Nintendo Switch 2 game load speed increased by 4x with a new microSD card

Nintendo has officially showcased the successor to the Nintendo Switch, and now that the Switch 2-focussed Direct is complete and we know what to expect, companies are beginning to showcase additional products to pair with the new system. One of those products is additional storage, which is a little different with the Switch 2 compared to the original Switch.

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It has been confirmed that the Nintendo Switch 2 will only support microSD Express cards, which offer SSD-like speeds with up to 985MB/sec -- a huge jump from the 104MB/sec on the regular microSD cards. However, regular microSD cards are still compatible with the Switch 2 but are only limited to storing screenshots and videos, and are incompatible for saving and loading games.

Express cards are indicated by the "EX" located on the face of the card; no EX means no Express, and if that's the case, you will likely need to upgrade if you intend on taking advantage of the additional storage slot in the Nintendo Switch 2. So, what should you upgrade to?

Lexar has just unveiled the Play Pro microSDXC Express Card, which delivers read speeds up to 900MB/s, which the company says results in "game loads 4x faster." The caveat to this claim is that Lexar arrived at this 4x load speed boost based on its "internal testing," and stipulates in its press release, "Actual performance may vary. Maximum speeds reached only when used with a microSD Express host device."

Unfortunately, Lexar doesn't elaborate on its testing regime to get this 4x figure, or what it means exactly by "game load speed," and how that translates to real-world performance.

The Lexar Play Pro microSDXC Express Card is available in 1TB for an MSRP of $199.99, 512GB for $99.99, and 256GB for $49.99. It's currently available on Amazon here.