SanDisk 256GB microSD Express microSD Card - Works with Nintendo Switch 2, Up to 880MB/s Read, Up to 650MB/s Write, 210MB/s Sustained Write, U3, C10 - SDSQXFN-256G-GN4NN

Update 06/07/2025, Comparing to Onn's Express 256:There is a new budget microSD 256 Express card from Onn that appeared in retail this week coinciding with the launch of the Switch 2. It claims to support up to 800MB/s reads and 600MB/s writes. I picked one up to compare. With larger stress tests (Random reads and writes going up to 5GB instead of the 1GB test I show here), this SanDisk can see its transfer rate drop to a minimum of 400GB/s on writes. For the Onn device, on writes the rate drops to 200MB/s typically, but sometimes as low as 150MB/s as the firmware seems to have trouble keeping up (it stalls completely), nearly 3 times slower on average than the SanDisk. What's worse is that it drops to 400GB/s even for transfers as small as 2GB, 300GB/s for 3GB, and 200GB/s from there on up, while the SanDisk still manages to hold minimum 600GB/s. Keep in mind that most larger games for the Switch 2 are about 20GB or more, and there are a few 64GB or larger. I do not currently own a PNY card to test, but online evidence suggests that it too is slower than the SanDisk, but may be faster than the Onn device. With the way the Onn card stalls on writing, literally stopping occasionally for upwards of a second while testing, I could never recommend it. You get what you pay for with the SanDisk. Full review follows.REVIEW:During play, the Onn express card may be able to keep up due to small transfers and minimal loads, but its stalls will affect things, and during download and game management on the Switch 2, you will definitely see a time impact, probably significant. The good news is that the Onn express card was able to hold up on read tests without stalls, with the same 750MB/s as the SanDisk, but it never really went above 750MB/s for even smaller transfers while the Sandisk peaked at about 990MB/s, above their claimed rate. I am sure some caching was involved in that number, but the system caches the Onn in the same way, so there is a significant difference.Great high-speed card if you have a reader that supports Express. This card also outperforms even on a standard controller due to its rapid response time and excellent IOPs (measure of the number it can handle per second). Does well enough to be considered as an external drive on the Mac, though an M.2 reader enclosure will outperform it on specs. Can't beat it for portability.For sustained throughput on the SanDisk Express reader, this can't be beat, easily outperforming any other card I have from 4X to 20X faster. Camera file transfers happen at about 1GB/s. No drivers needed for any recent OS, though Ubuntu has a recent bug that will prevent those devices from attaining full speed unless an external Express-capable reader is used.

Works perfect on my Nintendo Switch 2. I was worried there might have been issues when I was doing the data transfer from my Nintendo Switch 1 to my Nintendo Switch 2 due to me having a lot of games installed, but the data was placed on the new SD card with no issues. Would recommend for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Tested out the new SanDisk 256gb cards and speeds are right on the money with their claims. Also tested out the Lexar branded microSD express cards as a comparison and those are a bit slower. Hopefully this helps folks looking to compare which to buy for the Switch 2. I do think price wise it may be better to wait as currently the prices seem to fluctuate a bit.

Needed the new microsd express to work with my switch 2. Works great so far. I don’t like that it only comes in two sizes. But this is the beginning.

Worked perfectly as advertised for my new Switch 2. The system transfer went off without a hitch and I have since downloaded games from the eShop and everything is loading and playing perfectly. Pretty much all you need to know right?

Works for the new switch 2. Easy to move the stand on the back of the switch 2 and put in memory card. 5 stars

Nintendo switch two console release. I put the SD card in the console, all games auto transferred all my games and after transferring the entire switch froze. So I left it for about 30 minutes thinking it would start working again, but it never did. I had to hold the power button down and start it back up once I did that I received a notice that the SD card couldn’t read anything. From that point, all my saved data was gone and all my games had to be re-downloaded manually and anything that was not saved to the cloud was permanently gone. This is the absolute worst SD card I’ve ever purchased. I will never buy this one again.

I bought this ahead of time for Switch 2 but now it seems another Lexar has come out with a lower price point for the same type of microSD and now I wished I waited for others buy the less expensive version and save your money for Switch 2 purchase first. Now I wish I could return this item and tell SanDisk to better price their product. I suspect this was made by same company and others just putting their name on the devices. So in this instance SanDisk overcharged for this device. Anyone deciding otherwise send yours back and get the less expensive version.