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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 April 2026, in the Oscilloscopes category, the mindshare of National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes is 3.3%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tektronix Oscilloscopes is 17.7%, up from 14.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Oscilloscopes Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Tektronix Oscilloscopes17.7%
National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes3.3%
Other79.0%
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

"It helps us to save on our investment with a lot of the stuff that we buy, as we can find defects quickly."
"I have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products."
"I chose this solution because it integrates a lot of functionality in one piece of equipment."
"Using this product is helpful, so I would recommend it to people at any other company."
"It makes programming simpler."
"Most of the features are on the screen itself. The naming convention makes it very easy to understand what is needed."
"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."
"Because their view is a graphical user interface (GUI), it's very easy to program the tool."
"It has a good user interface. It's easy to use, easy to read. It's intuitive."
"The Tektronix user interface is like an Apple iPhone, but for oscilloscopes."
"This solution provides high confidence in the data being presented in the measurement to inform a design decision going forward."
"Tektronix is robust and reliable; it's a hammer-resistant machine, a fact which is most important on our manufacturing floor."
"The Ipath and measurements are fantastic and simple to implement."
"I trust Tektronix for its accuracy; the probes of the solution fit my application, for example the speed of probes, the way that it is using probes with designs, and the probes' size."
"Valuable features include that it's multi-channel... and has bandwidth filtering. The user interface is good."
"When I was looking for a scope for that lab, that five subdivisions per division was important."
 

Cons

"I would like to see them increase the productivity and auxiliary functions."
"There is a learning curve. It takes one to two months to get acclimated to the tool."
"I would like more speed and a reduction in size."
"The software has room for improvement."
"It took a good year until I felt proficient using the product, as it is a complex program."
"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."
"National Instruments needs to be focusing on its 5G RF applications."
"The price is a little steep."
"I would like if they could have more customer support engagement."
"I know you can get the Bit Masks but it's generally really expensive to get the eye diagrams and Bit Masks with it."
"I use microservices, but you cannot really probe it, since the technology is not really there."
"I would like to see an app from this company for test fixtures."
"In terms of room for improvement, it's a powerful scope. But, the power of the computer inside is weak."
"There are other devices out there which are more capable, offering more features, with as good quality tech support."
"If you are dealing with time domain measurement, I strongly recommend using a vendor other than this company."
"I wish we could turn off the automatic measurement feature of the oscilloscope, for teaching purposes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing was good. Compared to the others, it was very good."
"The cost of the equipment has room for improvement. The pricing could improve."
"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."
"I have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products."
"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."
"I would like more competitive pricing."
"It costs a quarter of a million. This technology is not cheap."
"Isolated probes are good to have, as most of the scopes don't have it. It drives up the cost when you have to buy isolated probes."
"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."
"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."
"They're all pretty expensive. If everything costs that much, I suppose the pricing is fair."
"The pricing is okay. It was within our budget."
"Pricing could be lower. I would want to buy it for an extremely, low price, but Tektronix is a high-end product."
"It is a great price for a great product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
14%
University
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Educational Organization
7%
 

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: April 2026.
890,088 professionals have used our research since 2012.