Nintendo Switch 2 Could Get An SSD To MicroSD Express Adapter For Cheap Storage

The Nintendo Switch used regular old MicroSD cards for storage expansion. This was possible because it was a slower machine, and there are plenty of MicroSD cards out there (particularly those with "A2" rating) which could satisfy the Switch software's I/O needs. The Switch 2 is faster, and needs faster storage, so you'll have to use expensive MicroSD Express cards. The problem is, not only are those cards pricey, they're also quite precious—supply is short.

What's a geek to do? Why not hook up an M.2 SSD to your Switch 2's SD card slot? As insane as it sounds, these adapters actually already exist; that's what's pictured in the top of this post. However, if you try to use one of these on your Switch 2, you'll be met with this error message—at least, if your machine is set to Chinese (Simplified):


That image, and the one above, both come from the Technology Hunters review of the Switch 2. A popular tech channel in "China's YouTube"—Bilibili—the Technology Hunters boys put the machine through its paces and found some interesting details we hadn't seen reported elsewhere, like that the key detail the system looks for when entering "docked" mode is the presence of 20V charging. Obviously, they also tested the M.2 to MicroSD Express adapter and found that it does not work.

Why doesn't it work? After all, MicroSD Express is just PCIe 3.0 x1 electrically; it should be easy to wire up a low-power M.2-2230 SSD to the slot and have it work. The reason it doesn't work is apparently because you need an onboard microcontroller to handle SD Express handshaking process with the Switch 2.

That tidbit comes from NVNTLabs, who are actively working on a device called the "Switch2-SDEX2M2". As you could guess from the name, it is exactly what we've been talking about: an adapter to connect M.2 SSDs to the Switch 2's MicroSD Express slot. NVNTLabs is already well on its way to making a functional adapter, judging by this progress list posted on the project's Github repository:


The modder notes that even after creating the correct PCB and programming the MCU for the handshaking process, there's still the possibility that there may be power-related issues; that is, that the power draw of even M.2-2230 SSDs is more than the Switch 2 can supply for its MicroSD Express slot. Still, it's promising, because even those unusual M.2-2230 SSDs are much more available than MicroSD Express cards are, at least for now.

Frankly, having a dongle hanging off the bottom of your Switch 2 like that seems clumsy at best and downright dangerous at worst. We'd like to see a better solution featuring a flexible ribbon cable and a dock that supplies its own power to the M.2 SSD. That would allow for some truly massive expansion—potentially up to 8TB if the SD Express standard will tolerate such shenangans. It's still early days for Switch 2 modding, though, so we might see exactly such a thing in the future.