Official Switch 2 SD Card Sold Out? Snag This Record-Low SanDisk Deal Instead

If you were eyeing those cute red-and-white, Mario-branded Switch 2 microSD Express cards, you are not alone. They keep vanishing from shelves, and I get why: they’re $59.99 when you can find them. The good news is there’s a non-licensed option hitting that same price right now, and it does the exact same job once it’s inside the handheld where no one can see it anyway.

The deal worth jumping on

SanDisk’s 256GB microSD Express card (the non-Super Mario one) is down to $59.99 at Amazon, which is $8 off its $67.99 MSRP and the lowest price I’ve seen so far today. In the UK, it’s £49.99 at Amazon.

Why this one? Because both the Samsung and SanDisk officially licensed Switch 2 cards are currently out of stock at places like Amazon, and at $59.99 they disappear fast. Also, microSD Express cards are usually the pricey end of storage, so seeing a solid brand at this capacity hit $59.99 is rare.

Do you actually need 256GB for Switch 2?

Short answer: it depends on how you play. The Switch 2 ships with up to 256GB of onboard storage. That’s enough to install the 22GB copy of Mario Kart World that comes with the original Switch 2 console bundle, or the 7.7GB install for Pokemon Legends Z-A that’s included with the latest bundle. If that’s your pace, you can hold off and be fine for a while.

But games are already creeping up in size. Kirby Air Riders, launching November 20, needs 25GB on its own, and that’s before you factor in screenshots and game clips. If you like to buy digital or you hop between multiple big releases, that extra 256GB goes from nice-to-have to essential pretty quickly. I’m big on future-proofing consoles, and the Switch 2 is no exception.

What about older SD cards?

You can absolutely use older SD cards for screenshots and moving media around, and those start around $26.99 at Amazon. Just know you cannot store or run Switch 2 games on those older cards. For actual games, you need microSD Express.

Bottom line

If the budget allows, grabbing at least a 256GB microSD Express card now will double the console’s storage and buy you time before stepping up to something bigger. And if you’re thinking even larger, SanDisk’s 512GB microSD Express option is sitting at $119.99 at Amazon.

• Buy it if: you own a Switch 2
• Buy it if: you buy most of your games digitally
• Buy it if: you take lots of screenshots and game clips
• Skip it if: even $59.99 is a stretch right now
• Skip it if: you’re sticking with the original Switch
• Skip it if: the Switch 2’s onboard storage is plenty for how you play

TL;DR: the official Mario-branded cards are MIA and usually $59.99 when they show up. This SanDisk 256GB microSD Express card is $59.99 right now, it’s at a lowest-yet price today, and it works the same once it’s slotted in. If you need space, this is the move.