I obtained my Nintendo Swap 2, and my inside storage is already filling up with all my previous video games and saves! In the event you’re in the identical boat, you might have additionally observed you’ll be able to’t simply jam within the SD card out of your authentic Swap and hold rocking. As a substitute, you will want a brand new microSD Specific card.
This Specific commonplace was launched in late 2023, and it allows write speeds within the tons of of megabytes, however till now the playing cards themselves had been as uncommon as any units that used the usual. In consequence, the playing cards are few and much between, and so they carry a major value premium over the extra frequent microSD playing cards. Earlier than I get too caught up within the value and availability although, let’s simply go over what the distinction is between Specific and commonplace microSD playing cards and what it means in your Swap 2.
Up to date July 2025: We have clarified particulars in regards to the launch and utilization of microSD Specific, added hands-on testing with Samsung’s Nintendo-branded providing, and added speed-based benchmarks to complement the sensible testing.
Specific Lane
{Photograph}: Brad Bourque
As you may need guessed from the title, microSD Specific playing cards are sooner, however to grasp precisely what which means, we have to break down what we imply by pace 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 in regards to the non-express playing cards, however I am going to give the quick 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 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 pace. There are two U variants, 1 and three, which correspond to 10MB/s and 30MB/s respectively. Playing cards are nearly at all times suitable with slower units, so you might even see a number of symbols and numbers on every card.
The indicator for Specific 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 pace, with formally supported ranges from 150MB/s as much as 600MB/s. Keep in mind that these are minimal speeds, so you might even see producers quote even greater numbers, however whether or not you can assist these speeds will rely upon the gadget studying and writing to the cardboard.
