The Best Microsd Cards For The Nintendo Switch 2

If you're fortunate capable to person a caller Nintendo Switch 2 successful manus correct now, you're astir apt filling it up pinch aged and caller games alike. The console comes pinch 256GB of retention built in; that's 8 times much than nan original Switch and 4 times much than nan Switch OLED. But nan caller console’s improved performance intends that immoderate games will hog a ton of that space. Take, for instance, Cyberpunk 2077, which is simply a 59GB download, while Split Fiction checks successful astatine 69GB. While not each titles hog truthful overmuch storage, there's a bully chance you'll want to adhd much abstraction to your Switch 2 arsenic clip goes on.

You'll request a microSD Express paper to do that. These are not nan aforesaid arsenic nan modular microSD cards you whitethorn person for nan first Switch aliases different gaming handhelds. They're newer, faster and (as to beryllium expected) much expensive. But if you want much space, they’re your only choice. If you’re looking to drawback 1 today, we’ve laid retired nan champion microSD cards for nan Switch 2 and surgery down what you should cognize earlier you buy.

The champion microSD cards for nan Switch 2 (and why you mightiness want to hold to buy)

The Switch 2 is nan first mainstream instrumentality to require microSD Express for retention description , truthful location aren’t galore options disposable to bargain conscionable yet. To make things easy, here’s a database of each microSD Express paper we’ve seen astatine retailers astatine nan clip of writing.

128GB

256GB

512GB

1TB

Nintendo says nan Switch 2 technically supports cards pinch a capacity up to 2TB, but we haven’t seen immoderate microSD Express exemplary spell beyond 1TB conscionable yet. It’s besides worthy noting that GameStop and Onn (Walmart’s in-house electronics brand) aren’t manufacturers, truthful it’s unclear who precisely is making their cards.

Stock for these cards remains somewhat patchy, peculiarly for nan higher-capacity options. But galore of nan 128GB and 256GB models look to beryllium steadily disposable arsenic of nan Switch 2's motorboat week. Just beryllium warned that you whitethorn person to woody pinch extended vessel times successful immoderate cases. SanDisk’s microSD Express Card has besides accrued successful value since it first went up for waste successful February; originally, it costs $45 for 128GB and $60 for 256GB.

Either way, each of these cards are acold pricier than accepted microSD options. The Samsung Pro Plus, for example, costs $17 for 128GB, $25 for 256GB, $43 for 512GB and $90 for 1TB arsenic of this writing.

Remember: You’re looking for microSD Express, not “Extreme,” for illustration nan branding SanDisk uses for immoderate of its conventional microSD cards. A microSD Express paper will person a large “EX” logo printed connected it — if you spot that, you should beryllium bully to go.

We’ve already tested SanDisk’s Express paper and nan Lexar Play Pro for our broader guideline to nan best microSD cards. Between nan two, SanDisk’s paper has overmuch faster sequential read speeds — up to 899 MB/s vs. 712 MB/s successful CrystalDiskMark, to sanction 1 benchmark — which theoretically makes it amended equipped to trim load times.

The Play Pro is quicker for sequential writes (up to 720 MB/s vs. 650 MB/s), disposable successful much sizes and should beryllium cheaper astatine 256GB whenever it’s successful stock. (SanDisk says nan 128GB type of its paper has slower sequential writes than nan 256GB model, too.) Random capacity is astir equal, truthful nan 2 should beryllium likewise adept astatine keeping ample games for illustration Mario Kart World moving smoothly.

We chiefly tested those cards connected a Windows PC and Mac, though. How they execute connected nan existent Switch 2 remains to beryllium seen. Nintendo didn’t nonstop retired early reappraisal units to press, and we've only conscionable received our ain unit model. So we’ll request a fewer much days to decorativeness testing.

For now, though, we can’t opportunity for judge if nan console renders each microSD Express cards to akin speeds. That was mostly nan lawsuit pinch nan first Switch: Once a (regular) microSD paper deed a certain threshold of performance, location wasn’t that overmuch applicable quality betwixt it and different alternatives. The Switch 2 is moving pinch a different standard, but if thing akin were to hap again, nan “best” microSD Express paper would simply beryllium nan astir affordable 1 from a reputable marque successful nan capacity you want.

That brings america to our main portion of advice: If you tin clasp disconnected connected buying 1 of these things early on, that’s astir apt a bully idea. It’s not conscionable astir nan deficiency of testing — truthfully, we’d beryllium amazed if immoderate of these cards are genuinely “bad.”

It's much astir value: Barring much tariff shenanigans, each of these cards are arsenic costly coming arsenic they’re ever apt to get. The Switch 2 is already celebrated and will proceed to be, frankincense much microSD Express cards will request to beryllium made and prices will (eventually) travel down. Try to usage each 256 of nan gigabytes baked into nan Switch 2 first, moreover if it intends having to delete a crippled aliases two. But if you’re perfectly judge you want much abstraction correct away, nan cards supra should beryllium bully enough.

What are microSD Express cards?

Most microSD cards are based connected a modular called Ultra High Speed (UHS), of which location are 3 versions: UHS-I, UHS-II and UHS-III. The immense mostly of cards you whitethorn person bought successful nan past utilize UHS-I. These person 1 statement of pins successful nan backmost and a theoretical maximum information transportation velocity of 104 megabytes per 2nd (MB/s). (Though galore cards are capable to surpass that limit pinch proprietary tech and paper readers.) The original Switch has a UHS-I microSD slot, arsenic do astir different gaming handhelds for illustration Valve’s Steam Deck.

UHS-II cards adhd a 2nd statement of pins and tin scope up to 312 MB/s. These are pricier and overmuch little communal than cards based connected UHS-I, but they’re supported by immoderate cameras and higher-power handhelds for illustration nan ASUS ROG Ally X. UHS-III, meanwhile, is doubly arsenic accelerated arsenic UHS-II successful mentation (624 MB/s), but nary microSD cards person really utilized it.

UHS-I cards person held connected complete nan years because they’re cheap, wide supported and accelerated capable for nan things astir group request them to do: grounds 4K video, stash photos and truthful on. But pinch nan Switch 2, Nintendo needs more. The caller console is dramatically much powerful, which allows it to tally demanding games that whitethorn person primitively been built for stronger hardware for illustration nan PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X aliases gaming PCs. The instrumentality also uses UFS 3.1 retention internally, which is overmuch speedier than nan eMMC retention utilized by nan original Switch. (A civilization file decompression engine helps amended load times arsenic well.) So if nan Switch 2 is going to judge microSD cards, it needs ones that won’t bring a superior drop-off successful capacity and tin clasp up pinch modern games.

Hence, SD Express. This modular has technically been around since 2018 but mostly went obscurity until nan Switch 2 came along. It besides uses a 2nd statement of pins, but it lets microSD cards return advantage of nan PCI Express (PCIe)/NVMe interface, which is nan aforesaid underlying tech utilized by modern SSDs. As a result, it tin nutrient considerably faster publication and constitute speeds, pinch a existent theoretical maximum of 985 MB/s.

As noted above, real-world capacity won’t beryllium rather that fast. Even if it was, nan champion microSD Express cards would still beryllium overmuch slower than nan NVMe SSDs utilized by nan PS5 and Xbox. (Sony recommends SSDs pinch sequential publication speeds of astatine slightest 5,500 MB/s.) And they’ll autumn good beneath their highest speeds nether sustained loads: SanDisk, for instance, says sustained constitute speeds for its 128GB Express paper tin driblet arsenic debased arsenic 100 MB/s.

But they’re still a marked betterment complete aged UHS-I cards, and successful theory, they should beryllium quicker than immoderate older SATA-based SSDs erstwhile it comes loading crippled levels, plus streaming, retrieving saves aliases copying games to outer storage. Whereas SanDisk’s microSD Express paper tin nutrient sequential publication speeds astir 900 MB/s, Lexar’s Professional Silver Plus — nan apical UHS-I prime successful our wide microSD paper guideline — topped retired conscionable complete 200 MB/s, and that’s pinch a proprietary reader. (On nan first Switch, it’d beryllium person to 100 MB/s.) Sequential writes and random speeds were 3 to 4 times amended arsenic well, and sometimes moreover much depending connected nan benchmark we used.

It remains to beryllium seen really good these Express cards will clasp up pinch extended use, and there’s nary measurement to cognize precisely erstwhile their sky-high prices will drop. Non-Switch 2 devices that support microSD Express are still exceedingly rare, and nan modular itself isn’t backwards compatible pinch UHS-II, truthful you’ll beryllium constricted to UHS-I speeds if you want to usage your paper pinch different instrumentality (unless you bargain a pricey outer reader). Still, while nan accrued costs and constricted action are annoying, nan tech itself seems worthy of a next-gen Switch.