Nintendo Switch 2: Lexar Confirms microSD Express Support

 

Just days after the official announcement of Nintendo Switch 2, Lexar indirectly confirms support for microSD Express.

Check out the official Nintendo Switch 2 announcement

With the recent January 16, 2025, announcement of the Nintendo Switch 2, rumors and leaks haven’t stopped. If anything the official video has nearly 20 million views, has fueled further speculatios about its design. Particularly regarding a rumored mouse feature for Joy-Cons.

Additionally, hardware speculation continues. While Nintendo has taken legal action against leaks, as seen in the case of Genki at CES 2025, the stream of news keep spreading.

Switch 2: microSD Express Support Confirmed

The latest news comes from Lexar, a well-known storage solutions brand. Through a promotional campaign on Xiaohongshu and Twitter (X),. As they unveiled their new microSD Express lineup.

Lexar showcased their brand new Lexar PLAY PRO microSDXC Express, highlighting speeds of up to 900 MB/s read and 600 MB/s write, ideal for downloading and storing games on the new Switch.

The hype for the Nintendo Switch 2 is real! We’ve got something special for Nintendo fans—a new expandable storage card launching this February. Stay tuned! ✨#switch #Nintendo #game pic.twitter.com/ze4j01pMiX

— Lexar EU (@Lexarmemory_eu) January 17, 2025

Nintendo Switch 2: Why Storage Speed Matters

Lexar’s news reassures us about Switch 2’s storage functionality. Whereas the original Switch supported UHS-I with a theoretical max speed of 104 MB/s. And with the microSD Express confirmation, we’re looking at speeds up to 8x faster.

This boost means faster game loading, smoother gameplay without stuttering, and no more texture popping issues due to storage speed limitations. Essential given Switch 2’s higher graphical power, as we’re likely to see more system-demanding games on the new console.

Switch 2 and microSD Express: PCIe Gen 3 or 4 Internal Memory?

The microSD Express compatibility is more exciting than it seems. Further categorized back in OCtober 2023,  the highest Class 600, guarantee minimum speeds of 600 MB/s. Peaking at 985 MB/s on PCIe Gen 3 x1. The similar specs confimed by the Lexar’s Play Pro as SD 7.1 .

However as Lexar new offering might not be a top of the tline product, we might see a better spec. And Switch 2’s internal memory might use the faster PCIe Gen 4 x2 interface, with speeds up to 3940 MB/s, outpacing in theory even most PCIe Gen 3 NVMe drives. The internal memory is almost certainly to be NVMe, but remains to be seen if Gen 3 or 4.

In Conclusion

Games on the new Switch will run smoothly, even from microSD. Many hope for at least 256GB of internal storage, enough for some games, with microSD Express as a later upgrade. The official Nintendo Switch 2 presentation is scheduled for April 2, 2025.

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