How to Select the Perfect microSD Card for Your Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch has limited storage space: only 32 GB. But to remedy this, it has a slot that can accommodate a microSD card, to increase its storage capacity. But depending on whether you are alone or several to use it, the size of the card is all important! So how do you choose a microSD card? Our pieces of advice.

What is a microSD card?

Before embarking on the purchase of a microSD card for your Nintendo Switch console, it is best to know what it is all about. Let's be clear right away, the Nintendo Switch has an internal memory that allows you to save your games and your backups without any problem.

However, as soon as the games accumulate and you are several users using the console, things get complicated. The presence of a microSD card, therefore, becomes a necessity. An SD card (for "Secure Digital") is a removable memory card that can store your data and information up to a certain threshold.

This same threshold is defined in Giga Byte (GB). Logically, the higher the number of GB, the more data you can store on this card. The advantage is that you can have as many cards as you want to keep your games. The qualifier “Micro” means the physical size of the card, namely 11x15mm.

Image ©Nintendo Switch ©Sandisk 64GB Ultra Micro SD Card - Zelda Link

The advantages of a microSD card

Having a microSD card for your Nintendo Switch has several significant practical advantages. First, if there are several of you playing on the same console. The fact that each player has a microSD card avoids the risk of the console's storage capacity preventing the installation of a new game.

Thus, everyone has their games kept in their storage space. Simply swap the SD cards to resume your games where you left off. Please note that your game saves will always be stored directly on the console. The microSD card can simply accommodate additional games, which you would have purchased in dematerialized version.

If you are alone, the microSD card also has its advantages, because if your toy library starts to be loaded, the internal memory of your console will no longer be sufficient.

The best microSD cards: our advice

Now that the question of the microSD card has been well understood, it is a question of choosing the microSD card or cards that will allow you to fully enjoy your games on Nintendo Switch. There are three types of compatible microSD cards:

• the microSD;
• microSDHC;
• the microSDXC.

For the latter, you will need to connect your console to the internet to update it. The best memory cards to date for the Nintendo Switch are undeniably those that offer a high-speed system since they are UHS-I (Ultra High-Speed ​​Phase I) compatible with a read speed of up to 60 to 95 MB/s. The higher the reading speed, the better the performance.

Certain manufacturers have recognized the unique needs of Nintendo Switch gamers and have crafted microSD cards tailored specifically for this purpose. One such option is the SanDisk 1TB microSDXC card for Nintendo Switch, adorned with The Legend of Zelda - Tears of the Kingdom. In addition, you can also discover Sandisk microSD cards boasting capacities of up to 1TB and Kingston microSD cards offering up to 500GB, both ideal for dedicated gamers.

Image ©Nintendo Switch memory slot ©Sandisk 64GB Ultra Micro SD Card

Western Digital, a brand better known to the general public, has taken the opportunity to develop its microSDXC cards to expand the storage of your Nintendo Switch console with more personalized versions: a Sandisk 128 GB Red microSD card (Mario mushroom) and a White Sandisk 64 GB microSD (Triforce from Zelda).

And if you want to go further, Sandisk also offers three “premium” versions: the Sandisk 256 GB Yellow microSD card (Mario Star), the Sandisk 400 GB Blue microSD card (Bowser shell) and the Sandisk 512 GB microSD card (Mario sheet).