems. The user interface is okay.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Its 4 port has true differential with quite a few de-embedding features. It goes up to 40 GHz with high performance."
"We rely on the data and we make our design calls, risk-assessment, all based on the measurements that we take with the Keysight equipment."
"The Keysight Ecal feature has made it very easy for me to do calibrations."
"It can go up to a very high frequency, up to 120 gigahertz. And the user interface is really good. It's really easy to navigate."
"The user interface is simple and straightforward, so I can easily measure frequency, time, and other complex measurements."
"It's a one-stop solution. It does everything we need. The combined functionality is the biggest benefit."
"Its versatility and accuracy are the most valuable features."
"The most valuable features are its quality and reliability... The good thing about the GUI interface which is, of course, software-based, is that you can record and save your test setup."
"The integrated lateral view makes it easier to develop your test systems and test software flow."
"It helps us to save on our investment with a lot of the stuff that we buy, as we can find defects quickly."
"We haven't need technical support yet because all documentation is well done and there."
"The user interface is very good, easy to understand, and easy to operate."
"The learning curve was really fast, which was also the reason for saving a lot on the budget."
"Most of the features are on the screen itself. The naming convention makes it very easy to understand what is needed."
"It makes programming simpler."
"Because their view is a graphical user interface (GUI), it's very easy to program the tool."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement with some of the features of the scope. I would like them to make it a bit more simplistic... For example, if I want to look at what the total jitter is, they should make it simpler to find that, with different tabs."
"The technical support is okay, but sometimes they are on a different page than us. If it is something wrong with the scope, they are okay. However, if something technical goes wrong, like the calibration, it is hard to get the information that we need because it is hard to share everything and explain all the measurements in real-time."
"Their GUI is not the best. They need to improve on that. I think their software team needs to put in a little bit more work on how they are presenting the application on the scope."
"Every component has a manufacturing tolerance. I hope Keysight software can help with the tolerance loss in manufacturing variance, which can be ten percent or five percent. In the real world, we cannot fire a really perfect test with very smooth impedance. I would like to see Keysight provide a solution to solve the issue of loss of manufacturing variance."
"I would like them to build in more high-speed functions, such as FEC or PCIe, built into the array. PERT to be built-in for more specific product call. These would make our lives much easier."
"If the simulation runs for a long time, it will suddenly crash. If they can debug that, the product would be better."
"There is a learning curve depends on the client that I am working with. E.g., if I'm working with a client, and they have a test and measurement equipment company, when I go to another company, the new company may not be using the same model."
"We tried to connect multiple computers with a KVM switch but we could not do that using Keysight VNA. Keysight VNA comes with the PC inside it. We have other equipment as well, and we tried to combine it so that we had one monitor to control everything. With Keysight we could not do it. That's something of an inconvenience."
"There is a learning curve. It might take a year if you're not well-versed with it."
"I would like to see them increase the productivity and auxiliary functions."
"The software has room for improvement."
"I would like to have more RF. They're going that way, but still there is some work that they have to do."
"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."
"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."
"I would like more speed and a reduction in size."
"I would like to see more of a tasking user base and documentation inside the instrument itself, rather than having to go online for it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is on the high side."
"Pricing can be improved a bit. They try to make the pricing competitive but I think there are times that the competitors have good pricing."
"While I don't have transparency on the pricing, it works within my budget."
"We are looking at $600,000 and it's obviously expensive, but compared to others, everybody is in the same ballpark."
"Pricing always is very expensive. There's no free lunch."
"The cost is always a struggle. We always wish that we could do more for less."
"The pricing is always high."
"Keysight is on the high side. If they could make the price lower without sacrificing the quality that would be great."
"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."
"I would like more competitive pricing."
"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."
"The cost of the equipment has room for improvement. The pricing could improve."
"These products are a very low-cost, effective alternative to traditional Big Iron ATE hardware."
"The pricing was good. Compared to the others, it was very good."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
16%
University
11%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Legal Firm
31%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Also Known As

InfiniiVision Series, Infiniium Series
NI Oscilloscopes
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Nokia Bell Labs
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Keysight Oscilloscopes vs. National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.