For Nintendo Switch 2 owners, today we\u2019re going over the best SD cards you can get for the system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s world, digital gaming is more common than ever. It\u2019s super easy to download a game from the Nintendo eShop without even having to leave your house \u2013 and on Switch, it was fairly easy, as big microSD cards weren\u2019t terribly expensive. That said, the Nintendo Switch 2 only uses microSD Express cards, which are completely different \u2013 and as you may have guessed, much more expensive. There aren\u2019t a ton of viable options on the market right now, and none of them are particularly cheap. That said, not only will we go over the best microSD cards for Nintendo Switch 2, but also some tips to help save on storage space.<\/p>\n
Before Nintendo Switch 2, barely any devices were compatible with microSD Express cards. Even now, you\u2019d be hard-pressed to find another system that requires these cards. In the future, tablets and smartphones will almost certainly switch over to these as well, though at the time of writing that hasn\u2019t happened yet. Compared to a regular old SD card, microSD Express cards have a much faster write speed, which means games can load more data all at once and at a much faster speed.<\/p>\n
Though we don\u2019t have any official confirmation, microSD Express compatibility is likely required to make certain Nintendo Switch 2 exclusives maintain their performance. They also provide a boost to loading times on Nintendo Switch 1, by extension. So one reason these cards are more expensive is because they\u2019re much more powerful and efficient than a regular SD card, plus they\u2019re also much newer. Only Nintendo Switch 2 really supports them at the moment, so they\u2019re also produced in much smaller volumes.<\/p>\n
The other reason microSD Express cards are so expensive is the same reason all video game consoles and computer parts are so expensive \u2013 AI data centers want as much memory as possible, and purchase a large majority of the available parts at a discount before consumers can ever get their hands on them. In other words, AI is creating a much higher demand than there is supply. For that reason, prices on microSD Express cards unfortunately aren\u2019t likely to go down anytime soon, and the same goes for other video game consoles and computer parts as well. Hopefully that changes one day!<\/p>\n
The best microSD Express cards to buy<\/p>\n
In terms of the best SD card for Nintendo Switch 2, there are a few brands of microSD Express cards you\u2019ll want to stick to: Samsung, Lexar, and SanDisk. Generally speaking, it\u2019s not a very good idea to buy off-brand storage devices, as they\u2019re more prone to fail \u2013 and you don\u2019t want your microSD Express card failing if it has Pokemon save data on it, because if it dies and all your data becomes unreadable, you can\u2019t get that back due to the lack of cloud saves on most main Pokemon games.<\/p>\n
On-brand microSD Express cards are solid, as well as the GameStop-brand ones sold exclusively at their store. At the time of writing, 1 TB is the biggest storage space you can get on a microSD Express card. And unfortunately, they\u2019re ridiculously expensive \u2013 at the time of writing, Lexar\u2019s 1 TB card has risen to $350, up from $200 in March 2025. Other 1 TB microSD Express cards appear to be off-brand ones, which are not guaranteed to be reliable for Nintendo Switch 2.<\/p>\n
In our opinion, the best Nintendo Switch 2 SD card that balances storage space and price is SanDisk\u2019s 512 GB option for around $120. If you\u2019re interested in buying, it\u2019s currently available on Amazon here.<\/a> Do note that the price may have changed if you\u2019re reading this after the original publish date.<\/p>\n