No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

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 July 2026, in the Oscilloscopes category, the mindshare of National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes is 4.0%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tektronix Oscilloscopes is 16.2%, up from 16.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Oscilloscopes Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Tektronix Oscilloscopes16.2%
National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes4.0%
Other79.8%
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

"We haven't need technical support yet because all documentation is well done and there."
"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 integrated lateral view makes it easier to develop your test systems and test software flow."
"Go with 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."
"It took us less than a week to get integrated into the solution, which is very fast."
"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."
"I chose this solution because it integrates a lot of functionality in one piece of equipment."
"Because it can detect both frequency and time domains simultaneously, if I want to check I send a command to the device and I can look at the frequency output."
"Valuable features include that it's multi-channel... and has bandwidth filtering. The user interface is good."
"I haven't seen anything similar where it has a spectrum analyzer and regular scope together."
"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 good."
"The Ipath and measurements are fantastic and simple to implement."
"Tektronix is robust and reliable. It's a hammer-resistant machine, a fact which is most important on our manufacturing floor."
"It works really well for general lab stuff, general testing, prototype and measurement."
 

Cons

"I would like to have more RF."
"The software has room for improvement."
"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."
"I would like more competitive pricing."
"There is a learning curve."
"There is a learning curve. It might take a year if you're not well-versed with 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."
"On the source side, their AWGs don't have enough bandwidth. They need to increase the bandwidth of their AWGs, meaning they have to have a faster sample rate."
"Tektronix Oscilloscopes are really expensive for small businesses."
"It needs one button and every time you push it, you get whatever you need."
"There was a learning curve, which was a little tricky at times. Getting used to the GUI took time because we had to learn the different features."
"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."
"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."
"They need to add more memory to this machine."
"I am not utilizing the full bandwidth of this product."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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 cost of the equipment has room for improvement. The pricing could improve."
"The pricing was good. Compared to the others, it was very good."
"I have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products."
"Pricing could be lower. I would want to buy it for an extremely, low price, but Tektronix is a high-end product."
"We demoed the product before purchasing it."
"It could always be cheaper."
"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."
"It costs a quarter of a million. This technology is not cheap."
"The cost has room for improvement. Though compared to other companies, it's okay."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Oscilloscopes solutions are best for your needs.
906,960 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
15%
University
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
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: June 2026.
906,960 professionals have used our research since 2012.