The most effective microSD playing cards for the Nintendo Swap 2

The Nintendo Switch 2 is right here, and meaning thousands and thousands of individuals will ultimately have to purchase a brand new microSD card. Whereas the console comes with 256GB of storage by itself, its improved performance signifies that some video games will chew up a ton of area. Cyberpunk 2077 is a 60GB obtain, for instance, whereas Split Fiction checks in at 69GB. Different titles aren’t almost as large (significantly these made by Nintendo itself), nevertheless it’s not arduous to see how you can find yourself deleting and redownloading video games inside a pair months.

Everytime you do need to add room, you’ll want a microSD Categorical card. The “Categorical” half is essential: These are not the identical because the previous dependable microSD cards you may’ve purchased for the unique Swap or different gaming handhelds — they’re newer, quicker and considerably costlier. However they’re your only choice. In the event you’re in search of the most effective microSD card for the Swap 2 in the present day, we’ve damaged down what you need to know before you purchase.

The most effective microSD playing cards for the Swap 2 (aren’t all that essential)

The Swap 2 is the primary mainstream gadget to require microSD Categorical for storage enlargement, so there aren’t many choices available for purchase simply but. Of the small handful of appropriate fashions we’ve seen to date, we’ve examined 5: the SanDisk microSD Express Card (aka the “SanDisk GamePlay microSD Express Card” at Walmart), the Lexar Play Pro, the Samsung microSD Card for Nintendo Switch 2, the PNY microSD Express Card and the GameStop Express microSD Card for Nintendo Switch 2. The primary 4 are made by real storage producers, whereas the GameStop card seems to be a rebadged model of one other mannequin. (This ought to be the case with another card sold by Walmart beneath its Onn sub-brand, which hasn’t been in inventory for a lot of the previous a number of months.) We used the 256GB model of each card apart from Lexar Play Professional, which was 1TB.

After timing these microSD Categorical playing cards throughout a spread of Swap 2 video games, our recommendation is easy: Get whichever one is offered for the bottom value within the capability you need. They aren’t an identical, particularly if you wish to transfer a sport to the cardboard from the console’s inner storage (or vice versa). However the variations in load instances and general efficiency inside precise video games are robust to note until you’ve gotten a stopwatch useful.

All 5 playing cards loaded up the digital model of Mario Kart World, for example, between 18 and 20 seconds. Every loaded the primary Grand Prix race in about 6.5 seconds. Attending to the beginning display of Cyberpunk 2077 took about 38 seconds in every case. Loading a save in a very asset-heavy space (Jig-Jig Street) then took between 26 and 29 seconds, relying on the cardboard.

With Fast Fusion, a smaller native Swap 2 sport, the preliminary load at all times took six to seven seconds, whereas every card loaded the primary championship race in roughly 4 seconds. It was the same state of affairs with the Swap 2 improve for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (utilizing a Swap 1 cartridge): Every card took simply over six seconds to get to the beginning display, between 19 and 20 seconds to load a save simply earlier than the ultimate boss, about 16 seconds to quick journey between Kakariko Village and Korok Forest, and so forth. We noticed no vital points with in-game masses when taking part in every sport, both.

All of this implies that the Swap 2 has a comparatively particular goal for these playing cards to hit, and that there is probably not a lot room for one mannequin to leap too far out in entrance of the others. We’ll additionally observe that the console’s built-in storage was constantly quicker than any exterior choice: The hole wasn’t at all times large, however no card really outpaced it in any of our exams. Loading that demanding space in Cyberpunk, for instance, took about 22.5 seconds on common. So if you’d like absolutely the quickest load instances, don’t put your sport on a card in any respect.

In the event you want the psychological consolation of figuring out you technically have the most effective card out there, get the SanDisk microSD Express Card. It had no outliers throughout our many sport loading exams, and it was constantly proper close to the highest when it got here to shifting video games to and from system storage, which suggests it affords robust sequential learn and write efficiency. Benchmark testing on PC with instruments like CrystalDiskMark backed this up, as famous in our broader microSD card buying guide.

Placing Mario Kart (a 21.9GB file) on that card took 4 minutes and 39 seconds on common, which was solely second to the Lexar Play Professional by six seconds. It was the quickest to jot down Quick Fusion (3.5GB), taking a mean of 27 seconds throughout three runs. Solely PNY’s card was quicker to maneuver video games again to the console’s storage, however that one was far slower at writing video games to the cardboard — getting Mario Kart on there took seven minutes and 11 seconds on common. Simply observe that the 128GB model of SanDisk’s card has slower sequential writes than the bigger variations, together with a lot slower sustained write speeds (100 MB/s vs 210-220 MB/s). So transferring a sport to that exact mannequin will take for much longer.

Virtually talking, although, pace variations aren’t as essential on this case as having a number of area to carry video games at a value you’ll be able to stay with. To make issues simple, we’ve listed each Categorical card we’ve seen at retailers on the time of writing beneath. Keep in mind: You need microSD Categorical, not “Excessive,” just like the branding SanDisk makes use of for some conventional microSD cards. A microSD Categorical card could have an enormous “EX” brand printed on it.

128GB

• SanDisk microSD Express Card ($64 MSRP)

• PNY microSD Express Card ($47 MSRP)

256GB

512GB

1TB

• Lexar Play Pro ($220 MSRP)

• GameStop Express microSD Card for Nintendo Switch 2 ($190 MSRP)

As you’ll be able to see, whereas the SanDisk card is quick, it’s additionally the most costly of an already-pricey bunch. Is it price an additional $10-20 to shave a pair seconds off sure masses in sure video games, or a pair minutes when shifting a sport to exterior storage? In all probability not for most individuals.

However inventory for all of those playing cards has been patchy because the Swap 2 landed, particularly for the Walmart Onn mannequin, which is by far the most cost effective alternative. If just one card is definitely out there by the point you learn this — and you will need to have it in the present day — it’s protected to only get it. You gained’t lose or achieve all that a lot with regards to real-world efficiency.

In the end, although, we advise holding off on shopping for any microSD Categorical card for so long as you’ll be able to. President Trump’s tariff shenanigans may spike costs a little bit larger within the quick time period, however generally, all of those playing cards ought to be as costly in the present day as they’ll ever be. And in comparison with conventional microSD choices, they are expensive: The Samsung Pro Plus, for instance, prices $17 for 128GB, $25 for 256GB, $43 for 512GB and $90 for 1TB as of this writing.

The Swap 2 is extremely popular, so extra microSD Categorical playing cards will have to be made and costs will (ultimately) come down. Ideally, we’ll see extra high-capacity choices as effectively: Nintendo says the Swap 2 technically supports playing cards as much as 2TB, however to date solely a pair even go as much as 1TB. All of this implies you need to attempt to use all 256GB baked into the Swap 2 first, even when it means having to delete a sport or two. However when you completely want more room straight away, the playing cards above ought to be superb.

What are microSD Categorical playing cards?

Most microSD playing cards are primarily based on an ordinary referred to as Extremely Excessive Velocity (UHS), of which there are three variations: UHS-I, UHS-II and UHS-III. The overwhelming majority of playing cards you might have purchased up to now 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 frequent than playing cards primarily based 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 concept (624 MB/s), however no microSD playing cards have really 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: report 4K video, stash pictures 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 helps enhance load instances as effectively.) So if the Swap 2 goes to simply accept microSD playing cards, it wants ones that gained’t carry a severe drop-off in efficiency and may maintain up with trendy video games.

Therefore, SD Categorical. This commonplace 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, nevertheless it lets microSD playing cards benefit from the PCI Categorical (PCIe)/NVMe interface, which is similar underlying tech utilized by modern SSDs. Because of this, it will possibly produce significantly quicker learn and write speeds, with a present theoretical maximum of 985 MB/s.

As famous above, real-world efficiency gained’t be fairly that quick. Even when it was, the most effective 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, for example, 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 concept, they need to be faster than some older SATA-based SSDs when it comes loading sport 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 decide in our basic 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 instances higher as effectively, and generally much more relying on the benchmark we used.

It stays to be seen how effectively these Categorical playing cards will maintain up with years of use, and there’s no technique to know precisely when their sky-high costs will drop. Non-Swap 2 gadgets that help 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 is worthy of a next-gen Swap.

How we take a look at microSD Categorical playing cards

We put our microSD Categorical playing cards via a sequence of exams meant to simulate how folks would use every card on the Swap 2 in the true world. We primarily labored with 4 video games: a mid-sized title in Mario Kart World, a small one in Quick Fusion, a comparatively massive one in Cyberpunk 2077 and a hybrid in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which ran off a Swap 1 cartridge however used a roughly 10GB Swap 2 improve pack that was downloaded and put in digitally.

We first timed how lengthy it took to maneuver every sport from the system’s inner storage to the cardboard in query, and vice versa. We then timed how lengthy it took to load every sport when put in to a given card. After that, we measured how rapidly the playing cards may load sure in-game situations: the primary Grand Prix race in Mario Kart; the primary championship race in Quick Fusion; quick touring between the Jig-Jig Avenue, Embers and Downtown Central areas in Cyberpunk and quick touring between the Kakariko Village, Korok Forest and the Hyrule Fort City Ruins areas in Zelda. (We selected these locations within the latter two video games as a result of they’re extra taxing than different areas.) With Cyberpunk and Zelda, we additionally timed how lengthy it took to load up totally different save information in these places.

With every take a look at, we accomplished three to 5 runs to account for any irregularities and marked down the typical time taken between them. We did every take a look at in airplane mode, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off, to reduce any efficiency drain that would come up from background downloads. Between every take a look at, we additionally spent at the least an hour taking part in the video games off every card to make sure there have been no vital drop-offs in comparison with the console’s built-in storage.

Latest updates

September 2025: We’ve taken one other move via this information to verify our recommendation continues to be correct. We’ve additionally famous a brand new 512GB model of PNY’s microSD Categorical card and confirmed {that a} “SanDisk GamePlay” Categorical card offered at Walmart has the identical efficiency as the usual SanDisk mannequin we advocate above, simply with a unique identify.