To get the best experience with the Steam Deck gaming console, a good old microSD card lying around won’t do. There are several factors to consider when making a final decision on which MicroSD card to buy, according to their size, speed, price, and overall compatibility. You have to prioritize, during your research, SDXC cards, which are the fastest microSD. Also bear in mind that the Steam Deck is unfortunately limited to UHS-I, which can run read speeds at 100MB/s. Therefore, in this guide, we will tell you the list of the best Steam Deck Micro SD card below.
Best Steam Deck MicroSD card (2023)
With the cheapest version of Steam Deck only having 64GB of storage (and some of it used by the SteamOS), buying a microSD card becomes almost necessary to get the most out of the device. Check out the list of best MicroSD cards for Valve’s Steam Deck portable gaming console below.
1. SanDisk Extreme Pro
The SanDisk Extreme Pro is one of the best MicroSD cards for Steam Deck, as it is definitely the fastest card that you will find in the market. It comes with a read speed of up to 200 MB/s, more significant than the Samsung Pro Plus. Of course, this improvement in quality is reflected in the price, given that the 512 GB version, it is around $93 USD. The company also claims that its product is also water and shock resistant, however, we would not like to recommend putting the SD card to the test for any of these things, but if by mistake it ever gets into the water, know that you are not going to lose any of your money.
2. Samsung EVO Select
The next top-rated Micro SD card for Steam Deck is 512 GB Samsung EVO Select. It is a particularly spacious and reliable memory card, which has proven to have excellent performance even in video games that do not make too many discounts in terms of heaviness, such as Control, especially after you can show off the destructive powers of the protagonist. Reliable and having UHS-I support, you don’t spend more for speeds that Steam Deck can’t reach, it’s a great choice for its value for money, backed by Samsung’s signature reliability.
3. Lexar Play 1TB microSDXC UHS-I Card
If you don’t have an excessive budget but what you dream of is having lots of space on your Steam Deck, the ideal choice could be Lexar Play, as this Micro SD is designed specifically for gaming devices. It is also ideal for Nintendo Switch, in fact, and is proposed in very large cuts which however have an attractive value for money. You can easily select the one with even 1 TB (the maximum size for Steam Deck), but at half the price, you can also find it with 512 GB and have a truly excellent storage space on your Deck.
4. SanDisk 512GB Extreme microSDXC
SanDisk Extreme is a Micro SD built for all eventualities because it’s ideal even for adventurous video makers who need a virtually indestructible MicroSD card. This is enough to give an idea of the build quality of these storage media, which are very easy to find everywhere and also have excellent performance on Steam Deck. It’s not the cheapest choice you can make, but it’s a Micro SD that will never give you any worries.
That’s all there is to know about the best Steam Deck Micro SD card. In the meantime, do not forget to check out similar types of guides here: Best Capture Cards for Streaming your Nintendo Switch, and How to Install Discord on Steam Deck.