The Nintendo Switch 2 comes with 256GB of built-in storage, eight occasions greater than the original Switch and 4 occasions greater than the Switch OLED. However the brand new console’s improved performance implies that some video games will hog a ton of that house: Cyberpunk 2077 is a 60GB obtain, for one, whereas Split Fiction checks in at 73GB. Different titles aren’t practically as huge, however chances are high you’ll finally wish to add extra room to the gadget.
While you do, you’ll want a microSD Categorical card. These are not the identical as the usual microSD cards you could have purchased for the primary Swap or different gaming handhelds — they’re newer, sooner and considerably costlier. However if you would like extra space, they’re your only choice. In case you’re trying to seize one at the moment, we’ve laid out the perfect microSD playing cards for the Swap 2 and damaged down what you must know before you purchase.
One of the best microSD playing cards for the Swap 2 (and why you may wish to wait to purchase)
The Swap 2 is the primary mainstream gadget to require microSD Categorical for storage enlargement, so there aren’t many choices that can be purchased simply but. To make issues simple, right here’s an inventory of each microSD Categorical card we’ve seen at retailers on the time of writing:
128GB
256GB
512GB
1TB
Bear in mind: You’re searching for microSD Categorical, not “Excessive,” a la the branding SanDisk makes use of for a few of its conventional microSD cards. A microSD Categorical card can have an enormous “EX” emblem printed on it — for those who see that, try to be good to go.
Nintendo says the Swap 2 technically supports playing cards with a capability as much as 2TB, however we haven’t seen any microSD Categorical mannequin transcend 1TB simply but. It’s additionally value noting that GameStop and Onn (Walmart’s in-house electronics model) aren’t producers, so it’s unclear who precisely is making their playing cards.
At the moment, inventory for every of those playing cards has been extraordinarily spotty. SanDisk’s microSD Categorical Card has additionally elevated in worth because it first went up on the market in February; initially, it price $45 for 128GB and $60 for 256GB. Both manner, all of those playing cards are far pricier than conventional microSD choices. The Samsung Pro Plus, for instance, prices $17 for 128GB, $25 for 256GB, $43 for 512GB and $90 for 1TB as of this writing.
We’ve already examined SanDisk’s Categorical card and the Lexar Play Professional for our broader information to the best microSD cards. Between the 2, SanDisk’s card has a lot sooner sequential read speeds — as much as 899 MB/s vs. 712 MB/s in CrystalDiskMark, to call one benchmark — which theoretically makes it higher geared up to scale back load occasions.
The Play Professional is faster for sequential writes (as much as 720 MB/s vs. 650 MB/s), obtainable in additional sizes and must be cheaper at 256GB at any time when it’s in inventory. (SanDisk says the 128GB model of its card has slower sequential writes than the 256GB mannequin, too.) Random efficiency is about equal, so the 2 must be equally adept at maintaining massive video games like Mario Kart World working easily.
We primarily examined these playing cards on a Home windows PC and Mac, although. How they carry out on the precise Swap 2 stays to be seen. We’ll take a look at as many choices as we will as soon as we have now our arms on the console, however for now we will’t say if it’ll render all microSD Categorical playing cards to related speeds. That was largely the case with the primary Swap: As soon as a (common) microSD card hit a certain threshold of efficiency, there wasn’t that a lot sensible distinction between it and different options. The Swap 2 is working with a special customary, but when one thing related have been to occur once more, the “greatest” microSD Categorical card would merely be probably the most inexpensive one from a good model within the capability you need.
That brings us to our important piece of recommendation: In case you can maintain off on shopping for considered one of these items early on, that’s most likely a good suggestion. It’s not simply concerning the lack of testing — in truth, we’d be stunned if any of the playing cards above have been really “dangerous.” It comes all the way down to worth: Barring extra tariff shenanigans, all of those playing cards are as costly at the moment as they’re ever prone to get. The Swap 2 is already common and can proceed to be, thus extra microSD Categorical playing cards will should be made and costs will (finally) come down. Attempt to use all 256 of the gigabytes baked into the Swap 2 first, even when it means having to delete a recreation or two. However for those who’re completely certain you need extra space instantly, the playing cards above ought to be adequate.
What are microSD Categorical playing cards?
Most microSD playing cards are based mostly on a regular known as Extremely Excessive Pace (UHS), of which there are three variations: UHS-I, UHS-II and UHS-III. The overwhelming majority of playing cards you could have purchased previously make the most of UHS-I. These have one row of pins within the again and a theoretical most information switch pace of 104 megabytes per second (MB/s). (Although many playing cards are capable of surpass that restrict with proprietary tech and card readers.) The unique Swap has a UHS-I microSD slot, as do most different gaming handhelds like Valve’s Steam Deck.
UHS-II playing cards add a second row of pins and may attain as much as 312 MB/s. These are pricier and far much less widespread than playing cards based mostly on UHS-I, however they’re supported by some cameras and higher-power handhelds just like the ASUS ROG Ally X. UHS-III, in the meantime, is twice as quick as UHS-II in idea (624 MB/s), however no microSD playing cards have truly used it.
UHS-I playing cards have held on through the years as a result of they’re low cost, extensively supported and quick sufficient for the issues most individuals want them to do: document 4K video, stash photographs and so forth. However with the Swap 2, Nintendo needs more. The brand new console is dramatically extra highly effective, which permits it to run demanding games that will have initially been constructed for stronger {hardware} just like the PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X or gaming PCs. The gadget also uses UFS 3.1 storage internally, which is far speedier than the eMMC storage utilized by the unique Swap. (A customized file decompression engine ought to assist enhance load occasions as effectively.) So if the Swap 2 goes to simply accept microSD playing cards, it wants ones that received’t carry a critical drop-off in efficiency and may maintain up with fashionable video games.
Therefore, SD Categorical. This customary has technically been around since 2018 however largely went nowhere till the Swap 2 got here alongside. It additionally makes use of a second row of pins, however it lets microSD playing cards reap the benefits of the PCI Categorical (PCIe)/NVMe interface, which is identical underlying tech utilized by modern SSDs. Because of this, it could actually produce significantly sooner learn and write speeds, with a present theoretical maximum of 985 MB/s.
As famous above, real-world efficiency received’t be fairly that quick. Even when it was, the perfect microSD Categorical playing cards would nonetheless be a lot slower than the NVMe SSDs used by the PS5 and Xbox. (Sony recommends SSDs with sequential learn speeds of at the least 5,500 MB/s.) They usually’ll fall effectively beneath their peak speeds beneath sustained masses: SanDisk, as an illustration, says sustained write speeds for its 128GB Categorical card can drop as little as 100 MB/s.
However they’re nonetheless a marked enchancment over previous UHS-I playing cards, and in idea, they need to be faster than some older SATA-based SSDs when it comes loading recreation ranges, asset streaming, retrieving saves or copying video games to exterior storage. Whereas SanDisk’s microSD Categorical card can produce sequential learn speeds round 900 MB/s, Lexar’s Professional Silver Plus — the highest UHS-I choose in our common microSD card information — topped out simply over 200 MB/s, and that’s with a proprietary reader. (On the primary Swap, it’d be nearer to 100 MB/s.) Sequential writes and random speeds have been three to 4 occasions higher as effectively, and typically much more relying on the benchmark we used.
It stays to be seen how effectively these Categorical playing cards will maintain up with prolonged use, and there’s no option to know precisely when their sky-high costs will drop. Non-Swap 2 units that assist microSD Categorical are nonetheless exceedingly uncommon, and the usual itself isn’t backwards appropriate with UHS-II, so that you’ll be restricted to UHS-I speeds if you wish to use your card with one other gadget (until you purchase a pricey external reader). Nonetheless, whereas the elevated prices and restricted choice are annoying, the tech itself appears worthy of a next-gen Swap.
