The Anker SD Card Reader accepts both full-size and microSD cards through the same USB 3.0 connector, with speeds up to 5Gbps. With a dual-slot design, you can insert an SD card and a microSD card at the same time, and they appear as two separate drives on your computer. Actual read/write speed depends on the card in the slot rather than the reader itself. The connector end is USB-A, plugging into any standard USB port. No driver downloads are required on any current Windows or macOS system.
An easy-to-use card reader that you can use to pop all your SD cards into
Cameras, drones, smartphones, GPS devices, and even the Nintendo Switch all store data on removable SD or microSD cards. Getting that data onto your computer for editing, backup, or archival requires a USB cable, a built-in card slot, or a stand-alone card reader.
There are two slots at the end of the reader, one for full-size SD cards and one for microSD. Both cards mount on your computer at the same time as separate drives. Data flows between the two cards without removing either. Cloning a Switch microSD to a new microSD, or offloading a DSLR’s SD card while updating a drone microSD, both happen in one session. If you shoot on gear that uses both formats, that means one less step during a download.
The port on the reader is USB-A 3.0, which tops out at 5Gbps of theoretical bandwidth. In practice, whatever card you drop in the slot is the ceiling. Modern UHS-I SD cards write at around 100 MB/s, which won’t come close to saturating the port but blows past what an older USB 2.0 port could deliver on the same card. The reader stays out of the way of your transfer speed, meaning the slowest thing in the chain will always be the card, not the Anker. The unit itself is 2.56 inches long, 1.3 inches wide, and slimmer than half an inch, with an 18-month warranty in the box.
Anker sells a full range of card readers, from USB-C versions for new laptops and iPads to dual-head A-and-C and multi-slot models for pro camera work with CompactFlash and CFexpress. The straight USB-A dual-slot version here is the cheapest in the range. At $10, down from $18, the sale is $8 off the list price. For a laptop missing a card slot or an editor working with mixed camera formats, it fits the job. USB-A ports remain standard on desktop PCs and older laptops that still ship with them.