Nintendo fans will know of the struggles related to the decision to natively support microSD Express formats in the Switch 2 console. Since this type of card was relatively unpopular to manufacture until that point, there have been reports of Express cards selling out at major retailers. And if you want full speeds in your gaming, you'll need an Express card.
PNY first dropped its own microSD Express card in May, and it is one of the fastest on the market, running speeds of 890/500 mps (offering 4.4x faster speeds than standard microSD cards). But it only launched with 128GB and 256GB storage options. Luckily, PNY is on the case and has just expanded its range to include a larger 512GB option – welcome news for the millions of gamers wanting more capacity for their consoles. You can buy that card right now on Amazon for $99.99.
Officially, the microSD is only fully compatible with the Switch 2 – so if you're using other consoles you'll need a standard UHD microSD.
So do you need the new roomy storage model, or could you make do with one of the smaller (and cheaper) options?
If you take into account the useable space on each size of microSD (after formatting), the amount of games you can fit on each model will vary depending on whether you're playing AAA or Indie games. Assuming you play a mix, the capacities are approximately as follows:
- 128GB microSD Express: 4-5 games
- 256GB microSD Express: 12-20 games
- 512GB microSD Express: 25-35 games
With the 512GB coming in at 60% more expensive than the 128GB version, it's actually not bad value – you do get about six times more games onto that card, after all. To compare with the rest of the market, Lexar's 512GB version costs $112 whereas SanDisk's is a bit pricier still, at $114.99. Given PNY's speeds are very comparable (and beat out the others in a lot of cases), it will be coming in at a very competitive price.
Of course, Lexar already offers a massive 1TB card – so real power players might want to look to that model for their storage needs. But that comes in at around £200, so if you want a nice balance of space and price PNY's card might just be perfect.
If you're not convinced by PNY's offering, there are other microSD Express options available from SanDisk, Samsung and others. You can see some of the deals on those below. Or if you want a more ridiculous accessory, check out this Switch 2 add-on that holds fries. Erm, okay.
