Why the Nintendo Switch 2’s MicroSD Express Compatibility Could Cost You More

With Nintendo’s recent unveiling of the Switch 2, we’ve uncovered some intriguing technical tidbits about this much-anticipated console. The standout change, however, relates to storage: the Switch 2 will utilize a new MicroSD standard known as MicroSD Express. If you’re an early adopter, brace yourself for a financial hit; these cards come steeply priced. Compared to modern SSDs, which offer a far better gigabyte-to-dollar ratio—sometimes as low as 5 to 6 cents per GB—MicroSD Express cards are costly, ranging from 20 to 25 cents per GB. This expense is attributed to their advanced NVMe and PCIe 3.0 capabilities, tech often seen in high-performance M.2 SSDs.

Take Sandisk’s offerings, for instance: their MicroSD Express line starts at a $49.99 price point for 128GB. Upgrade to 256GB, and you’re looking at $64.99. These cards, though costly, promise solid speeds—up to 880 MB/s read, 480 MB/s write, with a sustained write speed of 100 MB/s.

Meanwhile, Lexar is stepping up with larger offerings, promising capacities up to 1TB. But again, you’ll need deep pockets—expect to pay a hefty sum for these boosts in storage.

If you’ve got your eye on Lexar, their top-tier option, the Play Pro 1TB MicroSD Express card, is listed at an eye-watering $199.99. Opting for smaller sizes—like the 512GB at $99.99 or 256GB at $49.99—can ease the wallet strain. Their cards promise blazing fast read speeds up to 900 MB/s and write speeds up to 600 MB/s.

On a per-gigabyte basis, Sandisk’s 128GB model reaches an alarming $0.39, while the 256GB comes down to $0.25 per gigabyte. Lexar offers a more economical proposition with uniform pricing across their options: $0.20 per gigabyte, coupled with higher specs, presenting a compelling case for value seekers.

Let’s pivot to why all this storage matters more than ever with the Switch 2. Out of the box, the console gives you 256GB of space. Yet, here’s the kicker—even physical games may require a hefty download to become playable. The cartridge effectively acts as nothing more than a physical license key, a move likely driven by developers looking to trim cartridge manufacturing costs amid rising NAND storage prices.

Consider this: snagging a Street Fighter 6 cartridge means an additional 50GB download just to get started, rapidly eating into your built-in storage. In essence, using the Switch 2 means you’ll likely need to invest in these pricy MicroSD cards to sidestep the constantly redownloading and deleting routine when juggling Game-Key Cards on the system.

Curious about the particulars of the MicroSD Express standard for the Switch 2? It may look similar to the standard MicroSD at first glance, but the differences are significant. The latest SD Express classifications—150, 300, 450, and 600—indicate the minimum MB/s read/write speeds you can expect. These new cards, by design, feature 16 or 17 pins, compared to the older UHS-I’s eight.

Built on a foundation of NVMe and PCIe 3.0, these cards can theoretically hit speeds up to 2GB/s with a PCIe 4.0 interface. While current technical specs remain somewhat hazy, it’s unknown if the Switch 2 can fully capitalize on these speeds, and no available MicroSD Express cards quite reach these theoretical limits.

Joey Lopez, Lexar’s Director of Brand Marketing, shares his excitement about these advancements: “The new microSD Express standard offers a way to deliver exceptional memory card performance.” But, how these theoretical speeds stack up in real-world use remains to be seen, as do the speed test results for the fastest announced card, Lexar’s Play Pro MicroSDXC Express.

Eager to see how the Nintendo Switch 2 fares? Our hands-on experience is coming soon, diving into how this new technology measures up in practice and beyond the tech specs.