Samsung’s 1TB Pro Plus microSD Card is on sale for $40 off, which matches the all-time best discount on this great storage expansion card for Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, and other electronics. If you really like Sonic the Hedgehog, you can get the same 1TB card with Sonic’s face emblazoned on it for $90 (was $126)–10 bucks more than the regular model.
Speedy and reliable–we’re talking about the microSD card, not Sonic, who is certainly speedy but not always reliable–the Pro Plus is one of the best options for expanding the storage space on your Steam Deck or handheld PC. But since Samsung only entered the 1TB microSD market last summer, we haven’t seen as many steep discounts on these cards as we have on SanDisk’s popular cards.
Alternatively, you can grab Samsung’s 1TB Evo Select microSD for $70. The Evo Select is up to 20MB/s slower than the Pro Plus, but it’s still a great card for Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck as well as handhelds running Windows or Android.
Note: These cards will not work with Nintendo Switch 2, which is restricted to microSD Express. Samsung is releasing a Super Mario-themed 256GB microSD Express Card on June 5, the same day the console launches. You can preorder the officially licensed card for $60 at multiple retailers.
Both of the 1TB Samsung cards have U3 ratings (Ultra-High Speed Class 3). These are high performance cards with fast enough speeds to write and read 4K video. Either of these cards will work great with your Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch, too. The Pro Plus offers a moderate bump in read speed, as it’s capable of reaching 180MB/s versus the Evo Select’s 160MB/s–but this won’t be noticeable on Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck when it comes to game performance.
With Amazon’s current deals, the Samsung cards are noticeably cheaper than each model’s SanDisk counterpart. The SanDisk Ultra 1TB–the most popular microSD card–is on sale for $82 and offers read and transfer speeds up to 150MB/s–10MB/s slower than the Evo Select. The SanDisk Extreme 1TB, on the other hand, is 10MB/s faster than the Pro Plus, as offers up to 190MB/s read speeds. That said, the Extreme 1TB is $106 at the moment.
When it comes to storage devices, a big part of why it’s generally advisable to opt for established brands like SanDisk and Samsung is reliability over long periods of time. No one likes to lose their data. Admittedly, if you’re only storing video games on your microSD, this isn’t nearly as big of a deal–unless the corrupted data contains save files you spent dozens or hundreds of hours building. Backing up saves is always a good idea.
But while we’d typically recommend Samsung or SanDisk, there are solid budget options from other popular manufacturers. One of the most notable deals right now is on the upgraded Lexar Play 1TB microSD with read speeds of up to 205MB/s. You can get Lexar’s speedy gaming-focused card for $78.49 (was $125). Another solid option is TeamGroup’s A2 Pro 1TB microSD for $61.
