What is Microsd Express? Everything you need to know

I just received My Nintendo Switch 2, and my internal storage is already filled with all my old games and backups! If you are in the same boat, you may have noticed that you cannot just block yourself in the SD card of your original switch and continue to switch. Instead, you will need a new MicroSD Express card.

This express standard was Introduced at the end of 2023And it allows writing speeds in the hundreds of mega -cells, but so far, it has only been used for high -end digital cameras and niche use cases. Consequently, the cards are rare, and they bear a significant price premium compared to the most common microSD cards. Before taking me too much in the price and availability, let’s simply move on to the difference between the microSD express and standard cards and what it means for your switch 2.

Expressway

As you may have guessed from the name, the microSD express cards are faster, but to understand exactly what it means, we must decompose what we mean by speed and how measured and displayed on microSD cards.

Normal unplated cards use three measurements with a little overlap of performance. We have a In -depth technical guide If you want to know more about the unposed cards, but I will give the short version here. There are three ranges: Speed ​​classindicated with a C, UHS speed classas marked by a U for an ultra high -speed class, and Video speed classWith a V.

Whatever way it is displayed, the number indicates that the card is able to read and write at least as quickly. For the circle and the V, it is a direct comparison, therefore a circle with a “10” in it has a sustained writing speed of 10 MB / s. There are two U, 1 and 3 variants, which correspond respectively to 10 MB / s and 30 MB / s. The cards are almost always compatible with slower devices, so you can see several symbols and numbers on each card.

The indicator of Express The cards are, perhaps without surprise, an ex or e stylized, sometimes with a number next. Again, this represents the sustained writing speed of the card, with an official variation of 150 MB / s at 600 MB / s. Remember that these are minimum speeds, so you can see that the manufacturers cite even higher figures, but if you can support these speeds will depend on the reading and writing of the device on the card.