COMPARISON · OSCILLOSCOPES
OWON VDS1022I vs Hantek 6022BE
OWON VDS1022I vs Hantek 6022BE is the cheapest end of the PC oscilloscope market: two screenless USB boxes, each with two 8-bit channels and no power supply beyond the USB cable. The OWON offers 25 MHz, 100 MSa/s, five trigger types and an isolated USB link. The Hantek is the lower-cost option at 20 MHz and 48 MS/s, with an edge trigger, DC coupling only and Windows software.
By the OhmSavvy Research Team ·
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OWON VDS1022I
4.1★★★★☆A small, USB-powered two-channel PC oscilloscope with an isolated USB connection, for laptop-based work.
Hantek 6022BE
4.0★★★★☆A very low-cost two-channel 20 MHz USB oscilloscope for learning on a Windows PC.
Specs side by side
| OWON VDS1022I | Hantek 6022BE | |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.1★★★★☆ | 4.0★★★★☆ |
| Bandwidth | 25MHz | 20MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Sample rate | 100 MSa/s | 48 MS/s (max) |
| Best for | Laptop-based debugging on a small budget | Learning scope basics on a Windows laptop for very little money |
| Display | None: shown in OWON's PC software | None: shown in Hantek's Windows software |
| Vertical resolution | 8-bit | 8-bit |
| Vertical range | 5 mV/div to 5 V/div | 20 mV/div to 5 V/div |
| Input impedance | 1 MΩ ±2% || 10 pF | 1 MΩ || 25 pF |
| Trigger types | Edge, pulse, video, slope, alternate | Edge (rising or falling) |
| Math | +, −, ×, ÷, invert, FFT | +, −, ×, ÷, FFT |
| Record length | 5K points | Not clearly stated by Hantek |
| USB link | USB 2.0, isolated | USB 2.0 (no isolation listed) |
| Software OS | Not stated by OWON | Windows (10, 8, 7, Vista, XP listed) |
| Size | 170 × 120 × 18 mm | 205 × 120 × 35 mm |
| Weight | 0.26 kg | Not stated by Hantek |
Specs checked against manufacturer documentation and official Amazon listings. Desk research, not bench testing. How we research.
Key differences
- →Sample rate is the biggest gap: OWON lists 100 MSa/s, Hantek 48 MS/s, so the OWON draws about twice as many points across every edge.
- →Bandwidth is close: 25 MHz on the OWON against 20 MHz on the Hantek, a 25% difference.
- →Triggering: OWON lists edge, pulse, video, slope and alternate triggers; Hantek lists only a rising or falling edge trigger.
- →Sensitivity: the OWON's most sensitive range is 5 mV/div, four times finer than the Hantek's 20 mV/div.
- →Isolation: OWON specifies an isolated USB 2.0 link; Hantek's spec table lists none, so treat the 6022BE's probe ground as your computer's ground.
- →The Hantek is DC-coupled only and Hantek lists Windows software; OWON doesn't name the operating systems its software supports on the product page.
- →Memory: OWON states 5K points; Hantek's table doesn't clearly assign a memory figure to the 6022BE, so we don't compare the two on depth.
Spec by spec
On paper these two look almost the same: two channels, 8 bits, USB power, no screen. The numbers that separate them are sample rate and sensitivity rather than bandwidth. All figures below come from OWON's VDS series page and datasheet and Hantek's 6022BE spec table; where a maker publishes no figure we leave it out of the charts.
The third chart is the one to dwell on. At 48 MS/s, a 20 MHz sine gets only 2.4 samples per cycle on the Hantek: enough in theory to tell you a frequency is there, far too few to show its shape without heavy interpolation. In practice the 6022BE's sample rate, not its 20 MHz front end, sets the useful ceiling. A common working target is ten or more samples per cycle, which puts that ceiling near 5 MHz on the Hantek and near 10 MHz on the OWON for sine waves, and lower again for square waves, whose edges contain higher harmonics. Background on both figures: what oscilloscope bandwidth is and what GSa/s means.
What each USB scope can and can't measure
By the usual 3–5× bandwidth rule, a 25 MHz scope shows signals up to about 5–8 MHz with reasonable fidelity and a 20 MHz scope up to about 4–7 MHz. Combine that with the sample-rate limit above and the realistic territory for both is the low-megahertz range and below. That still covers a lot of hobby electronics.
Comfortable on both
Audio amplifiers and filters, 555 timer outputs, hobby servo pulses (1–2 ms wide at 50 Hz), LED and motor PWM in the kilohertz range, sensor outputs, and UART at 9600 or 115200 baud all sit far below either scope's limit. With two channels you can put an op-amp's input and output side by side or watch a clock against its data line. Neither maker lists serial decoding, so you read UART or I2C bits by eye and with cursors rather than as decoded text.
Where the OWON pulls ahead
Small signals are the clearest case. Ripple of a few tens of millivolts, a microphone preamp output or a thermocouple amplifier stage fills only a sliver of the screen at 20 mV/div, while 5 mV/div gives four times the vertical detail from the same 8-bit converter. The trigger list matters too: a pulse trigger can catch a single pulse narrower than expected, a slope trigger can fire on a slow ramp, and a video trigger locks onto composite video lines. On the Hantek, an edge trigger is the only tool, so a rare glitch has to be found by watching repeated sweeps.
What the Hantek's DC-only input means
Hantek lists DC coupling only. AC coupling normally strips a steady DC level so you can zoom in on what rides on it, such as ripple on a 12 V rail. On the 6022BE that 12 V stays in the picture, and at 20 mV/div a 12 V offset is far off screen, so ripple checks on a supply rail need a workaround such as an external DC-blocking capacitor in series with the probe tip. For logic levels, PWM and audio centred near ground, DC coupling is no handicap.
Neither scope is fast enough for the edges of modern logic
Where the ground clip really connects
The isolation line on OWON's spec sheet is easy to skip, but it changes what the ground clip is tied to. On a non-isolated USB scope the clip, the BNC shells, the USB cable shield and the computer's chassis are one conductor. If the circuit under test is also referenced to earth, through a bench supply or a mains-powered device, clipping ground to anything other than that circuit's own 0 V creates a short through the scope and the USB cable. A smaller version of the same loop shows up as hum and noise on low-level signals, which is where the OWON's 5 mV/div range and its isolated link work together.
USB scopes, grounds and mains
Which should you buy?
| If you are… | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A student who wants to see a waveform for the first time | Hantek 6022BE | Lowest cost; two channels and FFT are enough to learn on |
| Debugging intermittent pulses | OWON VDS1022I | Pulse and slope triggers; the Hantek has edge only |
| Looking at small audio or sensor signals | OWON VDS1022I | 5 mV/div against 20 mV/div |
| Checking signals around 3–5 MHz | OWON VDS1022I | 100 MSa/s keeps more points per cycle than 48 MS/s |
| Probing circuits powered from a laptop or bench supply | OWON VDS1022I | Isolated USB link (rating not verified) |
| Using a Mac or Linux laptop | Neither confirmed | Hantek lists Windows only; OWON names no OS on its page |
If neither screenless box feels like enough, two directions are covered elsewhere. For a deeper, better-supported USB scope, see PicoScope 2206B vs Hantek 6022BE and PicoScope 2204A vs Digilent Analog Discovery 3. For a bench scope with its own screen, compare Rigol DS1054Z vs OWON VDS1022I, Rigol DS1054Z vs Hantek 6022BE for beginners and Hantek 6022BE vs Hantek DSO2D10. The oscilloscope buying guide and the beginner oscilloscope roundup cover the rest of the field.
Choose the OWON VDS1022I if…
- ✓You want pulse, slope, video or alternate triggering, not just a rising or falling edge
- ✓You measure small signals: its most sensitive range is 5 mV/div against the Hantek's 20 mV/div
- ✓You want the USB link to your laptop isolated from the probe ground
- ✓You want roughly twice the sample rate for cleaner traces near 5 MHz
Choose the Hantek 6022BE if…
- ✓Spending as little as possible matters more than features
- ✓You use a Windows PC and mainly want to learn what a scope shows
- ✓Your signals are audio, timers, servo pulses and slow PWM, well under a few MHz
- ✓An edge trigger, X-Y mode and FFT cover what you plan to do
Neither if…
You need to judge ringing or edge timing on fast SPI or GPIO signals: by the usual rise-time approximation, a 20 MHz front end rounds edges faster than many microcontroller pins actually switch, so both show those edges slower and rounder than they really are — a 50 MHz or faster scope is the better tool for that.
The bottom line
The OWON VDS1022I is the better instrument: twice the sample rate, a 5 mV/div range for small signals, five trigger types and an isolated USB link, in a smaller box. The Hantek 6022BE earns its place only on price. If you want the cheapest way to learn on a Windows PC with slow signals and an edge trigger is enough, it does that job; for anything you need to trigger on or measure precisely, spend the extra on the OWON.
Frequently asked questions
Is the OWON VDS1022I better than the Hantek 6022BE?+
For most uses, yes. OWON lists 100 MSa/s against Hantek's 48 MS/s, 25 MHz against 20 MHz, pulse, slope, video and alternate triggers on top of edge, a 5 mV/div range and an isolated USB link. The Hantek's one clear advantage is its very low price.
Does the Hantek 6022BE work on a Mac?+
Hantek lists only Windows versions (10, 8, 7, Vista and XP) for the 6022BE software, so plan on a Windows PC. OWON's VDS product page offers PC software for the VDS1022I but doesn't name the operating systems it supports, so check the download page for your system before buying either.
Can the Hantek 6022BE measure ripple on a power supply?+
Not easily. Hantek lists DC coupling only, so a supply's DC level stays on screen along with the ripple, and the most sensitive setting is 20 mV/div. Small ripple on a 5 V or 12 V rail needs an external DC-blocking capacitor in series with the probe. The OWON reaches 5 mV/div, though OWON doesn't state its coupling options on the page we checked.
How much memory does the Hantek 6022BE have?+
Hantek's spec table doesn't clearly assign a memory figure to the 6022BE, so we don't quote one. The OWON VDS1022I's record length is stated: 5K points, which at 100 MSa/s fills in 50 microseconds. Slower timebases spread those points over a longer window at a lower effective sample rate.
Which USB scope is safer to use with a laptop?+
The OWON, because OWON specifies an isolated USB 2.0 link, which keeps the probe ground off the laptop's ground. Hantek lists no isolation for the 6022BE. Neither isolation feature makes a scope suitable for mains: OWON's isolation voltage rating isn't in our verified data, so use a differential probe for high-voltage work.
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