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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
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Oscilloscopes category, the mindshare of Keysight Oscilloscopes is 10.7%, down from 18.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes is 0.8%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Oscilloscopes
 

Featured Reviews

KR
Helps us ensure our materials' performance and DKDF measurements
I would definitely recommend trying this product. It's a really reliable and high-performance machine. In terms of a learning curve on the equipment, I had some training on the VNA before we purchased it, so for me training was done within a week or so. It was not really hard. But for colleagues, it took them some time to learn it. Upgrades are always welcome. Apart from VNA, we need to purchase all the fixtures, other equipment to connect to VNA. They are very expensive tools, and that's part of upgrading what we are doing in the lab. The solution, performance-wise is a ten out of ten. Price-wise, it's a six out of ten.
SeniorEn6bfd - PeerSpot reviewer
The integrated lateral view makes it easier to develop your test systems and test software flow
The application space that this solution targets is 5G and high-speed systems. 5G is where we are developing some chips to test whether it prequalifies for a necessary requirement before we embed it into our box. Then, in high-speed systems, we're still figuring out how exactly we're going to test this out, but it should be also on prequalification. We are not using this product to support connected devices for IoT development nor are we planning to going forward. We are measuring millimeter wave signals. My colleague deals with the automation of the test systems. The user interface is okay.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Their software and hardware are integrated, so we don't have to spend a lot of time processing the data."
"Its 4 port has true differential with quite a few de-embedding features. It goes up to 40 GHz with high performance."
"It's a one-stop solution. It does everything we need. The combined functionality is the biggest benefit."
"The product's functionality makes things easier for my partner, who is doing the PCIe design. He is able measure the product's usage and bit error rate."
"The Keysight Ecal feature has made it very easy for me to do calibrations."
"The most valuable features are its quality and reliability... The good thing about the GUI interface which is, of course, software-based, is that you can record and save your test setup."
"The user interface is nice. It describes the output well, so it's easy to use."
"We rely on the data and we make our design calls, risk-assessment, all based on the measurements that we take with the Keysight equipment."
"It took us less than a week to get integrated into the solution, which is very fast."
"The learning curve was really fast, which was also the reason for saving a lot on the budget."
"We haven't need technical support yet because all documentation is well done and there."
"It makes programming simpler."
"Most of the features are on the screen itself. The naming convention makes it very easy to understand what is needed."
"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."
 

Cons

"I would like to see better post-processing data utility tools like a de-embedding."
"The user interface can be buggy at times. But I'm an engineer, I figure out how to get around them pretty easily so that's not that much of a concern."
"Everybody is looking for more automation support, so that if they can incorporate more protocols. It makes it easier."
"I would like them to build in more high-speed functions, such as FEC or PCIe, built into the array. PERT to be built-in for more specific product call. These would make our lives much easier."
"While the user interface is good with respect to instrumentation, but with respect to documentation, I do not like it. Its documentation is slightly bad. It was not organized properly. The way it's organized is very difficult to understand, so it takes lot of time to search for one thing in particular."
"The user interface has a load of features that come with it, which is why it is an eight out of ten."
"We are using this product to support connected devices for IoT development, but we need more automation."
"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 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."
"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."
"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."
"There is a learning curve. It might take a year if you're not well-versed with it."
"I would like to see them increase the productivity and auxiliary functions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is on the high side."
"The cost is always a struggle. We always wish that we could do more for less."
"We are looking at $600,000 and it's obviously expensive, but compared to others, everybody is in the same ballpark."
"The pricing is always high."
"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."
"If we rented the product, it would be more affordable than buying new."
"The pricing is very expensive, but with leading technology, nothing is cheap."
"I have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products."
"The pricing was good. Compared to the others, it was very good."
"It's reasonably priced for what we spend our money on in the lab. It's one of the lower-end purchases."
"The cost of the equipment has room for improvement. The pricing could improve."
"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."
"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."
"I would like more competitive pricing."
"These products are a very low-cost, effective alternative to traditional Big Iron ATE hardware."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
17%
University
11%
Legal Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Legal Firm
33%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

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: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.