I acquired my Nintendo Swap 2, and my inner storage is already filling up with all my outdated video games and saves! In case you’re in the identical boat, you might have additionally seen you possibly can’t simply jam within the SD card out of your unique Swap and preserve rocking. As a substitute, you will want a brand new microSD Categorical card.
This Categorical normal was launched in late 2023, and it allows write speeds within the lots of of megabytes, however till now the playing cards themselves have been as uncommon as any gadgets that used the usual. Because of this, the playing cards are few and much between, and so they carry a major worth premium over the extra frequent microSD playing cards. Earlier than I get too caught up within the worth and availability although, let’s simply go over what the distinction is between Categorical and normal microSD playing cards and what it means on your Swap 2.
Up to date July 2025: We have clarified particulars concerning the launch and utilization of microSD Categorical, added hands-on testing with Samsung’s Nintendo-branded providing, and added speed-based benchmarks to complement the sensible testing.
Categorical Lane
{Photograph}: Brad Bourque
As you might need guessed from the title, microSD Categorical playing cards are quicker, however to grasp precisely what meaning, we have to break down what we imply by velocity and the way it’s measured and displayed on microSD playing cards.
Regular, non-express playing cards use three metrics with some overlap in efficiency. We have got an in-depth technical information if you wish to know extra concerning the non-express playing cards, however I will give the brief model right here. There are three ranges: Pace Class, denoted with a C, UHS Pace Class, as marked by a U for Extremely Excessive Pace Class, and Video Pace Class, with a V.
No matter the way it’s displayed, the quantity signifies that the cardboard is ready to learn and write at the very least that quick. For the Circle and the V, it’s a direct comparability, so a circle with a “10” in it has a 10MB/s sustained write velocity. There are two U variants, 1 and three, which correspond to 10MB/s and 30MB/s respectively. Playing cards are nearly at all times appropriate with slower gadgets, so you may even see a number of symbols and numbers on every card.
The indicator for Categorical playing cards is, maybe unsurprisingly, a stylized EX or E, generally with a quantity subsequent to it. As soon as once more, this represents the cardboard’s sustained write velocity, with formally supported ranges from 150MB/s as much as 600MB/s. Keep in mind that these are minimal speeds, so you may even see producers quote even larger numbers, however whether or not you’ll help these speeds will depend upon the machine studying and writing to the cardboard.