Hantek 6022BE vs Rigol DS1054Z

Hantek 6022BE

The Hantek 6022BE is the bare minimum USB oscilloscope — and I mean that literally, not as a compliment. At ~$65, you get 2 channels and 20MHz of bandwidth piped through your laptop screen, which is enough to verify that a PWM signal exists or check audio frequencies. The 20MHz limit is genuinely painful: you can't reliably see rise times on 3.3V Arduino signals, and anything SPI-related at normal speeds is already at the edge of what this scope can resolve. Skip the official software and use OpenHantek instead — it's actively maintained and much better. If you can stretch to the Analog Discovery 3, the difference is night and day. If you're truly at a $65 ceiling and just need to verify signals exist, this will do — but you'll outgrow it fast.

Rigol DS1054Z

The Rigol DS1054Z is the default recommendation in every electronics forum for a reason — it earned that reputation over a decade of consistent performance. Four channels, 12Mpt memory, comprehensive protocol decoding, and an absurd number of trigger types for ~$349 is a package that nothing in this price range matched for years. The 50MHz bandwidth is the only real limitation, and the well-documented hack to unlock 100MHz makes even that a manageable concern. Yes, the newer Rigol DHO924S has better specs in nearly every category — but the DS1054Z has something no spec sheet can quantify: years of solved problems, answered questions, and tutorials from the EEVblog and r/AskElectronics communities. If you're buying your first serious oscilloscope and want to minimize frustration, this is still a great choice. If you can stretch to $449, the DHO924S is the better buy in 2026.