What Is MicroSD Specific? Every part You Have to Know

I received my Nintendo Swap 2, and my inner storage is already filling up with all my outdated video games and saves! In case you’re in the identical boat, you might have additionally observed you possibly can’t simply jam within the SD card out of your authentic Swap and preserve rocking. As a substitute, you will want a brand new microSD Specific card.

This Specific customary was launched in late 2023, and it permits write speeds within the a whole lot of megabytes, however till now the playing cards themselves had been as uncommon as any gadgets that used the usual. In consequence, the playing cards are few and much between, they usually carry a big worth premium over the extra widespread microSD playing cards. Earlier than I get too caught up within the worth and availability although, let’s simply go over what the distinction is between Specific and customary microSD playing cards and what it means to your Swap 2.

Up to date July 2025: We have clarified particulars concerning the launch and utilization of microSD Specific, added hands-on testing with Samsung’s Nintendo-branded providing, and added speed-based benchmarks to complement the sensible testing.

Specific Lane

As you might need guessed from the title, microSD Specific playing cards are sooner, however to know precisely what meaning, we have to break down what we imply by pace and the way it’s measured and displayed on microSD playing cards.

Regular, non-express playing cards use three metrics with some overlap in efficiency. We have got an in-depth technical information if you wish to know extra concerning the non-express playing cards, however I will give the quick model right here. There are three ranges: Pace Class, denoted with a C, UHS Pace Class, as marked by a U for Extremely Excessive Pace Class, and Video Pace Class, with a V.

No matter the way it’s displayed, the quantity signifies that the cardboard is ready to learn and write a minimum of that quick. For the Circle and the V, it’s a direct comparability, so a circle with a “10” in it has a 10MB/s sustained write pace. There are two U variants, 1 and three, which correspond to 10MB/s and 30MB/s respectively. Playing cards are nearly at all times suitable with slower gadgets, so you may even see a number of symbols and numbers on every card.

The indicator for Specific playing cards is, maybe unsurprisingly, a stylized EX or E, typically with a quantity subsequent to it. As soon as once more, this represents the cardboard’s sustained write pace, with formally supported ranges from 150MB/s as much as 600MB/s. Keep in mind that these are minimal speeds, so you may even see producers quote even increased numbers, however whether or not you’ll help these speeds will depend upon the system studying and writing to the cardboard.