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Rohde & Schwarz 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

Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes
Ranking in Oscilloscopes
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
12
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 2025, in the Oscilloscopes category, the mindshare of Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes is 6.6%, down from 7.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tektronix Oscilloscopes is 14.8%, down from 20.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Oscilloscopes
 

Featured Reviews

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.
RO
Because it does a smart software trigger in the PAM-4 GUI, it's very easy to hook up
We are using the full bandwidth of the product. 70 gigahertz bandwidth for real-time scope is important. To get the step response, we need that excess bandwidth. If I wanted to get a 33 gigahertz bandwidth with a good step function, I would need that excess bandwidth so I can apply appropriate vessel filters. They do have optical front-ends which are optional. We are taking advantage of that. In certain, very specific ways, it's field upgradable. I would imagine when they have the next product that it goes to a higher sample rate, and that'll be a whole new product.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 noise floor for reference clocks is pretty low, so this instrument is able to measure it where others cannot."
"It has a very low noise floor."
"Most of the features offered are free, like serial data analyzers or jitter measurements."
"The most valuable features are the accuracy and repeatability."
"It is easy to connect with, accurate, reliable, and hardly fails."
"The characterization of RF channels was helpful... The user interface was very simple to operate and there were a lot of tutorials."
"The noise sensitivity: It has a low noise floor."
"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."
"Time domain measurement is very accurate compared to other devices."
"It takes 35 to 45 minutes to get acclimated to the solution."
"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."
"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."
"The most valuable features are its ease of use, user interface, and PAM-4. The user interface is good and easy to use."
"We have multiple systems for manufacturing tests, and it's critical for our support. The support increases our productivity."
"It has very fast response with deep memory."
 

Cons

"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."
"There was a learning curve. Their use interface and the way that their products work are not intuitive to somebody who switches from other vendors."
"They could use an RDA interface."
"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."
"It would be good if they would try to automate most things because it has more pressing buttons and repetitive work. If there were automation scripts that they could provide, that would improve things."
"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."
"Sometimes, it's difficult to find menus on the user interface."
"The user interface could be improved, e.g., the documentation on the menus. I have to open a separate document to figure out the functionality sometimes."
"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."
"It needs one button and every time you push it, you get whatever you need."
"I use microservices, but you cannot really probe it, since the technology is not really there."
"I would like to see more integration into machine learning because that's what we try to apply it to."
"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."
"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."
"I wish we could turn off the automatic measurement feature of the oscilloscope, for teaching purposes."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 very competitive."
"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 too high."
"The pricing is very expensive."
"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."
"The pricing is way too expensive."
"Buying Rohde & Schwarz gear is like buying a Mercedes. It raises eyebrows when you're asking for that level of performance."
"The cost has room for improvement. Though compared to other companies, it's okay."
"Tecktronix pricing tends to be pretty fair and reasonable with current market trends. They don't usually bump up the price too much."
"Pricing could be lower. I would want to buy it for an extremely, low price, but Tektronix is a high-end product."
"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."
"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."
"It's cost-effective... It might cost a lot of money, but if we need it we buy it."
"It costs a quarter of a million. This technology is not cheap."
"The pricing is okay. It was within our budget."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
19%
Government
11%
University
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
18%
University
11%
Educational Organization
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Also Known As

RT Series
TBS Series, TDS Series, MDO Series, MSO Series
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes vs. Tektronix Oscilloscopes and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.