Anker 2-in-1 USB-A Card Reader review: moving camera files to a computer

In April 2019, a blogger copied 28 GB of action camera video through this exact Anker reader, using both of its slots at once. It took about 18 minutes, at 25.9 MB/s. Then he added a second reader on a neighbouring USB 3.0 port, gave each card its own reader, and the same job took about 10 minutes, at 46.6 MB/s. His write-up ends with the most useful sentence I have read about this product: “So, yes, the reader can handle two cards at once, but at half the speed.”

That is the honest shape of this reader. It does what it says, it costs very little, and the small print matters only if you are in a hurry.

Product image from the Amazon listing.

Detailed owner evidence for such a cheap, simple device is limited, so I will say less than I would for a bigger purchase.

What It Is

The listing calls it a 2-in-1 USB A memory card reader for digital cameras. Anker’s product page describes a small USB 3.0 stick with one SD slot and one microSD slot. It measures about 2.56 by 1.3 by 0.47 inches and weighs about an ounce. It takes all its power from the USB port, and it needs no drivers on the systems Anker lists, which include Windows and macOS.

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Anker lists SD, SDHC, SDXC, microSD and older MMC cards. It gives no upper limit on card size. It does say that older versions of Windows XP and Mac OS X may need updates to handle exFAT on cards of 64GB or more. On any Mac from the last decade, that note won’t matter.

The warranty is 18 months according to the features list. For something at this price, that is generous, though I doubt many people will ever claim it.

Speed: The Card Sets the Limit

Anker says USB 3.0 transfers run at up to 5 Gbps, and it adds that real speeds depend on the card and on your computer’s port. That second part is the one to believe.

ExpertPhotography’s guide explains why. Both slots are UHS-I, and that standard tops out at about 100 MB/s, however fast your computer is. So the 5 Gbps figure on the box has very little to do with what you will get. The card interface is the bottleneck, and it sits well below the port.

Some simple arithmetic helps. At 100 MB/s, a full 64 GB card takes a little under 11 minutes to copy. That is the best case, with a good card. A slow or older card will take longer, sometimes much longer. The 2019 test above never reached anything near 100 MB/s, and the post does not give the speed rating of the cards, so I would not read it as a limit of the reader. It shows what one person got from a real camera card on a real computer.

If you shoot with UHS-II cards, this reader will hold you back. The card will work, but only at UHS-I speed. ExpertPhotography makes the same point: people with UHS-II or CFexpress cards gain more from a faster reader. For a wedding photographer with 200 GB of files after a long day, that gap is real money in lost hours.

Product image from the Amazon listing.

Two Slots, Two Different Ideas

Anker says you can “Simultaneously read and write on two cards.” The 2019 test confirms it works. It also shows what that costs, because both cards share one connection. Reading two cards at once won’t finish much sooner than reading them one after the other.

The second slot is still useful, for two plain reasons. You don’t need a separate adapter for your drone’s or action camera’s microSD card. And you can copy directly from one card to the other, which ShopSavvy’s summary of reviews lists as a benefit. That is handy on a trip when you want a quick second copy and have no laptop with much free space.

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One small practical note from the same 2019 write-up: the owner says the SD card fits best when it goes in upside down. If a card seems not to seat at first, try turning it over before you decide the reader is broken.

What Photographers Say

The photography press likes it, in a modest way. Fstoppers ran a piece by a wedding and portrait photographer in 2017, who called an Anker SD and microSD reader a budget answer to big-brand readers and said it “just works.” He gave no measured times. In the comments, a reader who had used an Anker reader for a year said it worked much better than the SanDisk reader it replaced.

ExpertPhotography goes further and calls it “the ultimate low-cost SD memory card reader.” It says the reader “does not feel cheaply made,” and that at 13 grams it takes up no real space in a camera bag.

ShopSavvy’s summary, which pulls together buyer ratings for this reader, lists mostly the same things: quick card recognition, a metal USB plug, and buyers who keep spares. It also notes speed that can vary with the computer, and that the body gets warm in use but does not overheat. It gives no numbers, so I take this as a general mood and no more.

I found no pattern of owner reports of this reader failing or damaging cards. That is a limit of the evidence as well as good news. With a product this cheap, people rarely go to a forum when it dies. They buy another one.

Product image from the Amazon listing.

The Port Problem on a Modern Mac

This is the part I would think about if you use Apple gear, because the plug is USB-A. A MacBook Air has no USB-A port at all, so you will need an adapter or a hub. A hub adds its own limits, and if your hub has an SD slot, you may not need this reader in the first place. Some MacBook Pro models and Mac desktops have their own SD slot, so check before you buy anything.

A Mac mini, a Mac Studio with USB-A ports or an older iMac are a better fit. So is a Windows desktop.

The body is also wide. Anker warns that it is about 1.38 inches across, around the width of two USB ports, so it can block the port next door. ShopSavvy’s summary flags the same issue and suggests a USB extension cable. If your laptop has two USB-A ports side by side, plan for that.

Keep an eye on the port itself as well. Anker’s point about the computer’s USB port is simple but easy to miss. Plug a USB 3.0 reader into an old USB 2.0 port or a slow hub and it will still work, only much more slowly. When a reader feels slow, check that first.

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Good Habits for a Cheap Reader

A reader this inexpensive deserves a small amount of care. Copy your files first, check that they open, and only then format the card in the camera. Eject before you pull the reader out. If a card suddenly stops showing up, try the card in another reader before you blame this one.

Also, if you need two cards done quickly, the 2019 result gives you an odd but real answer: buy two of these and use two ports. The second reader cost that owner about eleven dollars, and it cut the job from 18 minutes to about 10.

A Small Yes for Most People, a No for Heavy Shooters

I would buy this if I had a USB-A port, a camera or two, and a normal amount of photos and video to move. It covers SD and microSD in one small stick, and the reports from people who use it are calm and positive.

Skip it if you use UHS-II cards, if you regularly move hundreds of gigabytes in one sitting, or if your only ports are USB-C. Those buyers should pay for a faster reader or a USB-C model. The same goes for anyone who expects two cards at once to mean twice the speed.

For everyone else, the Anker 2-in-1 USB-A card reader is the sort of cheap tool you buy once and leave in the bag. This is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.