TP-Link Deco M series (2017) vs Linksys EA9500 (AC5400)

The TP-Link Deco M5 impressed reviewers from many sources that have a history of conducting objective testing, such as PCWorld, PC Gamer, Android Central, Techradar, and Windows Central. It performed really well in their roundups - it was awarded the"The best budget mesh Wi-Fi system" title from PCWorld, "The best budget complete mesh solution" from PC Gamer, and "Best value: TP-Link Deco M5" from Android Central. That's high praise coming from numerous reliable sources.

Moving on to the Linksys EA9500 (AC5400): it was unable to reach the very top of any roundups from sources that conduct reliable and unbiased testing. Nonetheless, it still managed to impress reviewers from a number of such sites, like Expert Reviews, Technically Well, TechSpot, hardwarezone.com.sg, PCmag, and CNET, enough for them to include them on those lists.

Out of the sources that tested and rated both of these Wi-Fi Routers, CNET preferred the TP-Link Deco M5, whereas reviewers at Digitaltrends liked the Linksys EA9500 (AC5400) better. Expert Reviews and PCmag gave them identical review scores.

We also took a look at which sources liked these products best - the highest TP-Link Deco M5 rating came from Expert Reviews, whereas the Linksys EA9500 (AC5400) most impressed reviewers at Expert Reviews; they earned scores of 10 and 10, respectively.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Wi-Fi Routers on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Wi-Fi Routers being 7.4 out of 10, whereas the TP-Link Deco M5 and Linksys EA9500 (AC5400) managed averages of 7.8 and 8.8 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct TP-Link Deco M5 vs. Linksys EA9500 (AC5400) comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.