Smart Shopping: Why You Should Avoid Purchasing Pokemon MicroSD Card Packs

SanDisk just unveiled a line of adorable Pokémon-themed microSD cards. But these cards, which are marketed for the Nintendo Switch, are too slow and too overpriced. They just aren’t worth buying.

Like other SanDisk “Made for Nintendo Switch” microSD cards, the Pokémon microSD cards boast a underwhelming 100MBps read speed and a 90MBps write speed. So, while these cards are within the Switch’s minimum microSD requirements and can load games, they are relatively slow and do not meet Application Speed Class 1 (A1) specifications.

• SanDisk Pikachu 256GB microSD Card : $33
• SanDisk Gengar 512GB microSD Card : $55
• SanDisk Snorelax 1TB microSD Card : $130

We recently tested some microSD cards on the Switch and found that faster, more modern cards can shave up to 60 seconds off of game load times. A card that meets A2 specifications and offers read speeds up to 152MBps (which is fairly typical these days) is a substantially better option than SanDisk’s Pokémon microSD cards.

And, importantly, a fast A2 microSD card will cost less money than SanDisk’s Pokémon cards. The 256GB SanDisk Pikachu microSD is $33—that’s crazy, you can buy a 180MBps 256GB Samsung PRO Plus microSD for $27.

SAMSUNG PRO Plus 128GB microSDXC

$19 $25 Save $6

Enjoy 160MBps microSD speeds at a reasonable price. Sorry, Pikachu.

See at Best Buy $19 at Amazon See at Samsung

The 1TB SanDisk Snorelax microSD card is extra-super-double overpriced. It costs $130, about $43 more than the 190MBps 1TB SanDisk Extreme microSD . I’d hate to be the person who buys the Snorelax microSD card and sticks it in a camera. You wouldn’t be able to shoot high-res video, and transferring 1TB of data at 100MBps would take at least two hours.

I should also point out that you’ll rarely (if ever) look at a microSD card once it’s shoved inside your Nintendo Switch. Although I could understand the appeal if your Switch has a transparent shell —vibes, and all that.

We’ve got a whole article full of microSD cards that exceed the Switch’s minimum specifications and cost less than SanDisk’s microSD cards. If you’re in need of additional Switch storage, pick out one of those microSD cards and skip the Pokémon stuff.

Source: Western Digital via The Verge

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