Here’s a comparison between game load times on the Nintendo Switch 2 across each of its storage methods. If you’re looking to know which loads fastest, read ahead.
Content creator 44l6 has conducted a comparison between load times in Mario Kart World on the Nintendo Switch 2 across the console’s on-board internal storage, a MicroSD Express card, and a Game Card. The findings are somewhat expected yet a little disappointing
Load times were measured from the point Mario Kart World is booted up from the Nintendo Switch 2 system menu to when it enters the pre-race cutscene. As seen above, it turns out that the internal 256GB Universal Flash Storage loads Mario Kart World the fastest, in 16.6 seconds. It is followed by the Sandisk MicroSD Express card, which loads the kart racer in 19.18 seconds (2.58 seconds slower than the internal storage), the Samsung MicroSD Express card, which loads the kart racer in 19.41 seconds (2.81 seconds slower than the internal storage), and the Lexar MicroSD Express card, which loads the kart racer in 19.78 seconds (3.18 seconds slower than the internal storage). Coming in at a distant third place is the Nintendo Switch 2 Game Card for Mario Kart World, which loads in 24.75 seconds. The latter is 8.15 seconds slower than the internal storage and around 5 seconds slower than the slowest MicroSD Express card.
While it was expected that the internal flash storage would load the quickest, it was not expected that there would be a notable difference in load times between MicroSD Express cards and the Switch 2 Game Card. Perhaps Nintendo will improve load times on the Game Card in future updates. For now, it looks like running digital games off the internal storage can result in close to 10 seconds less load times compared to running physical copies on the Game Card.
In related news, the Nintendo Switch 2 has launched with full backward compatibility, though some games face issues. For details, follow the link here.
