The Nintendo Switch 2 is undoubtedly the talk of the town. Among several upgrades from its predecessor, one of the most welcome improvements is the added onboard storage. Compared to the first-gen Switch, which only had 32GB of onboard storage, and the OLED variant that came with 64GB out of the box, the Switch 2 has a respectable 256GB of internal SSD storage. This should ensure you can store more games locally without relying on external storage. However, what has also improved is the graphics performance of the console, which means games are also going to be considerably larger than what they were seven years ago when the original Switch was launched.
Considering this, you will have to invest in expanding the onboard storage capabilities of the Nintendo Switch 2 if you end up getting one. Now, if you think it's as simple as the last-gen console, and all you need is an SD card -- well, you're both right and wrong. While the Switch 2 does indeed use a microSD card for storage expansion, a standard one simply won't work. Nintendo announced that the Switch 2 will only support the latest microSD Express cards with superior read and write speeds. While they look just like normal microSD cards, the speeds are comparable to NVMe SSDs -- resulting in substantially better performance. Of course, that also means microSD Express cards are more expensive, but that's the price you pay for improved speeds. If you're planning to pick up the shiny new handheld when it goes on sale in June, you might want to get your hands on any of the best microSD Express cards mentioned below early, since they're fast running out of stock.
The 10 biggest improvements that come with the Nintendo Switch 2
The Nintendo Switch 2 improves on its predecessor in every way, but some upgrades stand out more than others
A few products mentioned below may not be readily available to ship, with waiting times ranging from a week to a month. You can pre-order them and get them delivered before the console arrives, though. If the storage capacity you're looking for is out of stock, we would recommend keeping an eye on the product listing page to see when they come back in stock, as these Express cards are getting sold out rather quickly.
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Editor's choice
SanDisk microSD Express card
SanDisk's microSD Express card is among the few that are in stock and available to order. The highlight of the SD card is the ability to achieve extremely high read speeds of 880 MB/s and write speeds of 650 MB/s. As per the brand, the read and write speeds are over four times that of a standard microSD card, making it the apt choice for gaming. Additionally, SanDisk claims that its microSD Express cards are waterproof, temperature-proof, and humidity-proof. If you're going to be gaming for long durations, temperature resistance is a must, and we're happy to see SanDisk catering to that. Among the two storage options, the 256 GB variant offers the best value, since it's only $15 more than the 128GB offering.
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Best value
Lexar Play Pro microSD Express card
Just like the SanDisk option, Lexar's Play Pro microSD Express card offers substantially faster read and write speeds compared to its own Play range of SD cards. For reference, Lexar is claiming faster read speeds of up to 900 MB/s on the Play Pro Express card, compared to the 880 MB/s claimed by SanDisk. In fact, the write speeds that Lexar is claiming are also much faster at 600 MB/s as opposed to 480 MB/s on the SanDisk option. Keeping the numbers aside, though, both of these microSD Express cards should perform equally well when gaming on the Nintendo Switch 2. Notably, the Lexar Express cards are slightly more affordable compared to the SanDisk option, and you also have the option to get double the storage at 512 GB, while the SanDisk one is restricted to 256 GB.
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For larger storage
GameStop microSD Express card
While GameStop's microSD Express cards aren't on sale yet, you can pre-order them from their online store. As per the listing, the SD cards will start shipping on 5 June, the same day on which the Nintendo Switch 2 becomes available to purchase. Unlike the SanDisk option, the GameStop Express microSD card starts at 256 GB and goes all the way up to 1 TB in capacity. Lexar also offers a 1 TB option, but it's not available to order at the time of writing. This makes the GameStop SD card the only option if you're looking for a high-capacity microSD Express card for your Switch 2. It can achieve write speeds of up to 800 MB/s, which is slightly lower than the SanDisk and Lexar cards. Despite this, it's a tad more expensive compared to those options. This could be due to the added microSD to SD card adapter in the package.
Which microSD Express card to get for your Nintendo Switch?
If you're in a hurry and you want a microSD Express card in quick time, the 128 GB option from SanDisk is your only option, since that's the only SKU that's ready to ship. Since the Nintendo Switch 2 is still quite some time away, and you're willing to wait, the 256 GB and 512 GB options from Lexar hit the sweet spot with respect to value. They provide faster speeds at affordable price points. Notably, Nintendo has also announced a Switch co-branded microSD Express card in partnership with Samsung. However, the product isn't available for order yet. We will update the list as soon as more options become available. For now, we would suggest pre-ordering any of the desired options from the list above, since these microSD Express cards are running out pretty quickly.