FNIRSI 1014D Test And Review vs Rigol DS1052E

FNIRSI sent me one of their 1014D 100MHz Bench Oscilloscopes and asked for my opinion on using this for electronics repair work. In this video I put it through it's paces in various real life repair scenarios and compare it with my Rigol DS1052E

Buy the FNIRSI 1014D Here

Invitation to Kerry Wong for his comments

CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Unboxing
00:03:04 Other Reviews
00:03:56 Scope Of This Review
00:06:25 Safety Warnings
00:12:27 Basic Usage
00:15:00 Frequency Response
00:22:21 Real Life Test: VRM
00:25:00 Real Life Test: Motherboard Clocks
00:28:21 Real Life Test: CPU/GPU Reads The BIOS
00:31:30 Real Life test: Audio Signal
00:32:32 SMPS PWM
00:40:18 Summing Up & A Challenge

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Richard

[RobertLipe]

Finally, a fair treatment on this device. Yes, it's unfortunate that they overstate the performance so, but for my uses, it's fine. Sure, people doing high-freq RF or design work need better tools. I have relatively low standards and for audio work, confirming signals on SPI, I2C, busses or that all the data pins on a bus are at least wiggling around and not accidentally soldered to a rail, I've grown to appreciate the portability and simplicity of this scope's sibling, the FNIRSI 1013D. My own needs were somewhere uphill of the units that hijack a Soundblaster input :-) and it checks all the boxes nicely.

I wish it did protocol decoding, but it never claimed to do protocol decoding. When I want that badly enough, I'll crack out my $6 Sigrok-based logic analyzer that does that. There, too, I know the sky is the limit, but I don't NEED to see all the bits on a 64-bit RAM bus at 6+Ghz on DDR5. From my scope, I only really the ability to watch a couple of GPIO bits on STM32/BL602 /Pi - class hardware. For MY uses, a $6 LA and a $100 ($120?) O'scope are fine ... and I feel no need to talk smack to others and their purchasing choices.

Before buying, I read and watched a zillion reviews and knew what I was getting. If I'd NEEDed a 100Mhz instrument, I'd be (justifiably) angered. (That said about the $6 logic analyzer, I'll admit I'm actively watching Sipeed for that 64MB, 200Mhz, 8 channel model for $10 - I'm all about value bench tools!)

I encourage the hobbyist/repair segment to buy what you NEED, not what peer pressure talks you into.

Well presented, Richard. I came here via Hackaday and am now off to see what I can learn from your other videos. Thank you.

[TechBytesRN]

I know it has been a year since you have published the video but it is still useful today. Really appreciate your time that it took to create the video.

[erin]

This has been the fairest and best most practical review that i have seen. I almost sacrificed and sold this scope at a loss, but thanks to you I will give it a second chance and use it as I need it, for signal troubleshooting . Thank you sir!

[brouwereric]

I have the Rigol DS1052E, not because it is the best, but what I could afford at the time. The only reason if I had the option to choose between these two products, is the Storage functions of the Rigol. As I do a lot of investigations that includes card repairs for a power station, saving wave forms for my reports was important. I agree that functionality for my line of work, both scopes are more than adequate for my needs. Nice review.

[danielpetrov]

I do have FNIRSI 1014D and used it for some audio equipment repairs, really useful tool with it's two channels and generator.

[heleneivers]

as an old hobbyist on a buget who bought one of these a year ago, you cant go wrong.

[HowardJohnstone]

This did have some issues with accuracy but since new firmware is available, this no longer is a problem. Also the use of a batterypack for genuine isolation is great. This is a very good purchase for audio and other low frequency work! Thank you.

[justmc]

After viewing your channel and also getting more and more into micro controllers I wanted to get an Oscilloscope. Not a high end one but one that was safe and fairly easy to use... I also saw Terry's video and was a little concerned with my purchase. I am so glad to see your review which confirms my choice.. looking forward to seeing your upcoming videos with it. Thank you so much for your honest review and exceptional channel.... Another plus to this scope I've seen is that by using a USB power pack it becomes portable and totally isolated.

[dannygonzalez]

I love this video, not just opinions but also actual use case and testing. Honestly you are what most reviews need to be. Simply saying you don't like something without comparison is a waste of YouTube resources. Can't thank you enough!!

[wrevenaugh]

Great video! I am BRAND NEW to scopes and throughout the course of this week bought two multimeter style scopes (cuz they were sub $100) and found that they really weren't doing what I needed them to do. Then last night I bought one on of these on Amazon and of course almost immediately youtube leads me to Kerry's video, and I thought "oh crap"! Then today youtube suggests YOUR video and you actually DO perform a much more fair, thorough, and "everyday scenario" type review on this (insanely cheap) scope (and more importantly made me feel like I'm at least not a TOTAL idiot🤣😂) So THANK YOU! and WELL DONE!

[rl]

Thank you very much this honest review on the FNIRSI 1014D. I did watch Kerry's video a long time ago and got very worried if I bought one, would it work for my repairs or not. And I did purchase one because it was on sale. Thanks again for your honesty. Cheers .

[MrMuskegman]

I bought one of these last summer and so far I am very happy with it. I am still learning and did not want to pay a lot of money. This is a good all round scope to learn with for the price. Thanks for your review.

[kalashnikov_z]

It can't get better on just $160 Scope, I already ordered one!
Thanks for your review 🎉

[allenpaley]

This is my first scope, and I'm very happy with it. I needed a basic scope, and this one was $235CDN shipped, from Amazon. The unit, the power supply, a pair of 1-10x leads, and a function generator lead, and I was thrilled to see that it even included a 100x lead! I was expecting I was going to have to buy one separately, but nope! No regrets over my purchase. Pretty darn cool.

[davebutler]

Thanks for the fair review. If we accept that it's really a 30MHz scope then Kerry's complaints no longer apply. I have never been wealthy, so it's always been cheap tools or no tools at all. I have had great value from my cheap tools. Just ordered one for playing with audio and power converters. Having a sig gen built in is so handy for audio aswell as for driving mosfets.

[lamalars]

Thanks for you great explanation. I bought this oscilloscope and watched all the reviews after the facts. I’m very happy with it and enjoy its crisp and clear display, I find it’s easy to read and use. Display is very nice and powers up real quick. Voltage readings seems to be 5-10% off, but i really like it and appreciate all it can do. Thanks

[EETechStuff]

Richard, again you're absolutely right. With all due respect to Kerry Wong, yeah it's useful to know whether a device meets all of its ratings and specifications. However, one of the challenges in the hobbyist community is a lot of people become what I call "spec monkeys", and for some reason become blindly focused on wanting equipment with the highest specs, even if they'll never use those capabilities. But they're so narrowly focused on the tiny area they're familiar with that they have no clue about all the thousands of other uses for such a tool in the real world. It's all about cost vs. benefit, and if ANY tool gives you the benefits you need at the cost you're willing to pay, it's fine. And sadly, in the online world we also have to deal with the pervasive OMG click bait that says stuff like "Oh man, this is bad" because it gives the creator more revenue. Because let's face it, even though they'll never admit it, people love exciting clickbait.

[Dutch-linux]

I was thinking buying that one and now I am sold as it will do what I need it to do ... thanks Richard for this review

[hardykefes]

Great and fair review from a knowledgeable repair specialist. Love how respectful you are.

[jasonvictor]

Great review, i really enjoy your videos and yes i bought a FNIRSI 1014D and i use it all the time as a hobbyist amateur electronics enthusiast. It works very well and i also use the built in signal generator for testing circuits. Thank you for an honest review!!!