Last week, Nintendo announced the Nintendo Switch 2, revealing that this new console exclusively supports expansion through MicroSD Express cards. While this may be inconvenient for those with existing MicroSD collections, it's a strategic move that makes a lot of sense. MicroSD Express cards boast significantly faster read/write speeds, closely matching the UFS (Universal Flash Storage) of the Switch 2’s internal storage. This ensures that games stored on expansion cards can load just as quickly as those stored internally, although it means you can't use cheaper, non-Express MicroSD cards.
MicroSD vs. MicroSD Express
Over the years, MicroSD cards have evolved through six different speed ratings. Initially, SD cards launched with a modest 12.5MB/s, which is slow by today’s standards. As technology advanced, we saw improvements from SD High Speed at 25 MB/s to SD UHS III (Ultra High Speed) at 312MB/s. However, the game-changer came five years ago with the introduction of the SD Express standard, which significantly boosted speeds.
The key difference with SD Express is its use of a PCIe 3.1 interface, a departure from the slower UHS-I interface. PCIe is the same technology that powers faster NVMe SSDs, unlocking higher performance potential. Full-sized SD Express cards can achieve data transfer speeds up to 3,940MB/s, far surpassing older SD cards. MicroSD Express cards, while not as fast as their full-sized counterparts, still offer impressive speeds up to 985MB/s—three times faster than the fastest non-Express MicroSD card.
Why Does the Switch 2 Require MicroSD Express?
Nintendo's decision to require MicroSD Express cards for the Switch 2 is likely driven by the need for speed. If the same game is installed on both a traditional UHS-I MicroSD card and a MicroSD Express card, the latter will load significantly faster due to the PCIe 3.1 interface. This could be a trendsetter for handheld gaming PCs as well.
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. Early demos have shown substantial load time improvements, ranging from a 35% decrease when fast traveling, as reported by Polygon, to a 3x initial load improvement noted by Digital Foundry. These improvements may be attributed to faster internal storage or the enhanced CPU and GPU, which can process data more efficiently. The main point is that Nintendo needed external storage to match these speeds to prevent future games from being bottlenecked by slower SD cards.
Additionally, this requirement paves the way for even faster storage options in the future. The current fastest standard for SD cards, SD 8.0 Specification, allows full-size SD Express cards to reach speeds up to 3,942MB/s. While MicroSD Express cards can't yet reach these speeds, future advancements could make it possible, especially if the Nintendo Switch 2 is designed to support such high speeds.
MicroSD Express Capacity Options
MicroSD Express cards have been slow to gain traction, but with the Nintendo Switch 2's launch, that's expected to change. Currently, options are limited. For instance, Lexar offers a single MicroSD Express card in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB variants, with the 1TB option priced at $199.
Lexar Play Pro MicroSD Express
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SanDisk, on the other hand, has a MicroSD Express card available in a 256GB variant, which matches the internal storage of the Switch 2. As the launch approaches, we might not see many MicroSD Express cards with capacities over 512GB, but this is likely to change as companies like Samsung increase production.
SanDisk MicroSD Express 256GB
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