Nintendo Switch 2’s Compatibility with MicroSD Express May Strain Your Budget: Here’s the Reason

After Nintendo unveiled the Switch 2, some intriguing technical revelations came our way. Among them, the Switch 2 will rely on a new MicroSD format known as MicroSD Express. If you’re concerned about price, you might want to buckle up: these new cards are a bit harsh on the pocket. When you crunch the numbers, they end up more costly than several modern SSDs. MicroSD Express cards are priced at around 20 to 25 cents per gigabyte, whereas some budget SSDs can go from just 5 to 6 cents per GB. This is largely due to the NVMe and PCIe 3.0 support these cards have, tech you usually find in those speedy M.2 SSDs.

Take a look at Sandisk’s offerings, for instance. Their MicroSD Express cards come with a starting price of $49.99 for a mere 128GB, while a 256GB card will set you back $64.99. These cards can reach read speeds up to 880 MB/s and write speeds up to 480 MB/s, with an impressive sustained write of 100 MB/s.

Meanwhile, Lexar has revealed they’re coming out with bigger sizes, going up to 1TB. But, hold onto your hat because the pricing is quite steep with this cutting-edge format.

If you’re eyeing Lexar’s Play Pro 1TB MicroSD Express card, be prepared to shell out a staggering $199.99. The 512 GB version is priced at $99.99, while the 256 GB model goes for $49.99. Lexar claims these cards are capable of hitting speeds of up to 900 MB/s read and 600 MB/s write. Comparatively, Sandisk’s pricing comes to about $0.39 per GB for the 128GB option, and $0.25 per GB for the 256GB one. Lexar seems to offer a bit more value, with each capacity costing $0.20 per gigabyte and promising some top-notch specifications.

Now, let’s discuss the importance of storage for the Switch 2. Nintendo plans to include 256GB of storage right out of the box with the Switch 2, but not everything is as it seems. Even with a physical game, you might find yourself needing to download and install the whole game onto your system. That means the game cartridge serves more as a fancy physical license. Nintendo is calling these “Game-Key Cards.” This approach could be an effort by developers to cut cartridge costs, especially considering the increasing price of NAND storage.

Take a game like Street Fighter 6 as an example. To play it on the Switch 2, you’ll need to install an extra 50GB of data. All the while, your built-in 256GB storage is quickly dwindling. This makes the prospect of using these new MicroSD cards inevitable if you want to avoid the constant hassle of juggling game installations every time you switch out Game-Key Cards.

Now, diving into the new MicroSD Express standard for the Switch 2, at first glance, they might look like your usual MicroSD cards. But under the hood, they’re quite different and represent a notable leap from the previous UHS-I standard you found on the earlier Switch.

The SD Association currently categorizes SD Express cards into four speed classes: Class 150, 300, 450, and 600, with each marking their minimum read/write speeds in MB/s. These new Express cards have a far greater number of pins, 16 or 17 to be specific, in contrast to just eight on the older ones.

The impressive speeds are enabled by NVMe and PCIe 3.0 interfaces, making theoretical speeds of up to 2GB/s (through PCIe 4.0) possible. For a deeper dive into the nitty-gritty, you can catch all the specifics over at our sister publication, AnandTech.

There’s still some unknown territory, though. With limited details on the Switch 2’s full capabilities, it’s uncertain if it’ll achieve those top theoretical speeds. As of now, no MicroSD Express card has hit those velocities.

Lexar’s Play Pro MicroSDXC Express card might currently be leading the pack in speed, but its performance tests are still pending until we can try our hands on the Switch 2 and these MicroSD Express cards. Until then, check out our first impressions of the Nintendo Switch 2 for more insights.