What UHS is in the HP 14 Laptop card reader or how do I find out?

[BalusCreekBees]

I use the SD card reader in my HP laptop to supplement the smallish built in disk.  I'm planning to expand that with a newer faster card, but want to be sure that I don't buy a card that is way faster than the hardware will support.  How can I find out what the speed capacity/rating is for the built in Alcor USB SD card reader?

[Garp_senchau]

@BalusCreekBees, Welcome to HP Support Community,

Thank you for posting your query; I’m here to help by guiding you through steps to resolve this issue

For laptops like this to support standard SD or microSD card readers, usually providing speeds compatible with common card ratings such as UHS-I or UHS-II.

I hope this helps.

Please feel free to reply here if you have any questions or if you need further clarification on any of the steps. 

Take care and have a good day. 

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going!

Regards,

[BalusCreekBees]

Thanks for your response.  A UHS-II is compatible with UHS-I or UHS-II, and a UHS-I will work for UHS-II cards, but at slower speeds.  What I hoped to find out was whether there was any point in spending the money for a UHS-II card, if the port is only capable of working at UHS-I speeds.  Is there a way to tell?

[Garp_senchau · Accepted solution]

Hey @BalusCreekBees,

Thank you for your response

You're correct that UHS-II cards are backward compatible with UHS-I ports, but they'll only operate at UHS-I speeds when used in a UHS-I reader.

For your HP 14dq2031tg, the built-in Alcor USB SD card reader is typically a UHS-I device.

To confirm this, you can:

Check Device Manager:

Open Device Manager → Expand "Universal Serial Bus controllers" or "Memory Technology Devices".

Look for something like "Alcor Micro USB 2.0 Card Reader" or similar.
If it says USB 2.0, your card reader is very likely limited to UHS-I speeds, as USB 2.0 cannot support UHS-II speeds anyway.

I hope this helps.

Please feel free to reply here if you have any questions or if you need further clarification on any of the steps. 

Take care and have a good day. 

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going!

Regards,