The most effective microSD playing cards for the Nintendo Change 2

The Nintendo Switch 2 is right here, and which means tens of millions of individuals will finally 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 massive (notably these made by Nintendo itself), but it surely’s not onerous to see how you might find yourself deleting and redownloading video games inside a pair months.

Everytime you do wish to add room, you’ll want a microSD Specific card. The “Specific” half is essential: These are not the identical because the previous dependable microSD cards you would possibly’ve purchased for the unique Change or different gaming handhelds — they’re newer, sooner and considerably costlier. However they’re your only choice. When you’re on the lookout for the perfect microSD card for the Change 2 right now, we’ve damaged down what you must know before you purchase.

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

The Change 2 is the primary mainstream machine to require microSD Specific for storage growth, so there aren’t many choices in the stores simply but. Of the small handful of suitable fashions we’ve seen so far, 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 must be the case with another card sold by Walmart underneath 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 aside from Lexar Play Professional, which was 1TB.

After timing these microSD Specific playing cards throughout a variety of Change 2 video games, our recommendation is straightforward: Get whichever one is out there for the bottom worth within the capability you need. They aren’t equivalent, particularly if you wish to transfer a recreation to the cardboard from the console’s inner storage (or vice versa). However the variations in load occasions and total efficiency inside precise video games are powerful to note except you’ve a stopwatch helpful.

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 Change 2 recreation, the preliminary load all the time 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 Change 2 improve for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (utilizing a Change 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 enjoying every recreation, both.

All of this implies that the Change 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 be aware that the console’s built-in storage was persistently sooner than any exterior choice: The hole wasn’t all the time massive, however no card really outpaced it in any of our assessments. Loading that demanding space in Cyberpunk, for instance, took about 22.5 seconds on common. So in order for you absolutely the quickest load occasions, don’t put your recreation on a card in any respect.

When you want the psychological consolation of figuring out you technically have the perfect card accessible, get the SanDisk microSD Express Card. It had no outliers throughout our many recreation loading assessments, and it was persistently proper close to the highest when it got here to shifting video games to and from system storage, which suggests it provides 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 write down Quick Fusion (3.5GB), taking a mean of 27 seconds throughout three runs. Solely PNY’s card was sooner 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 be aware 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 recreation to that individual mannequin will take for much longer.

Virtually talking, although, velocity variations aren’t as essential on this case as having a number of area to carry video games at a worth you possibly can stay with. To make issues simple, we’ve listed each Specific card we’ve seen at retailers on the time of writing beneath. Keep in mind: You need microSD Specific, not “Excessive,” just like the branding SanDisk makes use of for some conventional microSD cards. A microSD Specific card could have a giant “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 possibly can see, whereas the SanDisk card is quick, it’s additionally the most costly of an already-pricey bunch. Is it value an additional $10-20 to shave a pair seconds off sure masses in sure video games, or a pair minutes when shifting a recreation to exterior storage? In all probability not for most individuals.

However inventory for all of those playing cards has been patchy for the reason that Change 2 landed, particularly for the Walmart Onn mannequin, which is by far the most affordable selection. If just one card is definitely accessible by the point you learn this — and you will need to have it right now — it’s secure to simply get it. You received’t lose or acquire all that a lot in terms of real-world efficiency.

In the end, although, we advise holding off on shopping for any microSD Specific card for so long as you possibly can. President Trump’s tariff shenanigans may spike costs somewhat greater within the brief time period, however on the whole, all of those playing cards must be as costly right now 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 Change 2 is extremely popular, so extra microSD Specific playing cards will should be made and costs will (finally) come down. Ideally, we’ll see extra high-capacity choices as effectively: Nintendo says the Change 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 must attempt to use all 256GB baked into the Change 2 first, even when it means having to delete a recreation or two. However for those who completely want more room straight away, the playing cards above must be superb.

What are microSD Specific playing cards?

Most microSD playing cards are primarily based on a regular known 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 could 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 velocity of 104 megabytes per second (MB/s). (Although many playing cards are in a position to surpass that restrict with proprietary tech and card readers.) The unique Change 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 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, broadly supported and quick sufficient for the issues most individuals want them to do: file 4K video, stash images and so forth. However with the Change 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 machine also uses UFS 3.1 storage internally, which is far speedier than the eMMC storage utilized by the unique Change. (A customized file decompression engine helps enhance load occasions as effectively.) So if the Change 2 goes to just accept microSD playing cards, it wants ones that received’t carry a severe drop-off in efficiency and may maintain up with trendy video games.

Therefore, SD Specific. This customary has technically been around since 2018 however principally went nowhere till the Change 2 got here alongside. It additionally makes use of a second row of pins, but it surely lets microSD playing cards make the most of the PCI Specific (PCIe)/NVMe interface, which is identical underlying tech utilized by modern SSDs. Consequently, it could possibly 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 Specific 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.) And so they’ll fall effectively beneath their peak speeds underneath sustained masses: SanDisk, for example, says sustained write speeds for its 128GB Specific 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 recreation ranges, asset streaming, retrieving saves or copying video games to exterior storage. Whereas SanDisk’s microSD Specific 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 Change, it’d be nearer to 100 MB/s.) Sequential writes and random speeds had been three to 4 occasions higher as effectively, and generally much more relying on the benchmark we used.

It stays to be seen how effectively these Specific 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-Change 2 units that help microSD Specific are nonetheless exceedingly uncommon, and the usual itself isn’t backwards suitable with UHS-II, so that you’ll be restricted to UHS-I speeds if you wish to use your card with one other machine (except 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 Change.

How we check microSD Specific playing cards

We put our microSD Specific playing cards by way of a collection of assessments meant to simulate how folks would use every card on the Change 2 in the actual 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 Change 1 cartridge however used a roughly 10GB Change 2 improve pack that was downloaded and put in digitally.

We first timed how lengthy it took to maneuver every recreation from the system’s inner storage to the cardboard in query, and vice versa. We then timed how lengthy it took to load every recreation 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 Road, 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 recordsdata in these places.

With every check, we accomplished three to 5 runs to account for any irregularities and marked down the common time taken between them. We did every check in airplane mode, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off, to reduce any efficiency drain that would come up from background downloads. Between every check, we additionally spent at the least an hour enjoying 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.

Current updates

September 2025: We’ve taken one other cross by way of this information to substantiate our recommendation remains to be correct. We’ve additionally famous a brand new 512GB model of PNY’s microSD Specific card and confirmed {that a} “SanDisk GamePlay” Specific card bought at Walmart has the identical efficiency as the usual SanDisk mannequin we advocate above, simply with a special identify.