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Keysight Oscilloscopes vs Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

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
Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes
Ranking in Oscilloscopes
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Oscilloscopes category, the mindshare of Keysight Oscilloscopes is 12.6%, down from 19.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes is 6.6%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Oscilloscopes
 

Featured Reviews

RH
We are able to easily record and save our test setup
The most valuable features are its quality and reliability. The type of instrument they make is pretty much the industry standard and trustworthy. They align R&D and design their equipment well, including post-processing stuff. The user interface is getting better due to a lot of feedback from users. With testing getting more complicated these days, you have to go through a lot of different drop-down menus and then go through a lot of steps. It's hard to say there is an easy solution, but of course, from the user's point of view, we would like to have something as simple as possible. The good thing about the GUI interface which is, of course, software-based, is that you can record and save your test setup very easily.
AM
The ability to have both the time domain and frequency domain, where the frequency domain is a very broad spectral plot, is extremely valuable
There is certainly a learning curve. Finally, watching YouTube videos on using the instrument got me over the hump, as well as a sit down session with one of the oscilloscope experts. The Rohde & Schwarz user interface is very oriented towards drop and drag functions on the screen. Some of those are just not obvious how to use. You have to have somebody get you over the hump. My understanding is they have a newer user interface, but I haven't gotten around to upgrading the firmware on my scope in some time, so I'm not familiar with it yet. In comparison, I love the LeCroy interface. Recently, I've learned that there are ways to adapt these instruments to become a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA), which is of interest to me. If I can use probes that are not in the 50 ohm domain, which is what you would have with a normal Vector Network Analyzer, then doing power applications for me, this would be a lot safer. Using a traditional communications type Vector Network Analyzer in the 50 ohm domain and having these high DC potentials (adding the DC blocks is adding air to the test method), then having an oscilloscope type front-end which is lot more tolerant of overload, it is a lot safer. The vector network analysis that I need to do is well under a gigahertz, and the other instruments that I have sort of stop at 40 megahertz. Trying to get past 40 megahertz into the mid-hundreds of megahertz and have high impedance probes that will tolerate DC, that is really of interest to me.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It breaks down all the parameters that we need to look at."
"The user interface is very simple. Everyone can use it."
"It's easier to automate and connect with multiple devices, and at the same time with laptops."
"It has the highest bandwidth and resolution on the market."
"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 user interface is simple and straightforward, so I can easily measure frequency, time, and other complex measurements."
"The technical support is good, and it has very strong customer support. They sent an engineer to us who gave us some training and tutorials."
"The product's functionality makes things easier for my partner, who is doing the PCIe design. He is able measure the product's usage and bit error rate."
"The most valuable features are its wide bandwidth and 8 ports."
"It is easy to connect with, accurate, reliable, and hardly fails."
"The user interface is pretty good. Right now, it is more than what we expected. It's easy and fast to use."
"The noise floor for reference clocks is pretty low, so this instrument is able to measure it where others cannot."
"The most valuable features are the accuracy and repeatability."
"I have been able to do quality measurements that I have been unable to achieve with the equipment from some other vendors."
"Most of the features offered are free, like serial data analyzers or jitter measurements."
"The noise sensitivity: It has a low noise floor."
 

Cons

"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."
"Some of the models have only two ports. It takes much longer to use a two-port. If they had a four-port, it would be much better."
"I would like to see better post-processing data utility tools like a de-embedding."
"Sometimes, it's quite hard to get the technical support to come onsite. If we run into a hardware, measurement, or software issue, we may have to wait a long time for them to come."
"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."
"I would like be able to measure multi-lane simultaneously. Right now, the high-performance jitter solution measures one signal. I would like to capture many at the same time."
"I would like more accuracy, particularly for multiport measurements."
"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."
"There was a learning curve. Their use interface and the way that their products work are not intuitive to somebody who switches from other vendors."
"In the next release, I would like to see report generation. It would make it a lot easier to refer back to and, when doing final testing, seeing what went on during the pre-test would help."
"They could use an RDA interface."
"The Rohde & Schwarz user interface is very oriented towards drop and drag functions on the screen. Some of those are just not obvious how to use. You have to have somebody get you over the hump."
"It would be good if they would try to automate most things because it has more pressing buttons and repetitive work. If there were automation scripts that they could provide, that would improve things."
"I'm against the Windows-based tools. Now everybody is running scopes, VNAs, and all their tools based on Windows. I don't want to see that in the future."
"The size of the unit is too big, too heavy. It has to be made more portable and smaller."
"The user interface could be improved, e.g., the documentation on the menus. I have to open a separate document to figure out the functionality sometimes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is very expensive."
"It's very expensive because this type of equipment is not so common. For a company buying it, this is a big investment."
"The cost is always a struggle. We always wish that we could do more for less."
"The pricing is good for what they offer."
"Our solution is upgradable. However, upgrading depends on how much money the company is willing to spend, because each upgrade will take a million dollars."
"It's very expensive."
"If we rented the product, it would be more affordable than buying new."
"While I don't have transparency on the pricing, it works within my budget."
"The pricing is expensive, but very fair when you look at the technology that you are getting. These are higher-end pieces which have a ton of engineering in them that is not evident on the package. However, you could imagine the amount of time that the vendor has spent on the firmware, optimizing the internal layout, developing custom ICs, etc. They're releasing a mass produced product, but these things are built to last."
"The pricing is too high."
"Buying Rohde & Schwarz gear is like buying a Mercedes. It raises eyebrows when you're asking for that level of performance."
"If we are looking to purchase a product, we ask for a loaner for a month or so to test it out. Then, we will make a decision."
"When we chose this, the price was really reasonable, and it is a high-end product. It had a high price, but we understood that because it has 8 port, the same noise floor (as the competition) with double the measurement capabilities and a cheaper price."
"One of the things I liked less, not only me but also my company, was that Rohde & Schwarz are very expensive... There are solutions that are almost the same that sell at better prices."
"The pricing is way too expensive."
"The pricing is very competitive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
18%
University
12%
Educational Organization
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
22%
University
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Also Known As

InfiniiVision Series, Infiniium Series
RT Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Nokia Bell Labs
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Keysight Oscilloscopes vs. Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.