Switch 2 recently turned one year old, and we asked you lovely NL readers what your essentials were – the games and accessories you’ve found indispensable after a year with the console. With an impending price increase on 1st September, and with hardware prices skyrocketing across the gaming space, it’s good to know the ‘must-haves’ from the ‘can-waits’, whether or not you’ve jumped on the Switch 2 train yet.

One area where Team NL was divided was on Micro SD Express card storage: Liam and Ollie already invested in a card, but Jim and myself haven’t yet pulled the trigger. Looking at our accessories poll, a memory card came second after ‘a good controller’, with nearly a third of respondees considering a Micro SD Express card the most essential add-on.

For me, I’m itching to expand the system’s base 256GB so I can stop the infuriating memory juggle. However, a 256GB card would be a band-aid solution given my library; investing in a 1TB card would be far preferable, though it’s a big investment.

Looking at the options, you’ve got your familiar SanDisks, Samsungs, et al., but it’s the snappily named TeamGroup Apex SD7.1 1TB that the folks over at Tom’s Hardware recommend specifically for Switch 2 as the best in its bracket. After benchmarking a bunch of cards, that’s the one they highlight as striking the best balance between price, performance, and warranty if you’re looking to go large.

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Prices are fluctuating, but you’re looking at $200/£200+ for a 1TB card (an Express one, remember – non-Express Micro SD cards won’t work on Switch 2), which, let’s face it, is a significant chunk of cash.

Then again, with the cost of consumer electronics and memory shooting up across the board, the possibility of prices dropping in the next couple of years looks slim. In fact, the opposite — prices going up over time — is the hard reality we’ve been adjusting to in recent times.

So, have you taken the plunge? If so, did you go all-in on a 1TB card to future-proof yourself, or has a smaller card been enough to meet your needs? Have you encountered any issues? Feel free to share your experiences in the poll and comments below.

One last thing that’s worth noting: If you’re looking to invest, you may find all sorts of cards for sale on the web, but we’d recommend sticking to cards tested and recommended by respected outlets. Alex investigated some dodgy (non-Express) Micro SD cards a couple of years ago, and it really is the Wild West out there.