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Keysight Oscilloscopes vs National Instruments (NI) 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

Keysight Oscilloscopes
Ranking in Oscilloscopes
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
National Instruments (NI) O...
Ranking in Oscilloscopes
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Oscilloscopes category, the mindshare of Keysight Oscilloscopes is 11.0%, down from 15.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes is 1.0%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Oscilloscopes
 

Featured Reviews

AC
The technical support ecosystem is what really makes it good.
Because they're such a big industry standard name, their products are standardized across many customers, which is why people own these products. The customer support is very good. If you need an application to do any measurement, you can easily get a hold of people to help you with it. This is a whole ecosystem. The user interface is top-notch in the industry.
AA
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's accurate, fast, has high bandwidth, and the PLTS is pretty convenient."
"The customer support is very good. If you need an application to do any measurement, you can easily get a hold of people to help you with it. This is a whole ecosystem."
"Its 4 port has true differential with quite a few de-embedding features. It goes up to 40 GHz with high performance."
"Before silicon came back, our customers' performance was affected. Using these tools, we are able to deliver performance to our customers."
"Their software and hardware are integrated, so we don't have to spend a lot of time processing the data."
"The user interface is nice. It describes the output well, so it's easy to use."
"The Keysight Ecal feature has made it very easy for me to do calibrations."
"I use the serial decoder for the serial interfaces, which helps me debug my product quickly."
"Because their view is a graphical user interface (GUI), it's very easy to program the tool."
"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."
"We haven't need technical support yet because all documentation is well done and there."
"It helps us to save on our investment with a lot of the stuff that we buy, as we can find defects quickly."
"The user interface is very good, easy to understand, and easy to operate."
"It took us less than a week to get integrated into the solution, which is very fast."
"Most of the features are on the screen itself. The naming convention makes it very easy to understand what is needed."
 

Cons

"The user interface has a load of features that come with it, which is why it is an eight out of ten."
"They can improve, but I don't know how."
"Some of the models have only two ports. It takes much longer to use a two-port. If they had a four-port, it would be much better."
"Sometimes, it's quite hard to get the technical support to come onsite. If we run into a hardware, measurement, or software issue, we may have to wait a long time for them to come."
"I would like more customized functions, so we can do the programming and definitions ourselves. There is an automation flow to capture this signal, and we would like to do this ourselves."
"If the simulation runs for a long time, it will suddenly crash. If they can debug that, the product would be better."
"We are using this product to support connected devices for IoT development, but we need more automation."
"There is a learning curve depends on the client that I am working with. E.g., if I'm working with a client, and they have a test and measurement equipment company, when I go to another company, the new company may not be using the same model."
"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."
"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."
"There is a learning curve. It might take a year if you're not well-versed with it."
"I would like more speed and a reduction in size."
"The software has room for improvement."
"I would like to see them increase the productivity and auxiliary functions."
"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."
"There is a learning curve. It takes one to two months to get acclimated to the tool."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing always is very expensive. There's no free lunch."
"Keysight is on the high side. If they could make the price lower without sacrificing the quality that would be great."
"The pricing is very expensive, but with leading technology, nothing is cheap."
"The pricing is always high."
"It's very expensive because this type of equipment is not so common. For a company buying it, this is a big investment."
"If we rented the product, it would be more affordable than buying new."
"They're not cheap."
"The major factor influencing the decision-makers is the price."
"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."
"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 have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products."
"These products are a very low-cost, effective alternative to traditional Big Iron ATE hardware."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
18%
University
9%
Legal Firm
8%
Government
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Also Known As

InfiniiVision Series, Infiniium Series
NI Oscilloscopes
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Nokia Bell Labs
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Keysight Oscilloscopes vs. National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.