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RIGOL 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

RIGOL Oscilloscopes
Ranking in Oscilloscopes
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes
Ranking in Oscilloscopes
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Oscilloscopes category, the mindshare of RIGOL Oscilloscopes is 25.4%, up from 15.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes is 6.4%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Oscilloscopes
 

Featured Reviews

JP
The most valuable feature would be the bandwidth
It is a general purpose scope with 4-channel 300 MHz.  The application space that this solution targets is the embedded system of my products. Typically, the signals that we are measuring are digital, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), wireless, and Zigbee The most valuable feature would be the…
AM
The ability to have both the time domain and frequency domain, where the frequency domain is a very broad spectral plot, is extremely valuable
There is certainly a learning curve. Finally, watching YouTube videos on using the instrument got me over the hump, as well as a sit down session with one of the oscilloscope experts. The Rohde & Schwarz user interface is very oriented towards drop and drag functions on the screen. Some of those are just not obvious how to use. You have to have somebody get you over the hump. My understanding is they have a newer user interface, but I haven't gotten around to upgrading the firmware on my scope in some time, so I'm not familiar with it yet. In comparison, I love the LeCroy interface. Recently, I've learned that there are ways to adapt these instruments to become a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA), which is of interest to me. If I can use probes that are not in the 50 ohm domain, which is what you would have with a normal Vector Network Analyzer, then doing power applications for me, this would be a lot safer. Using a traditional communications type Vector Network Analyzer in the 50 ohm domain and having these high DC potentials (adding the DC blocks is adding air to the test method), then having an oscilloscope type front-end which is lot more tolerant of overload, it is a lot safer. The vector network analysis that I need to do is well under a gigahertz, and the other instruments that I have sort of stop at 40 megahertz. Trying to get past 40 megahertz into the mid-hundreds of megahertz and have high impedance probes that will tolerate DC, that is really of interest to me.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature would be the bandwidth."
"The instrument has a wide bandwidth. You can sweep across a wide range of frequencies."
"The ability to have both the time domain and frequency domain, where the frequency domain is a very broad spectral plot, is extremely valuable."
"The product is quite reliable and straightforward to use. Typically, there are no households that we have to set up."
"The user interface is pretty good. Right now, it is more than what we expected. It's easy and fast to use."
"The noise floor for reference clocks is pretty low, so this instrument is able to measure it where others cannot."
"The most valuable features are the accuracy and repeatability."
"The noise sensitivity: It has a low noise floor."
"It is easy to connect with, accurate, reliable, and hardly fails."
 

Cons

"I had to change the probes to higher frequency probes."
"The memory needs improvement."
"In the next release, I would like to see report generation. It would make it a lot easier to refer back to and, when doing final testing, seeing what went on during the pre-test would help."
"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 Rohde & Schwarz user interface is very oriented towards drop and drag functions on the screen. Some of those are just not obvious how to use. You have to have somebody get you over the hump."
"The depth the the user GUI could be improved. It is a bit deep for new users. During the first two weeks we spent a lot of time finding the tabs."
"We would like to have autotracking and auto error tracking for regression testing. We would like to know what error happened, when it happened, and during what scenario (such as setup), because right now we have to manually look at when it happened."
"They could use an RDA interface."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing was good."
"For the 4-channel big display, you have to upgrade to 500 MHz."
"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 way too expensive."
"The pricing is very competitive."
"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."
"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."
"The pricing is too high."
"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
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
19%
Government
11%
University
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Also Known As

7000 Series, MSO5000 Series, 1000Z Series, DS6000 Series, 4000 Series, 2000 Series
RT Series
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Siglent, RIGOL Technologies, Tektronix and others in Oscilloscopes. Updated: March 2025.
842,672 professionals have used our research since 2012.