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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

"I have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products."
"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 user interface is very good, easy to understand, and easy to operate."
"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."
"Go with their products."
"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 absolutely great. It creates an easy working environment because it has well-integrated hardware and software. So, it is easy to use."
"It makes programming simpler."
"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."
"Valuable features include that it's multi-channel... and has bandwidth filtering. The user interface is good."
"Time domain measurement is very accurate compared to other devices."
"Tektronix is robust and reliable. It's a hammer-resistant machine, a fact which is most important on our manufacturing floor."
"It provides you the best way to view information without opening multiple applications, like a single solution."
"It has a good user interface. It's easy to use, easy to read. It's intuitive."
"For this introductory electrical engineering lab, it's pretty well-suited to my needs."
"This solution provides high confidence in the data being presented in the measurement to inform a design decision going forward."
 

Cons

"There is a learning curve."
"I would like to have more RF. They're going that way, but still there is some work that they have to do."
"I would like more speed and a reduction in size."
"I would like to see them increase the productivity and auxiliary functions."
"The software has room for improvement."
"There is a learning curve. It takes one to two months to get acclimated to the tool."
"There is a learning curve. It might take a year if you're not well-versed with it."
"I would like to have more RF."
"If they could make the user interface even more intuitive that would help. If they could make it easier to read, to know where the buttons are, that's all I need."
"They ended up having to replace the front panel which contains the circuitry on all of those scopes. That was a little disappointing."
"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."
"I would like if they could have more customer support engagement."
"The ruggedness could be improved."
"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 are looking for an Intel platform with the newest chipset."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products."
"The cost of the equipment has room for improvement. The pricing could improve."
"It's reasonably priced for what we spend our money on in the lab. It's one of the lower-end purchases."
"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."
"It's a bit expensive. However, you get the entire package, not just the box. It's a box which supports older releases."
"The pricing was good. Compared to the others, it was very good."
"These products are a very low-cost, effective alternative to traditional Big Iron ATE hardware."
"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."
"The pricing is okay. It was within our budget."
"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."
"They're all pretty expensive. If everything costs that much, I suppose the pricing is fair."
"I would like to see a lower price."
"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."
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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.
892,287 professionals have used our research since 2012.