We compare five of the most popular 512GB MicroSD Express Cards for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Find out which card is the fastest, which offers the most usable capacity, and where your money is going.
But first, here are the official manufacturers specifications for each card:
Manufacturers Specifications
| microSD Express Card | Max Read Speed | Max Write Speed | Sustained Write Speed | Speed Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SanDisk 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 880 MB/s | 650 MB/s | 220 MB/s | U3 / A1 |
| Samsung 512GB P9 microSD Express Memory Card | 800 MB/s | NA | NA | Class 10 / U3 / V30 |
| Lexar 512GB PLAY PRO microSDXC Express Memory Card | 900 MB/s | 600 MB/s | NA | U3 / A1 |
| PNY 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 890 MB/s | 810 MB/s | NA | U3 / V30 / A1 |
| Transcend 512GB USD710S microSD Express Memory Card | 900 MB/s | 780 MB/s | NA | U3 / V30 / A1 |
Game Load Times
We tested how long each microSD Express card took to load the first title screen from Mario kart World, here are the results:
| microSD Express Card | Load Time |
|---|---|
| Switch 2 System Memory | 16s 190ms |
| PNY 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 18s 530ms |
| SanDisk 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 19s 080ms |
| Samsung 512GB P9 microSD Express Memory Card | 19s 370ms |
| Lexar 512GB PLAY PRO microSDXC Express Memory Card | 19s 480ms |
| Transcend 512GB USD710S microSD Express Memory Card | 19s 510ms |
Game Read Times
We tested how long each it took to copy Mario kart World (21.9 GB) from each microSD Express card to the internal storage, here are the results:
| microSD Express Card | Copy Time | Sustained Read Speed |
|---|---|---|
| PNY 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 3m 26s | 106 MB/s |
| SanDisk 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 3m 43s | 98 MB/s |
| Samsung 512GB P9 microSD Express Memory Card | 3m 41s | 99 MB/s |
| Lexar 512GB PLAY PRO microSDXC Express Memory Card | 3m 42s | 99 MB/s |
| Transcend 512GB USD710S microSD Express Memory Card | 3m 43s | 98 MB/s |
Game Write Times
We tested how long each it took to copy Mario kart World (21.9 GB) from the internal storage to each microSD Express card, here are the results:
| microSD Express Card | Copy Time | Sustained Write Speed |
|---|---|---|
| PNY 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 4m 16s | 85 MB/s |
| SanDisk 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 4m 00s | 91 MB/s |
| Samsung 512GB P9 microSD Express Memory Card | 5m 12s | 70 MB/s |
| Lexar 512GB PLAY PRO microSDXC Express Memory Card | 4m 12s | 87 MB/s |
| Transcend 512GB USD710S microSD Express Memory Card | 4m 14s | 86 MB/s |
Usable Capacity
The labels may say 512GB but the actual usable capacity varies a little. Here are the actual usable capacities after the cards have been formatted in the Switch 2.
| MicroSD Express Card | Label Capacity | Actual Usable Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| SanDisk microSD Express | 512GB | 456GB |
| Samsung P9 microSD Express | 512GB | 477GB |
| Lexar PLAY PRO microSDXC Express | 512GB | 465GB |
| PNY microSD Express | 512GB | 476GB |
| Transcend USD710S microSD Express | 512GB | 470GB |
Country of Manufacture & Ownership
If you like to know where your hard earned money is going, then here is each cards country of manufacture and ownership.
| MicroSD Express Card | Country of Manufacture | Country of Company Ownership |
|---|---|---|
| SanDisk microSD Express | China | America |
| Samsung P9 microSD Express | Taiwan | South Korea |
| Lexar PLAY PRO microSDXC Express | Taiwan | China |
| PNY microSD Express | Taiwan | America |
| Transcend USD710S microSD Express | Taiwan | Taiwan |
Conclusion
Although the PNY microSD Express card does have the edge when it comes to game load and read times, the performance between all five cards is really very similar.
The much bigger difference is when it comes to the actual usable storage capacity. With the Samsung P9 offering the most at 477GB closely followed by PNY with 476GB. The SanDisk card offers just 456GB of usable storage which really is quite a large hit.
Which card you choose is really up to you, but our money would be on the PNY.
