The very best microSD playing cards for the Nintendo Swap 2

If you wish to increase the storage of your Nintendo Swap 2, you’ll want a microSD Specific card. That is not the identical because the extra conventional microSD playing cards you might have purchased for the unique Swap or different gaming handhelds; Specific playing cards are newer, sooner and considerably costlier on common. However they’re your solely alternative, and given how a lot area sure Swap 2 video games chew up, you’ll most likely haven’t any alternative however to get one ultimately. Which to purchase, although? Should you’re on the lookout for the very best microSD card for the Swap 2 as we speak, we’ve damaged down what it is best to know earlier than taking the plunge.

The very best microSD playing cards for the Swap 2 (aren’t all that necessary)

The Swap 2 is the primary mainstream system to require microSD Specific for storage growth, so there aren’t many choices in the stores simply but. Of the handful of suitable fashions launched up to now, we’ve now examined seven: the SanDisk microSD Specific Card (aka the “SanDisk GamePlay microSD Specific Card” at Walmart), the Lexar Play Professional, the Samsung microSD Card for Nintendo Swap 2, the Samsung P9 Specific, the PNY microSD Specific Card, the GameStop Specific microSD Card for Nintendo Swap 2 and the Onn microSD Specific Card. The primary 5 are made by real storage producers, whereas the GameStop and Onn playing cards seem like rebadged variations of different fashions. We used the 256GB model of each card aside from Lexar Play Professional, which was 1TB.

After timing these microSD Specific playing cards throughout a spread of Swap 2 video games, our recommendation is easy: Get whichever one is in inventory for the bottom value within the capability you need. They aren’t identically quick, particularly if you wish to transfer a recreation to the cardboard from the console’s inside storage (or vice versa). However the variations in load instances and general efficiency inside precise video games are powerful to note until you will have a stopwatch useful.

All 5 playing cards loaded up the digital model of Mario Kart World, for example, between 18 and 20 seconds. Every loaded the primary Grand Prix race in about 6.5 seconds. Attending to the beginning display screen of Cyberpunk 2077 took about 38 or 39 seconds in every case. Loading a save in a very asset-heavy space (Jig-Jig Avenue) then took between 26 and 29 seconds, relying on the cardboard. (The one exception was with the Onn card, which averaged nearer to 31 seconds with that exact process, although that’s additionally the most affordable alternative.)

With Quick Fusion, a smaller native Swap 2 recreation, the preliminary load all the time took six to seven seconds, whereas every card loaded the primary championship race in roughly 4 seconds. It was the same scenario with the Swap 2 improve for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (utilizing a Swap 1 cartridge): Every card took simply over six seconds to get to the beginning display screen, between 19 and 20 seconds to load a save simply earlier than the ultimate boss, about 16 seconds to quick journey between Kakariko Village and Korok Forest, and so forth. We noticed no important points with in-game hundreds when taking part in every recreation, both.

All of this implies that the Swap 2 has a comparatively particular goal for these playing cards to hit, and that there will not be a lot room for one mannequin to leap too far out in entrance of the others. We’ll additionally notice that the console’s built-in storage was constantly sooner than any exterior possibility: The hole wasn’t all the time huge, however no card actually outpaced it in any of our checks. Loading that demanding space in Cyberpunk, for instance, took about 22.5 seconds on common. So if you would like absolutely the quickest load instances, don’t put your recreation on a card in any respect.

Should you want the psychological consolation of figuring out you technically have the very best card obtainable, get the SanDisk microSD Specific Card. It had no outliers throughout our many recreation loading checks, and it was constantly proper close to the highest when it got here to shifting video games to and from system storage, which suggests it presents sturdy sequential learn and write efficiency. Benchmark testing on PC with instruments like CrystalDiskMark backed this up, as famous in our broader microSD card shopping for information.

Placing Mario Kart (a 21.9GB file) on that card took 4 minutes and 39 seconds on common, which was solely second to the Lexar Play Professional by six seconds. It was the quickest to jot down Quick Fusion (3.5GB), taking a median of 27 seconds throughout three runs. Solely PNY’s card was sooner to maneuver video games again to the console’s storage, however that one was far slower at writing video games to the cardboard — getting Mario Kart on there took seven minutes and 11 seconds on common. Simply notice that the 128GB model of SanDisk’s card has slower sequential writes than the bigger variations, together with a lot slower sustained write speeds (100 MB/s vs 210-220 MB/s). So transferring a recreation to that exact mannequin will take for much longer. The Onn card was additionally slower to maneuver video games again to system storage, taking about 50 seconds greater than the SanDisk with Mario Kart and practically three minutes longer with Cyberpunk.

Virtually talking, although, velocity variations aren’t as necessary on this case as having numerous area to carry video games at a value you’ll be able to reside with. To make issues straightforward, we’ve listed each Specific card we’ve seen at retailers on the time of writing under. Keep in mind: You need microSD Specific, not “Excessive,” just like the branding SanDisk makes use of for some standard microSD playing cards. A microSD Specific card can have an enormous “EX” emblem printed on it.

128GB

• SanDisk microSD Specific Card ($64 MSRP)

• PNY microSD Specific Card ($48 MSRP)

256GB

512GB

1TB

• Lexar Play Professional ($220 MSRP)

• GameStop Specific microSD Card for Nintendo Swap 2 ($190 MSRP)

As you’ll be able to see, whereas the SanDisk card is quick, it’s additionally the costliest of an already-pricey bunch. Is it price an additional $10-20 to shave a pair seconds off sure hundreds in sure video games, or a pair minutes when shifting a recreation to exterior storage? Most likely not for most individuals.

However inventory for all of those playing cards has been a bit patchy because the Swap 2 landed, significantly for the Walmart Onn mannequin, which has sometimes been the most affordable alternative. Extra lately, the GameStop-branded playing cards appear to have offered out too. If just one card is definitely obtainable by the point you learn this — and you will need to have it as we speak — it’s protected to only get it. You received’t lose or achieve all that a lot in relation to real-world efficiency.

We’ve really useful holding off on shopping for a microSD Specific card for so long as potential in earlier updates to this information, and in the end every mannequin above ought to nonetheless come down in value over time. We noticed a number of Specific card reductions throughout Black Friday and Cyber Monday, for example.

However between President Trump’s tariff hikes and the continuing AI-driven shortages for reminiscence and high-capacity storage, you’d be justified when you wished to seize the most important card you’ll be able to fairly afford sooner quite than later. These items are nonetheless dear in comparison with conventional microSD playing cards: The Samsung Professional Plus, for instance, prices $17 for 128GB, $27 for 256GB, $50 for 512GB and $95 for 1TB as of this writing. And ideally, we’ll see extra high-capacity choices down the highway: Nintendo says the Swap 2 technically helps playing cards as much as 2TB, however to date solely a pair even go as much as 1TB. You must nonetheless attempt to use all 256GB baked into the Swap 2 first, even when it means having to delete a recreation or two. However when you completely want extra space straight away, the playing cards above needs to be nice as we speak.

What are microSD Specific playing cards?

Most microSD playing cards are primarily based on a normal known as Extremely Excessive Velocity (UHS), of which there are three variations: UHS-I, UHS-II and UHS-III. The overwhelming majority of playing cards you might have purchased previously make the most of UHS-I. These have one row of pins within the again and a theoretical most knowledge switch velocity of 104 megabytes per second (MB/s). (Although many playing cards are capable of surpass that restrict with proprietary tech and card readers.) The unique Swap has a UHS-I microSD slot, as do most different gaming handhelds like Valve’s Steam Deck.

UHS-II playing cards add a second row of pins and might attain as much as 312 MB/s. These are pricier and far much less frequent than playing cards primarily based on UHS-I, however they’re supported by some cameras and higher-power handhelds just like the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X. UHS-III, in the meantime, is twice as quick as UHS-II in principle (624 MB/s), however no microSD playing cards have really used it.

UHS-I playing cards have held on through the years as a result of they’re low-cost, extensively supported and quick sufficient for the issues most individuals want them to do: file 4K video, stash pictures and so forth. However with the Swap 2, Nintendo wants extra. The brand new console is dramatically extra highly effective, which permits it to run demanding video games which will have initially been constructed for stronger {hardware} just like the PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X or gaming PCs. The system additionally makes use of UFS 3.1 storage internally, which is way speedier than the eMMC storage utilized by the unique Swap. (A customized file decompression engine helps enhance load instances as properly.) So if the Swap 2 goes to simply accept microSD playing cards, it wants ones that received’t carry a severe drop-off in efficiency and might maintain up with trendy video games.

Therefore, SD Specific. This normal has technically been round since 2018 however largely went nowhere till the Swap 2 got here alongside. It additionally makes use of a second row of pins, however it lets microSD playing cards benefit from the PCI Specific (PCIe)/NVMe interface, which is identical underlying tech utilized by trendy SSDs. Because of this, it might probably produce significantly sooner learn and write speeds, with a present theoretical most of 985 MB/s.

As famous above, real-world efficiency received’t be fairly that quick. Even when it was, the very best microSD Specific playing cards would nonetheless be a lot slower than the NVMe SSDs used by the PS5 and Xbox. (Sony recommends SSDs with sequential learn speeds of not less than 5,500 MB/s.) They usually’ll fall properly under their peak speeds below sustained hundreds: SanDisk, for example, says sustained write speeds for its 128GB Specific card can drop as little as 100 MB/s.

However they’re nonetheless a marked enchancment over outdated UHS-I playing cards, and in principle, they need to be faster than some older SATA-based SSDs when it comes loading recreation ranges, asset streaming, retrieving saves or copying video games to exterior storage. Whereas SanDisk’s microSD Specific card can produce sequential learn speeds round 900 MB/s, Lexar’s Skilled Silver Plus — the highest UHS-I choose in our common microSD card information — topped out simply over 200 MB/s, and that’s with a proprietary reader. (On the primary Swap, it’d be nearer to 100 MB/s.) Sequential writes and random speeds had been three to 4 instances higher as properly, and generally much more relying on the benchmark we used.

It stays to be seen how properly these Specific playing cards will maintain up with years of use, and there’s no solution to know precisely when their sky-high costs will drop. Non-Swap 2 units that assist microSD Specific are nonetheless exceedingly uncommon, and the usual itself isn’t backwards suitable with UHS-II, so that you’ll be restricted to UHS-I speeds if you wish to use your card with one other system (until you purchase a dear exterior reader). Nonetheless, whereas the elevated prices and restricted choice are annoying, the tech itself is worthy of a next-gen Swap.

How we check microSD Specific playing cards

We put our microSD Specific playing cards by means of a sequence of checks meant to simulate how folks would use every card on the Swap 2 in the actual world. We primarily labored with 4 video games: a mid-sized title in Mario Kart World, a small one in Quick Fusion, a comparatively massive one in Cyberpunk 2077 and a hybrid in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which ran off a Swap 1 cartridge however used a roughly 10GB Swap 2 improve pack that was downloaded and put in digitally.

We first timed how lengthy it took to maneuver every recreation from the system’s inside storage to the cardboard in query, and vice versa. We then timed how lengthy it took to load every recreation when put in to a given card. After that, we measured how rapidly the playing cards may load sure in-game eventualities: the primary Grand Prix race in Mario Kart; the primary championship race in Quick Fusion; quick touring between the Jig-Jig Avenue, Embers and Downtown Central areas in Cyberpunk and quick touring between the Kakariko Village, Korok Forest and the Hyrule Fortress City Ruins areas in Zelda. (We selected these locations within the latter two video games as a result of they’re extra taxing than different areas.) With Cyberpunk and Zelda, we additionally timed how lengthy it took to load up totally different save recordsdata in these areas.

With every check, we accomplished three to 5 runs to account for any irregularities and marked down the typical time taken between them. We did every check in airplane mode, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off, to reduce any efficiency drain that would come up from background downloads. Between every check, we additionally spent not less than an hour taking part in the video games off every card to make sure there have been no important drop-offs in comparison with the console’s built-in storage.

Current updates

December 2025: We’ve examined Samsung’s P9 Specific card, although our common procuring recommendation for this market stays the identical.

November 2025: We’ve examined the 256GB model of Walmart’s Onn microSD Specific card and edited our information accordingly. It’s usually slower than many of the different choices we’ve tried, particularly when shifting video games to and from system storage, and in artificial benchmark checks on a PC. However the efficiency drop-off isn’t significantly noticeable in precise Swap 2 video games, so when you see it in inventory and simply need to pay as little as potential, it’s a good purchase.

September 2025: We’ve taken one other go by means of this information to substantiate our recommendation remains to be correct. We’ve additionally famous a brand new 512GB model of PNY’s microSD Specific card and confirmed {that a} “SanDisk GamePlay” Specific card offered at Walmart has the identical efficiency as the usual SanDisk mannequin we suggest above, simply with a special identify.