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National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes vs Rohde & Schwarz 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
Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes
Ranking in Oscilloscopes
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Oscilloscopes category, the mindshare of National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes is 4.2%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes is 12.6%, up from 7.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Oscilloscopes Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes12.6%
National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes4.2%
Other83.2%
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.
SH
Works at Harrison Laboratories Inc
Designing audio circuits has benefited from rich measurements but reliability still needs improvement
A quick specific example of an electronic design task where I used Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes is a digital amplifier. I found the basics for my needs to be met by Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes, but it did have a nice large display. I liked the large display. It was reasonably intuitive for all that it did. I liked the fact that it had 16 extra digital inputs on the side that you could clip on to, so it had plenty of channels. It probably helped with specific tasks or saved me time due to the fact it had data recording. I could record data for a period of time. It had a long memory for a particular waveform.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Because their view is a graphical user interface (GUI), it's very easy to program the tool."
"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."
"It makes programming simpler."
"The user interface is very good, easy to understand, and easy to operate."
"Most of the features are on the screen itself. The naming convention makes it very easy to understand what is needed."
"I chose this solution because it integrates a lot of functionality in one piece of equipment."
"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."
"The learning curve was really fast, which was also the reason for saving a lot on the budget."
"It is easy to connect with, accurate, reliable, and hardly fails."
"Since I spend quite some time in the lab, this product makes my life easier, results better, and speeds up my work."
"The most valuable features are its wide bandwidth and 8 ports."
"The noise sensitivity: It has a low noise floor."
"The most valuable features are the accuracy and repeatability."
"The user interface is pretty good. Right now, it is more than what we expected. It's easy and fast to use."
"They are a top tier product, and we use it to guarantee our top tier product, which is why we purchased it."
"The ability to have both the time domain and frequency domain, where the frequency domain is a very broad spectral plot, is extremely valuable."
 

Cons

"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."
"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."
"There is a learning curve."
"The price is a little steep."
"I would like more speed and a reduction in size."
"There is a learning curve. It might take a year if you're not well-versed with it."
"There is a learning curve. It takes one to two months to get acclimated to the tool."
"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."
"User interface is okay. I would probably rate it a seven out of ten."
"The pricing is too high."
"They could use an RDA interface."
"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."
"Sometimes, it's difficult to find menus on the user interface."
"The GUI could be improved since the hierarchy is a little complicated for the new users."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would like more competitive pricing."
"These products are a very low-cost, effective alternative to traditional Big Iron ATE hardware."
"It's reasonably priced for what we spend our money on in the lab. It's one of the lower-end purchases."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"The pricing is very competitive."
"The pricing is too high."
"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 very expensive."
"Buying Rohde & Schwarz gear is like buying a Mercedes. It raises eyebrows when you're asking for that level of performance."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Legal Firm
29%
Construction Company
12%
University
10%
Media Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
18%
Government
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that I think Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes are a little bit pricey. Especially, I don't prefer buying Chinese scopes, but Rigol seems to...
What needs improvement with Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes?
Based on my experience, I would improve Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes by enhancing customer service. I would like to add more about the needed improvements regarding reliability, from at least ...
What is your primary use case for Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes?
My main use case for Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes is electronic design work. A quick specific example of an electronic design task where I used Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes is a digital a...
 

Also Known As

NI Oscilloscopes
RT Series
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes vs. Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
910,956 professionals have used our research since 2012.