SD, MicroSD and other types of cards are a great, cheap way, to save your important data, such as videos or photos. Of course, for their easier handling, it is advisable to get yourself a proper card reader, but what if you are not that familiar with the subject?
In that case, finding you the best SD card reader might become a stressful experience. However, a guide such as this one should make things much easier and allow you to easily find the ideal card reader.
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Last update on 2023-09-27 // The links above are affiliate // Images from Amazon
How to Choose the Best SD Card Reader
Card readers, in general, are not too complicated devices. Therefore, their most important characteristics don’t include many categories:
Read/Write speeds
Your super-fast SD card will be of little help if your card reader doesn’t support its full speed. Therefore, before the purchase, determine what the reader’s characteristics are and try to get the maximum out of your investment.
Price
There is nothing more to be said about the price, except that you should choose the card reader in accordance with your budget. Be aware that price isn’t always a guarantee of quality and that there are many affordable devices, which provide performance worthy the best SD card readers. For that reason, don’t rush and be patient in your search.
Compatibility
Speedy performance and an affordable price will be worth very little if your device isn’t compatible with the card type that you have. For that reason, think through about what your present, as well as future demands are, and choose the card reader that will perfectly fit into these requirements.
Best SD Card Readers
Kingston MobileLite Plus (MLPM)
A Budget-Friendly High-Performing SD Card Reader
Kingston MobileLite Plus (MLPM) is a portable, attractive-looking, and, before anything else, cheap UHS-II SD card reader that can be compared with the best SD card readers available on the market due to its excellent performance.
This card reader supports USB3.2 Gen 1 standard and is backward-compatible with UHS-I devices. Moreover, it is capable of working with every major operating system such as Windows, Linux, Mac, and ChromeOS.
Kingston MobileLite Plus (MLPM) comes with a two-year warranty and overall delivers a pretty good value for its price. It is compact, portable, and high-performing. In other words, it has everything you may need from an SD card reader, including the ridiculously low price.
- Affordable
- Good performance
- Portable
- Good compatibility
- None
Anker USB-C and USB 3.0 SD Card Reader
A Solid and Highly Versatile SD Card Reader
If you are seeking an affordable, yet capable SD card reader that brings exceptional versatility and great compatibility, Anker USB-C and USB 3.0 SD Card Reader is the device for you. With this reader, you get separate SD and microSD card slots, and exceptional compatibility that allows this reader to be used with SDXC, SDHC, SD, MMC, RS-MMC, Micro SDXC, Micro SD, and many other card types.
Moreover, this card reader offers both USB-A and USB-C connections, and supports data transfer speeds of up to 104MBps, which isn’t amazing; however, it should be enough for the most.
Anker USB-C and USB 3.0 SD Card Reader comes with an 18-month warranty and is built out of aluminum and polycarbonate that makes the great combination with its slim-line design, and as a result, makes this reader a perfect fit for the high-end laptops of today.
Therefore, if you are after one of the best affordable card readers available, Anker USB-C and USB 3.0 SD Card Reader is a great choice and a device worth having that certainly won’t disappoint you.
- Affordable
- Great compatibility
- Compact design
- Solid performance
- Both USB-C and USB-A connectors are available
- None
Syntech 3-in-1 Memory Card Reader
A Fast and Reliable SD Card Reader
If you are seeking a good-quality SD card reader that will give you a lot of versatility and great practicality at a fair price, Syntech 3- in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Memory Card Reader is the thing for you.
This device comes with three card slots (SD slot, Micro SD slot, and CF slot), and thanks to that, it is capable of working with all sorts of cards, including SDXC, SDHC, TF, CF I, Ultra II CF, and many other card types. Syntech 3- in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Memory Card Reader can accept cards that are up to 2TB in capacity and operate together with every major operating system, such as Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, Chrome, and so on.
Keep in mind that this is a compact and highly portable device, with a sleek look, and more importantly, solid USB3.0 data transfer speeds.
To conclude, for the price and the overall value that it delivers, this is certainly a great product and one of the best SD card readers you may find on the market.
- Compact
- Plug-and-play functionality
- Reliable
- Solid build
- Durable
- Short cable
- It doesn’t support CF II cards
Transcend TS-RDF5W
A Well-Performing Device at More than a Fair Price
When you are searching for both good performance and a fair price, in most cases, Transcend products are the best option. They will not blow you away by their efficiency or astonish you with design, but it will certainly deliver reliable and above-average performance, at a great price. Transcend TS-RDF5W card reader is no exception to this rule and it offers compliance with USB3.1 Gen1 and UHS-I standards and compatibility with various card types (SD, SDHC, SDXC and microSD/SDHC/SDXC ones).
This card reader is supplied with both SD card and MicroSD card slots, has a LED transfer activity indicator and is equipped with RecoverRx software that can prove to be crucial if any data corruption occurs.
Transcend TS-RDF5W is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux and delivers modest performance, with sequential read/write speeds of around 100MBps, which isn’t much but is still more than enough for a decent SD card reader that this device certainly is.
- Cheap
- Good compatibility
- Reliability
- Modest speed
SanDisk ImageMate PRO USB-C Reader/Writer
A Bulky, but High-Performing SD Card Reader
SanDisk ImageMate PRO USB-C Reader/Writer is a practical and easy-to-use card reader that brings exceptional compatibility that allows its use with multiple card formats, including SDHC, SDXC, microSD, and CompactFlash cards. This is a UHS-II, UHS-I, and UDMA 7 compatible device, which supports 312MBps data transfer speeds, with SD and MicroSD cards, as well as 160MBps data transfer speeds, with CompactFlash cards.
Moreover, it offers USB 3.2 connectivity and is also backward compatible with the previous iterations of the USB standard. It weighs 177 grams, which makes it highly portable, while its full compatibility with both Mac and Windows machines makes it a solid card reader option for a large base of users.
In short, SanDisk ImageMate PRO USB-C Reader/Writer is a highly functional and versatile device that brings fast performance at a reasonable price, which ultimately makes a win-win situation.
- Plug-and-play functionality
- Excellent compatibility
- Compact
- Fast
- Lightweight
- None
ProGrade Digital SD UHS-II Dual-Slot Memory Card Reader
Great Performance in a Compact Package
ProGrade Digital SD UHS-II Dual-Slot Memory Card Reader is a compact and highly portable dual SD card reader that offers great data transfer speeds and functionality to the user. Although it features the USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C connectivity that supports 1.25GBps data transfer speeds, the readers themselves support only 312 MBps data transfer speeds. These speeds are pretty good for an SD card reader; however, they could certainly be better considering the price.
Moreover, this card reader comes with a two-year warranty and a LED indicator for data transfer activity. Furthermore, it features a metal mounting plate that attaches the card reader to any metal part with the help of magnetic characteristics, offering easy mounting and allowing the creation of the compact workstations.
This card reader is compatible with both Mac and Windows system, it features a lightweight design and weighs 204 grams, and more importantly, offers pretty good performance, as it should be the case with one of the best card readers out there.
- Compact
- Metal mounting plate
- Mac and Windows-compatible
- USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C connectivity
- Both card reader slots can be used simultaneously
- Pricey
uni SD Card Reader
The Best Affordable SD Card Reader You Can Find
If you need a basic and affordable SD card reader that will do a proper job and offer solid compatibility and usability along the way, uni SD Card Reader is the perfect choice for you.
With this device, you are getting compatibility with Windows, Linux, Mac, Chrome, basically every major operating system, as well as solid performance and the ability to use it together with a variety of card types, such as SDHC, SDXC, MicroSD, MicroSDHC cards, and many others.
Unfortunately, uni SD Card Reader doesn’t support UHS-II speeds, but only UHS-I ones, which may be a drawback for many; however, the fact is that even the UHS-I speeds are more than enough for most people, especially mainstream users.
uni SD Card Reader offers a durable build and comes with an attractive-looking aluminum body; it is capable of handling SD cards that are up to 2TB in size and overall provides a pretty good value for the money.
To make a long story short, if the best SD card reader in the low-price market is what you are after, uni SD Card Reader is the device for you.
- Plug-and-play functionality
- Compact
- Sleek look
- Affordable
- It doesn’t support UHS-II speeds
UGREEN USB C Micro SD Card Reader
A Super Cheap, yet Solid SD Card Reader
UGREEN USB C Micro SD Card Reader is a compact and highly portable SD card reader that offers exceptional compatibility and can work with a whole set of card types that include UHS-I SD, UHS-II SD SDHC, SDXC, MICRO SD, MICRO SDHC, as well as MICRO SDXC cards.
This card reader is fitted with a USB Type-C connectivity that supports 5Gbps data transfer speeds, while the data transfer speed of the dual card reader slots is significantly lower than that. Moreover, this card reader is compatible with Windows, Mac, Chrome, and Linux OS and offers a plug-and-play functionality that makes its use super easy.
When talking about its build, UGREEN USB C Micro SD Card Reader is a pretty durable device, with a sleek look and made of aluminum, and fitted with nylon-braided cable, and reinforced connectors that guarantee a reliable performance.
All in all, UGREEN USB C Micro SD Card Reader is a cheap, yet functional card reader option, and certainly one of the best card readers available, suitable for a large base of users, and ultimately a pretty good deal.
- Affordable
- Plug-and-play functionality
- Portable
- Excellent compatibility
- None
SanDisk MobileMate SDDR-B531-GN6NN
A Great Data Transfer Tool for the Not-Too-Demanding Users
SanDisk MobileMate SDDR-B531-GN6NN is one of those card readers that offer decent performance at an affordable price. Its read/write speed of around 170MBps doesn’t position it in the group of the best card readers; however, it guarantees for good user experience and relatively fast data transfers.
Unfortunately, this card reader supports only MicroSD cards, which kinda limits its usability, but on the other hand, is compliant with UHS-I and USB 3.1 Gen 1 standards that certainly help its overall performance.
SanDisk MobileMate SDDR-B531-GN6NN offers a compact and highly durable construction, followed by a two-year warranty, and all in all, it presents a modest, but still efficient tool for your MicroSD card management.
- Durable
- Compact
- Affordable
- Modest performance
- It works only with MicroSD cards
Conclusion
Whether you want to back up your phone photos, transfer materials from your camera, or give your classmate some pdf files, an SD card is a good way to go – if you have the right reader. Pick your companion by using our guide and we are certain you can find your right fit among the lines above.
