When Nintendo unveiled the Nintendo Switch 2 last week, it revealed that the console exclusively supports expansion through MicroSD Express cards. This decision might inconvenience those with existing collections of MicroSD cards, but it's a strategic move due to the significant speed advantage of MicroSD Express cards. These cards can achieve read/write speeds comparable to the UFS (Universal Flash Storage) used in the Switch 2's internal storage, theoretically enabling games stored on expansion cards to load as quickly as those stored internally. The trade-off, however, is the inability to use less expensive, non-Express MicroSD cards.
MicroSD vs. MicroSD Express
Over the years, MicroSD cards have evolved through six different speed ratings. Initially, SD cards offered speeds of just 12.5MB/s, which is slow by today's standards. Subsequent advancements included SD High Speed at 25MB/s, culminating in SD UHS III (Ultra High Speed) at 312MB/s. However, five years ago, the SD Association introduced the SD Express standard, significantly boosting performance.
The key difference with SD Express is its use of a PCIe 3.1 interface, rather than the slower UHS-I interface. PCIe is the same technology used by high-speed NVMe SSDs, allowing for much higher potential performance. Full-sized SD Express cards can now reach data transfer speeds of up to 3,940MB/s, far surpassing older SD cards.
While MicroSD Express cards don't match the top speeds of their full-sized counterparts, they still offer impressive speeds of up to 985MB/s, which is three times faster than the fastest non-Express MicroSD card.
Why Does the Switch 2 Require MicroSD Express?
Nintendo typically keeps its hardware decisions under wraps, but there are compelling reasons for the Switch 2 to require MicroSD Express cards for expansion. The primary reason is speed. A game installed on a traditional UHS-I MicroSD card will load much slower compared to one on a MicroSD Express card, thanks to the PCIe 3.1 interface. This requirement could signal a trend for future handheld gaming PCs.
The internal storage of the Nintendo Switch 2 has been upgraded to UFS from eMMC, making it logical for Nintendo to demand similar speeds from its expansion storage media. While exact load times for games like Breath of the Wild on the Switch 2 are yet to be fully documented, early demos suggest significant improvements—from a 35% faster fast travel time as reported by Polygon, to a 3x faster initial load time according to Digital Foundry. These enhancements could be attributed to the faster internal storage or the improved CPU and GPU, which can process data more quickly. The point is, Nintendo needs its external storage to match these speeds to prevent future games from being bottlenecked by slower SD cards.
Additionally, requiring MicroSD Express cards future-proofs the console for even faster storage options. Currently, the fastest standard for SD cards is the SD 8.0 Specification, enabling full-size SD Express cards to reach speeds up to 3,942MB/s. Although MicroSD Express cards can't yet reach these speeds, they have the potential to do so in the coming years, especially if the Nintendo Switch 2 supports such speeds.
AnswerSee ResultsMicroSD Express Capacity Options
MicroSD Express cards have been slow to gain traction, but the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 is expected to change this. Currently, options are limited. Lexar offers a single MicroSD Express card available in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB variants, with the 1TB model priced at $199.
Lexar Play Pro MicroSD Express
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SanDisk, on the other hand, has one MicroSD Express card available, topping out at 256GB, which matches the internal storage of the Switch 2. At the time of the Nintendo Switch 2's launch, it's unlikely that many MicroSD Express cards will be available with capacities exceeding 512GB. However, as time progresses, more options are expected, especially from manufacturers like Samsung.
SanDisk MicroSD Express 256GB
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