Does B+M Key slot support M Key SSDs?

Question

My laptop is Asus N552VW which runs Intel 6700HQ for the CPU, it comes with a M.2 SATA SSD model: MZNLF128HCHP-00004 128GB and from what I see, my laptop's M.2 slot is a B+M key slot:

More pictures:

Asus provided various storage options and screen resolutions etc. for this model, which is what confuses me, from the storage options on the tech specs documentation available on the website, I have marked my storage with a red rectangle on the following picture, as you can see this model also has NVMe SSD options but my model came with a SATA SSD:

So does my laptop support an NVMe SSD such as the Samsung M.2 970 EVO Plus? Since my laptop came with a SATA SSD does that indicate the motherboard does NOT support NVMe even though it has B+M key slot?

Update:

Seems like Asus updated their specification page after I posted this question:

https://web.archive.org/web/20220615133017/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.asus.com%2FLaptops%2FFor-Home%2FVivobook%2FVivobook-Pro-15-N552%2Ftechspec%2F&oq=cache%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.asus.com%2FLaptops%2FFor-Home%2FVivobook%2FVivobook-Pro-15-N552%2Ftechspec%2F&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i58j69i60l2.1258j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

https://web.archive.org/web/20220511090135/https://www.asus.com/Laptops/For-Home/Vivobook/Vivobook-Pro-15-N552/techspec/

And seems like I was at fault, the slot is an M key and the SSD is a B+M key.

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My research:

NVMe support - implicit or explicit?

Will an M.2 M Key motherboard connector always support NVMe, or does NVMe support need to be explicitly stated in the manual?

Trying to upgrade my laptop SSD, 1mm too big to fit in the slot

How can I tell if my motherboard has M.2 NVMe Support?

Does my motherboard supports NVME SSD or SATA ssd

Does Asus M580VD support NVMe SSD? Refer Image

Answer 1

So does my laptop support an NVMe SSD such as the Samsung M.2 970 EVO Plus?

Your laptop only supports M.2 SATA devices as specified on the ASUS website.

Since my laptop came with a SATA SSD does that indicate the motherboard does NOT support NVMe even though it has a B+M key M.2 slot?

B+M is an indication of the type of the device. While NVMe devices are typically the same size, there are smaller and larger NVMe M.2 devices that exist, so you have to also pay attention to the length of the device.

A B+M NVMe device would use 2 PCIe lanes while an M keyed device would use 4 PCIe. However, if the M.2 slot is connected to the PCIe bus, is left up to the motherboard's design.

Based on the specification your device only supports 2.5" HDDs and M.2 SATA devices.

Answer 2

A B+M keyed SSD can fit in B, M or B+M slots. Whether it actually works depends on the functionality used.

An M keyed SSD can only fit in an M keyed slot, not B or B+M.

A B keyed SSD can only fit in a B keyed slot, not an M or B+M

Note that the keying is in the slot and will not fit an incompatibly keyed card.

Image from Wikipedia M.2

Answer 3

While the comment above seems to explain SATA M.2 limitations(and your case is SATA), NVMe limitations allow an M-key SSD to fit just fine in a B+M slot.

You can even see that such a slot has the necessary pins to support this.