The best microSD cards for the Nintendo Switch 2

The Nintendo Change 2 is right here, and which means a complete lot extra folks will ultimately want a brand new microSD card. Whereas the brand new console comes with 256GB of built-in storage — eight occasions greater than the unique Change and 4 occasions greater than the Change OLED — its improved efficiency signifies that some video games will chew up a ton of that house. Cyberpunk 2077 is a 59GB obtain, for instance, whereas Break up Fiction checks in at 69GB. Different titles aren’t almost as large (notably these made by Nintendo itself), however likelihood is you’ll need to add extra room in some unspecified time in the future down the highway.At any time when that’s, you’ll want a microSD Categorical card. This isn’t the identical because the outdated dependable microSD playing cards you might have purchased for the primary Change or different gaming handhelds — they’re newer, sooner and much dearer. However in order for you more room, they’re your solely selection. Should you’re trying to seize one at this time, we’ve laid out one of the best microSD playing cards for the Change 2 and damaged down what you need to know before you purchase.One of the best microSD playing cards for the Change 2 (aren’t all that essential)A group of microSD Categorical playing cards sit propped up on a marble desk in opposition to the show of a Nintendo Change 2.(Jeff Dunn for Engadget)The Change 2 is the primary mainstream machine to require microSD Categorical for storage enlargement, so there aren’t many choices that can be purchased simply but. Of the six appropriate fashions we’ve seen up to now, we’ve examined 5: the SanDisk microSD Categorical Card, the Lexar Play Professional, the Samsung microSD Card for Nintendo Change 2, the PNY microSD Categorical Card and the GameStop Categorical microSD Card for Nintendo Change 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 one other card offered by Walmart beneath its Onn sub-brand, which we hope to catch in inventory earlier than our subsequent replace.) 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 variety of Change 2 video games, our recommendation is straightforward: Get whichever one is offered for the bottom value within the capability you need. They aren’t equivalent, particularly if you wish to transfer a recreation to the cardboard from the console’s inside storage (or vice versa). However the variations in load occasions and general efficiency inside precise video games are robust to note until you have got a stopwatch useful.All 5 playing cards loaded up the digital model of Mario Kart World, as an 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 Avenue) then took between 26 and 29 seconds, relying on the cardboard.With Quick 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 important points with in-game masses when taking part in every recreation, both.The SanDisk microSD Categorical Card and Lexar Play Professional.(Jeff Dunn for Engadget)All of this implies that the Change 2 has a comparatively particular goal for these playing cards to hit, and that there might not be a lot room for one mannequin to leap too far out in entrance of the others. We’ll additionally notice that the console’s built-in storage was constantly sooner than any exterior possibility: The hole wasn’t all the time large, however no card actually 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.Should you want the psychological consolation of understanding you technically have one of the best card obtainable, get the SanDisk microSD Categorical Card. It had no outliers throughout our many recreation loading assessments, and it was constantly proper close to the highest when it got here to transferring video games to and from system storage, which implies it presents robust sequential learn and write efficiency. Benchmark testing on PC with instruments like CrystalDiskMark backed this up, as famous in our broader microSD card shopping for information.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 notice 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 exact mannequin will take for much longer.Virtually talking, although, pace variations aren’t as essential on this case as having numerous house to carry video games at a value you possibly can stay with. To make issues simple, we’ve listed each Categorical card we’ve seen at retailers on the time of writing under. Keep in mind: You need microSD Categorical, not “Excessive,” just like the branding SanDisk makes use of for some standard microSD playing cards. A microSD Categorical card may have an enormous “EX” emblem printed on it.128GBSanDisk microSD Categorical Card ($60 MSRP)PNY microSD Categorical Card ($47 MSRP)256GB512GB1TBLexar Play Professional ($220 MSRP)GameStop Categorical microSD Card for Nintendo Change 2 ($190 MSRP)All microSD Categorical playing cards may have this “EX” emblem printed on them.(Nintendo/Engadget)As you possibly can 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 transferring a recreation to exterior storage? Most likely 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 obtainable by the point you learn this — and you should have it at this time — it’s protected to simply get it. You gained’t lose or achieve all that a lot on the subject of real-world efficiency.Finally, although, we advise holding off on shopping for any microSD Categorical card for so long as doable. President Trump’s tariff shenanigans might spike costs somewhat larger within the brief time period, however basically, all of those playing cards are about as costly at this time as they’ll ever be. And in comparison with conventional microSD choices, they’re dear: The Samsung Professional 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 extraordinarily well-liked, so extra microSD Categorical playing cards will must be made and costs will (ultimately) come down. Ideally, we’ll see extra high-capacity choices as properly: Nintendo says the Change 2 technically helps playing cards as much as 2TB, however up to now solely a pair even go as much as 1TB. All of this implies you need to attempt to use all 256GB baked into the Change 2 first, even when it means having to delete a recreation or two. However in the event you completely want more room immediately, the playing cards above must be tremendous.What are microSD Categorical playing cards?A microSD Categorical card just like the one on the suitable has a second row of pins on the again.(Jeff Dunn for Engadget)Most microSD playing cards are primarily based on an ordinary 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 might 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 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 might 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 idea (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: document 4K video, stash images and so forth. However with the Change 2, Nintendo wants extra. The brand new console is dramatically extra highly effective, which permits it to run demanding video games that will have initially been constructed for stronger {hardware} just like the PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X or gaming PCs. The machine additionally makes use of UFS 3.1 storage internally, which is way speedier than the eMMC storage utilized by the unique Change. (A customized file decompression engine helps enhance load occasions as properly.) So if the Change 2 goes to just accept microSD playing cards, it wants ones that gained’t convey a critical drop-off in efficiency and might maintain up with fashionable video games.The Nintendo Change 2.(Sam Rutherford for Engadget)Therefore, SD Categorical. This normal has technically been round since 2018 however largely 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 reap the benefits of the PCI Categorical (PCIe)/NVMe interface, which is similar underlying tech utilized by fashionable SSDs. In consequence, it may produce significantly sooner learn and write speeds, with a present theoretical most of 985 MB/s.As famous above, real-world efficiency gained’t be fairly that quick. Even when it was, one of the best microSD Categorical playing cards would nonetheless be a lot slower than the NVMe SSDs utilized by the PS5 and Xbox. (Sony recommends SSDs with sequential learn speeds of at the very least 5,500 MB/s.) They usually’ll fall properly under their peak speeds beneath sustained masses: SanDisk, as an 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 outdated 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 Skilled Silver Plus — the highest UHS-I choose in our normal 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 have been three to 4 occasions higher as properly, and generally much more relying on the benchmark we used.It stays to be seen how properly these Categorical playing cards will maintain up with years of use, and there’s no solution to know precisely when their sky-high costs will drop. Non-Change 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 machine (until you purchase a dear exterior 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 Categorical cardsA man holds a Nintendo Change 2 Pleasure-Con controller with numerous microSD Categorical playing cards positioned on prime of it.(Jeff Dunn for Engadget)We put our microSD Categorical 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 giant 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 inside 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 shortly the playing cards might load sure in-game eventualities: 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 Citadel 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 completely different save recordsdata in these areas.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 attenuate any efficiency drain that might come up from background downloads. Between every check, we additionally spent at the very least an hour taking part in the video games off every card to make sure there have been no important drop-offs in comparison with the console’s built-in storage.