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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."
"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 user interface is very good, easy to understand, and easy to operate."
"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 integrated lateral view makes it easier to develop your test systems and test software flow."
"Because their view is a graphical user interface (GUI), it's very easy to program the tool."
"It took us less than a week to get integrated into the solution, which is very fast."
"The learning curve was really fast, which was also the reason for saving a lot on the budget."
"It has digital scopes with a high bandwidth and digitized signal. It can do whatever you want with the signal. Since its user-friendly software allows you to work with the signal, which is pretty cool."
"The user interface is excellent. The GUI is so self-explanatory and there are the same knobs everywhere; the design is a standard design line."
"It has a good user interface. It's easy to use, easy to read. It's intuitive."
"The Ipath and measurements are fantastic and simple to implement."
"It is easy to handle, so everyone likes to use it."
"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."
"It provides you the best way to view information without opening multiple applications, like a single solution."
"The most valuable feature is the automation component in setting up some of these measurements."
 

Cons

"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."
"I would like to have more RF. They're going that way, but still there is some work that they have to do."
"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 to see more of a tasking user base and documentation inside the instrument itself, rather than having to go online for it."
"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."
"The software has room for improvement."
"There is a learning curve. It takes one to two months to get acclimated to the tool."
"I would like to see more integration into machine learning because that's what we try to apply it to."
"The power of the computer inside is weak. Sometimes I send a lot of data and I'll feel the lag... I would like to see them improve the processing power."
"There are other devices out there which are more capable, offering more features, with as good quality tech support."
"I would like to see some WiFi capabilities. I would like to upgrade equipment, and if I was in the U.S., I could do that with WiFi capabilities."
"It needs one button and every time you push it, you get whatever you need."
"There is room for improvement when it comes to the screen size. I don't really have a lot of complaints but screen size would be the biggest thing."
"We would like more features for the CAN bus decoding, such as importing DDC files, which allows us to take the raw data and convert it into engineering units."
"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 wish they were included or cheaper."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 cost of the equipment has room for improvement. The pricing could improve."
"I would like more competitive pricing."
"It's a bit expensive. However, you get the entire package, not just the box. It's a box which supports older releases."
"I have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products."
"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."
"It's reasonably priced for what we spend our money on in the lab. It's one of the lower-end purchases."
"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."
"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."
"We demoed the product before purchasing it."
"They have academic pricing which is helpful."
"It's cost-effective... It might cost a lot of money, but if we need it we buy it."
"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."
"They're all pretty expensive. If everything costs that much, I suppose the pricing is fair."
"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%
Educational Organization
8%
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: March 2026.
884,192 professionals have used our research since 2012.