MicroSD Express: Essential for Nintendo Switch 2

Last week, Nintendo unveiled the much-anticipated Nintendo Switch 2, revealing that the new console exclusively supports expansion via MicroSD Express cards. This decision might be a hurdle for gamers with existing collections of traditional MicroSD cards, but it's a strategic move to leverage the superior speed of MicroSD Express technology.

The advantage of MicroSD Express cards lies in their ability to match the read/write speeds of the Universal Flash Storage (UFS) used in the Switch 2's internal storage. This parity in performance means that games stored on an expansion card should theoretically load just as quickly as those on the internal drive, significantly enhancing the gaming experience. The downside? You'll need to invest in the newer, faster MicroSD Express cards, as traditional MicroSD cards won't suffice.

MicroSD vs. MicroSD Express

The evolution of SD cards has seen a significant increase in speed ratings over the years. Starting with a modest 12.5MB/s, the industry progressed to SD High Speed at 25MB/s, and eventually to SD UHS III at 312MB/s. The introduction of the SD Express standard five years ago marked a pivotal shift, leveraging the faster PCIe 3.1 interface instead of the older UHS-I interface. This change allowed full-sized SD Express cards to achieve transfer speeds up to an impressive 3,940MB/s.

While MicroSD Express cards don't reach the peak speeds of their full-sized counterparts, they still offer remarkable performance, with speeds up to 985MB/s. This is three times faster than the fastest non-Express MicroSD card, making them a powerful choice for expanding your Switch 2's storage.

Why Does the Switch 2 Require MicroSD Express?

Though Nintendo often keeps its hardware decisions under wraps, the rationale for requiring MicroSD Express cards is clear: speed. A game installed on a MicroSD Express card will load significantly faster than on a traditional UHS-I MicroSD card due to the PCIe 3.1 interface. This requirement could foreshadow similar trends in handheld gaming PCs.

The Switch 2's internal storage has been upgraded to UFS from eMMC, aligning with the need for equally fast external storage. Early demonstrations suggest that load times for games like Breath of the Wild have improved dramatically, with fast travel load times reduced by 35% according to Polygon, and initial load times improved by a factor of three as reported by Digital Foundry. These enhancements could be attributed to the faster internal storage, as well as more powerful CPU and GPU, which can process data more efficiently. By ensuring that external storage matches these speeds, Nintendo aims to prevent any bottlenecks in future games that demand faster disk performance.

Moreover, this move future-proofs the Switch 2 for even faster storage solutions. The current fastest standard, SD 8.0 Specification, allows full-size SD Express cards to reach speeds up to 3,942MB/s. Although MicroSD Express cards aren't there yet, they could achieve similar speeds in the near future, provided the Switch 2's hardware supports it.

MicroSD Express Capacity Options

Despite their potential, MicroSD Express cards have been slow to gain traction. As the Nintendo Switch 2 hits the market, this is expected to change. Currently, options are limited. Lexar offers a single MicroSD Express card in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities, with the 1TB variant priced at $199.

Lexar Play Pro MicroSD Express

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SanDisk, meanwhile, lists a single MicroSD Express card with a maximum capacity of 256GB, which matches the internal storage of the Switch 2. As the console launches, we can anticipate a limited selection of MicroSD Express cards above 512GB. However, as demand grows, companies like Samsung are likely to introduce more options, ensuring a wider range of capacities becomes available.

SanDisk MicroSD Express 256GB

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