You’ll need microSD Express cards for the Nintendo Switch 2, which are as fast as an SSD – here’s what they cost.
One expected Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade was more internal storage for games and data. It’s 2025, and 32GB of space doesn’t cut it anymore, especially for a console. The Switch 2 has 256GB of internal storage, which is an improvement. But it won’t be enough, and you will need microSD cards for the new handheld.
If you watched the Nintendo Direct event like I did, you learned that the microSD cards you currently own for the Switch 1 won’t be good enough for the Switch 2. That might have been an annoying surprise unless you were aware, like me, that a new standard for microSD speeds debuted last year, with console gaming being one of its use cases.
Nintendo didn’t say more about the Switch 2 expandable storage during the event, but the press release confirms that Switch 2 will only work with new microSD Express cards, “which have faster data reading speeds than previous microSD models.”
That’s an understatement, as microSD Express cards have significantly faster speeds than older versions. In fact, microSD Express cards are as fast as an SSD, and you can already start buying some in anticipation of your Switch 2 purchase. You’ll need to, after all, because the memory cards you already own won’t work in the Switch 2.
We first learned about microSD Express cards from Samsung at MWC 2024. At the time, Samsung revealed the cards would deliver speeds of up to $800MB/s, some four times than other microSD cards, and faster than some SSDs that reach 560MB/s.
