Best MicroSD Cards for Nintendo Switch 2

the Nintendo Switch 2 It comes with 256 GB of built -in storage, eight times more than The original switch And four times more than OLED switching. But the new control unit Performance improvement It means that some games will make a ton of that space: Cyberpunk 2077 It is the download of 60 GB, for anyone, while Fantasy It is achieved in 73 GB. Other nicknames are almost not almost, but there are possibilities that will eventually need to add more space to the device.

When you do it, you will need a MicroSD Express card. This is no The same standard MicroSD cards You may have bought the first key or others Portable games – It is the latest, faster and much more expensive. But if you want more space, it is The choice is only. If you are looking to seize one day, we put the best MicroSD cards to switch 2 and drop what you should know before buying.

Best MicroSD Cards to switch 2 (and why you might want to wait to buy)

Switch 2 is the first main device that requires MicroSD Express to expand storage, so there are not many options for purchase so far. To facilitate things, here is a list of each MicroSD Express card that we saw in retail dealers at the time of writing this report:

128 GB

256 GB

512 GB

1 terabyte

Remember: You are looking for microSD CrossAnd not “extremist”, do not use it as brands for each other Traditional microSD cards. The MicroSD Express will have a large “EX” logo printed on it – if you see it, you should be fine.

Nintendo says switch 2 Technically support Cards up to 2 TB, but we have not seen any MicroSD Express model exceeding 1 TB. It should also be noted that Gamestop and ONN (brand internal electronics for Walmart) are not manufactured, so it is not clear who makes their cards exactly.

Currently, the stock of each of these cards was very intermittent. The MicroSD Express Card also increased the price of MicroSD’s since it rose for sale for the first time in February; Originally, it costs $ 45 for 128 GB and $ 60 for 256 GB. Either way, all of these cards are more protected than traditional MicroSD options. the Samsung Pro PlusFor example, $ 17 for 128 GB, $ 25 for 256 GB, $ 43 for 512 GB and $ 90 for 1 TB to this lines.

We have already experienced the Sandisk’s Express and Lexar Play PRO card for our broader guide to The best microSD cards. Between the two, the Mandisk Card has much faster A series of reading Ravates – up to 899 MB/s for 712 MB/s in CrystaldiskmarkTo name one standard – which makes it theory more equipped to reduce download times.

Play Pro faster L Write a sequence (It reaches 720MB/s for 650MB/s), available in more sizes and should be cheaper at 256 GB whenever it is in the stock. (SANDISK says 128 GB of its card contains a slower serial writing of 256 GB as well). random The performance is equally Mario Cart World It works smoothly.

We tested these cards mainly on a Windows and Mac computer. How do they perform the actual key 2 to see. We will test the largest possible number of options that we can as soon as we put our hands on the console, but at the present time we cannot determine whether it will make all MicroSD Express cards at similar speeds. This was largely the case with the first key: Once you hit the MicroSD Card (regular) A certain threshold Of performance, there was not much practical difference between them and other alternatives. Switch 2 works with a different standard, but if something similar happens again, the best MicroSD Express will be simply the most affordable prices of a good reputation brand in the capacity you want.

This leads us to our main advice: If you can stop buying one of these things early, this may be a good idea. It is not only about not testing – honestly, we will be surprised if any of the above cards is really “bad”. It comes to value: except for more Shinigan tariffAll of these cards are expensive today as you are likely to get. Switch 2 is already popular and will remain so, so more MicroSD Express will be made and prices will decrease (at the end). Try to use all 256 of the baked Gigabytes in the 2nd key, even if that means the need to delete a game or two. But if you are completely sure that you want more space, then the cards above He should Be good enough.

What are MicroSD Express cards?

Most MicroSD cards depend on a standard called Ultra High Speed ​​(UHS), of which there are three versions: UH-I, UH-II and UH-III. The vast majority of cards that you may have bought in the past use UH-I. This has one row of nails in the back and the speed of transferring the top theoretical data of 104MB (MB/s). (Although many cards are able to overcome this limit Royal technology Cards readers.) The original key has a microSD UHS-I opening, as well Steam of the valve steam.

UHS-II cards add the second row of nails and can reach 312MB/s. This is significant and less common than UHS-I cards, but it is supported by some cameras and higher energy such as Asus Rog ally x. Meanwhile, UH-III is twice the speed of the UHS-II in theory (624MB), but it has not already used MicroSD cards.

Uhs-I cards have been held over the years because they are cheap and widely supportive enough for the things most people need them: recording 4K video, hiding photos, etc. But with switch 2, Nintendo It needs more. The new control unit is very powerful, which allows it to operate Claiming games This may originally be built for stronger devices such as PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X or computer games. Device Also used UFS 3.1 Interior storage, which is much faster than EMMC Storage used by the original key. (Custom Press pressure It should help improve download times as well.) So if Switch 2 will accept MicroSD cards, it needs those that will not slip in performance and can stand up with modern games.

Thus, SD Express. This standard It was technically about Since 2018, but he often did not go anywhere until the switch 2. Modern ssds. As a result, it can produce a much faster reading and writing speeds, with a stream Theoretical theoretical limit From 985 MB/s.

As mentioned above, the performance in the real world will not be so quickly. Even if so, the best MicroSD Express cards will remain much slower than NVME SSDs used By ps5 And xbox. ((Sony recommends SSDs with serial reading speeds of no less than 5500MB/s, and it will decrease much less than the peak speeds under the ongoing loads: Sandisk says, for example, the continuous writing speeds of the Express 128GB card can decrease to 100MB/s.

But it is still a noticeable improvement on the old UHS-I cards, and in theory, it should be faster than some SSD drives on SATA when the loading game levels come, or the flow of assets, and retrieval to save or copy the games to external storage. While the Sandisk’s MicroSD Express Card can produce consecutive reading speeds about 900MB/s. Professional silver in Lexar Top UH-I is at the MicroSD Public Card Directory-It is slightly over 200MB/s, with a private reader. (In the first key, it will be closer to 100MB/s.

It remains to see how quality of these fast cards with extended use, and there is no way to know when their high prices will decrease in the sky. Unconsising devices still support MicroSD Express very rare, and the same standard does not match UH-II, so it will be limited to UH-I speeds if you want to use your card with another device (unless you buy a External reader). However, while the growing costs and limited choice are annoying, the technology itself looks worthy of the next generation key.