PNY's 256GB microSD Express card for the Nintendo Switch 2 is a great option for early adopters

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With the Nintendo Switch 2 launch around the corner, many early adopters will consider buying a microSD card to expand the console's storage and install more games. Although many felt blindsided by the announcement that microSD cards compatible with the original Nintendo Switch won't be compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2, the decision does make a lot of sense.

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Our storage pick for Switch 2 early adopters is the 256GB PNY microSD Express U3 V30 A1 Flash Memory Card.

Like PlayStation and Xbox, the next-gen Nintendo Switch 2 has dramatically increased the speed of its internal flash storage to cut loading times and support more data streaming for complex games, which means its microSD card slot will only be compatible with brand-new, fast microSD Express cards.

The good news is that the size of games isn't dramatically increasing with the Switch 2. Mario Kart World clocks in at 23.4 GB, Donkey Kong Bananza at 10 GB, and the Nintendo GameCube classics collection at 3.5 GB. At Computex 2025, we saw PNY's new microSD Express Flash Memory Cards with read speeds of up to 890 MB/s and write speeds of up to 750 MB/s.

PNY microSD Express U3 V30 A1 Flash Memory Cards are available now in 128 and 256GB capacities, with the 256GB option priced at a very reasonable $55.99. Some 1TB versions are out there, or coming soon, but as microSD Express technology is still relatively new, they're costly. PNY labels its microSD Express cards for gaming, explicitly mentioning the Nintendo Switch 2 on the packaging.

These cards are also versatile. The PCIe Gen3x1 UHS-I interface and microSDXC technology are backward compatible with microSD UHS-I and UHS-II devices.

The 256GB option would be our pick as it offers an easy way to double the Nintendo Switch 2's storage from 256 GB to 512 GB, which, based on the console's game sizes, would be the equivalent of slapping in a 1TB drive into a PS5 or Xbox Series X.