Samsung entered the high-capacity microSD market earlier this year with 1TB cards in its popular Evo Select and Pro Plus series, and Amazon has great deals on both right now. The 1TB Evo Select microSD is the standout deal, as it’s on sale for a new low price of only $70 (was $100). This is one of the best deals of the year on a 1TB microSD card for Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, and other devices. The 1TB Pro Plus model, meanwhile, is available for $90 (was $120), which matches its Black Friday price.
Both of these 1TB Samsung cards have U3 ratings (Ultra-High Speed Class 3). These are high performance cards with fast enough transfer 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 average transfer speed, as it’s capable of writing up to 180MB/s versus the Evo Select’s 160MB/s–but this won’t make a difference on Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck when it comes to game performance.
The 1TB Evo Select, in particular, offers pretty great value at $90. You’re getting a card that’s slightly faster than the 1TB SanDisk Ultra–the most popular microSD card–for 10 bucks less right now. Samsung’s Pro Plus cards are excellent, but it’s worth noting that the 1TB SanDisk Extreme is discounted to the same price and offers up to 190MB/s transfer speeds.
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 microSD cards from budget manufacturers, too. Teamgroup’s 1TB A2 Pro Plus microSD card is on sale for only $58. Teamgroup may not be a household name, but we’ve had good experiences with its cards. The A2 Pro Plus is graded for up to 160MB/s read speeds and comes with a limited lifetime warranty. SanDisk Ultra and Samsung Evo Select microSD cards come with 10-year limited warranties.