The Nintendo Switch 2 is finally here and while it comes with a big boost in graphics and performance, the long-awaited hybrid console’s built-in storage also features a massive 700% increase over the original.
If you can believe it, the Nintendo Switch shipped with just 32GB of built-in storage when it launched eight years ago. At the time and thanks to Nintendo’s unmatched ability to deliver big games at a fraction of the size of other developers, this was more than enough to get you started building a library of the best Nintendo Switch games. For instance, Breath of the Wild took up 13.4GB of storage while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe only required 6.75GB at launch.
Now though, games have gotten bigger — even first-party ones from Nintendo — and the Switch 2 ships with 256GB of storage. Of course, you can always expand the console’s storage with a memory card.
After getting my own Switch 2 at a midnight launch last week, I thought I’d at least be able to wait until Amazon Prime Day or even Black Friday before picking one up at a discounted price, but boy was I wrong. Here’s how I doubled my Switch 2’s storage for half the price of Mario Kart World.
More built-in storage, but still not enough
If you haven’t picked up a Nintendo Switch 2 yet, let me break down the setup process for you. After powering on your new console, selecting your language and connecting to the internet, you’re asked if you want to transfer your saved data and games from your original Switch.
I highly recommend doing this because if you decline, you won’t be able to do so after the fact without factory resetting your new Switch 2.
The whole process seemed simple enough until I realized that there was no way my entire Switch game library was going to fit on the Switch 2’s built-in storage. You see, I’ve had a Switch since 2017 and during all that time with it, I’ve amassed a huge library of games, some big and some small.
Unfortunately, Nintendo doesn’t give you the option to choose which of your installed games you actually want to transfer over to your new console.
With a home screen full of pending downloads, I was left particularly frustrated as while I did want to copy over my games and save data, I really just wanted to quickly download Mario Kart World and go off to the races.
Even with the new Switch 2 Pro Controller in hand, it got really tedious cancelling pending downloads when there were so many. It was then that I realized using a Joy-Con 2 in Mouse Mode provided a much easier (and faster) way to manage my game library and downloads.
I ended up installing a few of my favorite original Switch titles and a few Switch 2 games to test out. With Mario Kart World, the Switch 2 version of Tears of the Kingdom and Cyberpunk 2077 installed, my Switch 2’s built-in storage was just about full. However, it was when I tried to add Street Fighter 6 to the mix that I ran out of storage.
I started looking at microSD Express Cards online, hoping to find one that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Most of them went for at least $60 for 256GB and many of the ones from SanDisk, PNY and other popular brands were sold out at the time, likely due to people buying them ahead of the Switch 2’s launch. It was then that I stumbled upon a more budget-friendly option from Onn.
If you haven’t heard of Onn, chances are you’ve definitely seen the brand’s products at your local Walmart as it is the retailer’s house brand. Just like with Best Buy’s Insignia or Amazon’s Amazon Basics, Onn’s products typically cost a fraction of what those from bigger brands do.
A few years back, I tried out a budget tablet from Onn, so I knew what I was getting into right away. While it certainly delivered on price, it had a major issue and I ended up returning it. Unlike one of the best Android tablets though, I figured a microSD Express card wasn’t nearly as complex as it was just extra storage for my Switch 2 after all. After dropping just $37 on a 256GB microSD Express card, I was on my way home from Walmart and ready to double my Switch 2’s storage.
An express upgrade
When placed side-by-side with the microSD card from my original Switch, this new microSD Express one looks almost identical at first glance down to the cutouts at the bottom of the card. They both work with the same microSD to SD card adapter I use with my other devices too. However, the big difference between the two and why you too will need to upgrade to microSD Express if you want to add storage to your Switch 2 is their read speeds.
While the SanDisk microSD card on the right has a max read speed of up to 120 megabytes per second (MB/s), the Onn microSD Express card has a max read speed of 800 MB/s. The reason Nintendo ditched microSD cards for microSD Express ones with the Switch 2 is to achieve faster load times. It’s also worth noting that while you’re likely hearing about microSD Express for the first time, these faster memory cards actually came out back in 2019.
Compared to other popular microSD Express cards for the Switch 2, you do get slightly slower read speeds with this budget card from Onn. For instance, SandDisk’s 256GB microSD Express card ($72, Amazon) has a max read speed of up to 880 MB/s while Samsung’s 256GB microSD Express card ($60, Best Buy) complete with red Super Mario branding also has read speeds of up to 800 MB/s just like Onn’s.
After unboxing my new microSD Express card, I powered down my Switch 2 and got ready to install it. Surprisingly, I discovered that the new console’s kickstand goes far back enough that I could actually stand my Switch 2 upside down to insert it instead of flipping it over and lying it flat. I gently pushed the new microSD Express card into the slot on the Switch 2’s underside until I heard it click into place and that was that.
I powered my Switch 2 back on, opened the settings menu and headed to the Data Management option. There I saw that I now had an extra 256GB of storage and I didn’t even have to format my new microSD Express Card, it was just ready to go.
Given that you’ll likely want to move all of your games to your new microSD Express card, Nintendo makes this very easy to do. In that same Data Management menu, there’s an option to Move System / microSD Express Card Data. Selecting it brings up another menu where you can move your games to your microSD Express card or move them back to System Memory.
With the Switch 2, it’s not a question of if you’re going to fill up the console’s larger internal storage, it’s more a question of when.
I decided to leave the original Switch games I downloaded on my Switch 2’s system memory and move my Switch 2 games to the microSD Express card.
So far, I have Mario Kart World, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition and Split Fiction and combined, these four games take up 169GB of storage space with Split Fiction and Cyberpunk 2077 being the largest at 69.2GB and 59.4GB respectively.
Moving everything over from Switch 2’s system memory to the Onn microSD Express card took around 30 minutes. Well, it should have. You see, I let my Switch 2 go into sleep mode during this process and as a result, the file transfer stalled.
I haven’t tested any other microSD Express cards yet so I don’t know if this happened due to the one I used or if it’s just a Switch 2 issue. Either way, I’d say leave your console on and make sure you change its Auto-Sleep setting to Never before getting started.
Once I woke up my Switch and did this, all of the games were moved over to the microSD Express card and the time it took to do so aligned with the 15 minutes remaining message I saw before the file transfer stalled.
Sooner rather than later
If you’ve already picked up a Switch 2 or are planning to do so soon, I highly recommend you add a bit more to your budget for a microSD Express card. The console having more built-in storage is a great thing and 256GB is more than enough to get you started, especially if you’re looking to play original Switch games on the Switch 2’s larger screen with a bit of a performance boost to boot.
However, if you’re looking to play all the new Switch 2 games from Nintendo and those from 3rd-party publishers, I’d say picking up a microSD Express card makes a lot of sense so you don’t have to constantly delete games when downloading new ones.
I’ll admit I just picked up this microSD Express card from Onn and I haven’t had a chance to benchmark it or any others yet. However, in my real-world testing so far, all of my games load just as fast as they do off the console’s internal storage and run just as well too. I also still don’t know how well this particular microSD Express card will hold up over time.
One good thing about the Switch 2 though is that if your microSD Express card fails, you won’t lose your save data, even if you don’t have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. This is because all of your Switch 2 save data is stored on the console’s internal memory as opposed to on your microSD Express card.
Although I bought the 256GB version of Onn’s microSD Express card first, I did end up going back to Walmart and picking up the 512GB version. The reason being is that with those four games I mentioned earlier and Street Fighter 6 installed, I’ve already surpassed that card’s storage at 257GB.
With the Switch 2, it’s not a question of if you’re going to fill up the console’s larger internal storage, it’s more a question of when. Now that we’re seeing a lot of great 3rd party games come to Nintendo’s latest console, you’re going to need all the storage you can get if Switch 2 is your preferred place to play them.
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