Nintendo Switch 2 Review — Lexar 1TB microSD Express, Pro Controller 2, and Mobapad M12S vs M12HD

🇰🇷 이 리뷰의 한국어 원문 보기 (Original Korean version)

I managed to snag a Nintendo Switch 2 in the preorder rush right after launch, and today I’m finally dumping everything that’s piled up since: the preorder run itself, the great storage shortage, the upgrade to a 1TB microSD Express card, the Pro Controller 2, and a head-to-head between the Mobapad M12S and M12HD. Spoiler for the ending: my money melted. Thoroughly, and with great enthusiasm.

Fun fact about where the money came from, by the way: my Meta Oakley HSTN smart glasses died after five days and got refunded, and that refund became this Switch 2. The circle of consumer life — one gadget must die so another can be born. A sensible person would have put that refund into savings. It turns out I am not a sensible person.

Table of contents — it’s a long one, so feel free to jump straight to whatever you need.

• Nintendo Switch 2 preorder review
• Switch 2 storage woes and the microSD Express 1TB
• Pro Controller 2 review
• Third-party mini dock impressions
• Mobapad M12S vs M12HD comparison
• Customizing the Switch 2
• Total spending breakdown
• Frequently asked questions
• Who I’d recommend it to

Nintendo Switch 2 preorder — 720,000 KRW (~$515) for the Pokémon Z-A bundle

I won the preorder scramble right after launch and brought the Switch 2 home. The price: 720,000 KRW. Except you couldn’t buy just the console — it only came bundled with Pokémon Legends Z-A, take it or leave it. I was going to play Pokémon anyway, so I can’t complain too loudly, but being denied the choice still rubs me the wrong way. It was supposed to be a case of swallowing a bitter pill; the pill turned out to be pretty tasty.

The home screen is my current lineup in plain sight. Pokémon Legends Z-A is the game I’m actively working through, with Mario Kart World and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition in the rotation. I dock it to the TV for big-screen sessions and play handheld lying in bed. That back-and-forth is the whole soul of the Switch, and it’s alive and well on the Switch 2.

Docked and running Pokémon on the TV. The yellow Joy-Con custom job matches the game’s color palette surprisingly well. Playing Pokémon on the living room TV makes me feel like a kid again. My bank balance, meanwhile, took a very adult-sized hit.

Mario Kart World really is best on the TV. It’s a short clip, but this is that kind of game — fun solo, and non-negotiable the moment friends come over.

Switch 2 storage: 256GB never stood a chance

The Samsung microSD Express 256GB, gone in a flash

I started with a Samsung microSD Express 256GB. It was the special edition with the Mario artwork — cute — and I figured 256GB would be plenty. Then I installed a few games and it was empty almost instantly.

The screenshot is my evidence. 7.7GB free on the SD Express card. The internal storage still showed 173GB free, but the card was on life support. Every new download meant deleting something first, over and over, and that stress adds up fast. Running out of space is not a someone-else problem — install a handful of games and it’s your problem too.

Switch 2 SD card pick — upgrading to the Lexar PLAY PRO microSD Express 1TB

So I made the call: the Lexar PLAY PRO microSDXC Express 1TB. Paid 449,000 KRW (~$320) on June 29 through Naver (Korea’s biggest portal, shopping included) — an officially distributed unit with the local importer’s authenticity sticker on the box. My hands tremble slightly as I type the phrase “450,000 KRW for one SD card,” but there was no way around it. Everything I read before buying said that game storage on the Switch 2 has to be a microSD Express card, so the field was narrow from the start.

The box lineup. I didn’t stop at the card — I also picked up the Lexar RW540 dedicated microSD Express reader (USB 3.2, USB-C/A) for 86,000 KRW (~$61). Grand total: 535,000 KRW (~$382). Yes, I have become a person who spent over half a million won on an SD card.

Card close-up. The rated specs: up to 900MB/s read, up to 600MB/s write. Something the size of a fingernail hitting those numbers still amazes me a little. In real use, game loading and installs have never once made me sit around waiting.

The 1TB card posed next to the storage screen. When I first posted this photo, my caption was “doing my part for the semiconductor bubble, as always…” — half joke, half sigh. But since switching to 1TB, storage anxiety has simply ceased to exist. Being freed from the endless delete-and-reinstall cycle was worth it for my mental health alone. If anyone asks me which SD card to get for the Switch 2, my answer is: go straight to 1TB. Don’t take the 256GB detour and pay twice like I did.

Pro Controller 2 review — 108,700 KRW (~$78) of pure hand feel

I ordered the Pro Controller 2 (the official Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller) on Naver on June 28 for 108,700 KRW and it arrived the same day. I did wonder whether spending nearly 110,000 KRW on a controller was reasonable — then I held it, and stopped wondering. The hand feel is ridiculously satisfying. The button presses, the stick tension, all of it is in a different league from the Joy-Cons. If docked TV play is your main mode, I’d honestly file this under mandatory spending.

The setup in front of the TV: Pro Controller 2, the Switch 2, and the little blue mini dock all in one frame. More on the dock right below — but with this, the living room loadout is complete.

Third-party mini dock: the NEED-USE SWITCH 2

Instead of a second official dock, I brought in a third-party mini dock for travel and backup duty — a blue one called the NEED-USE SWITCH 2. It’s a direct-HDMI design, so the whole setup is refreshingly simple. Third-party docks always come with a side of compatibility anxiety, but so far it’s been flawless.

Close-up of the HDMI end. It’s small enough to hide behind the TV and light enough to carry around without a second thought.

My biggest worry was firmware updates while docked, but it sailed through the version 22.5.0 update screen without a hiccup. Watching an update complete normally on a third-party dock took a real weight off my mind.

Replacing the Joy-Cons — Mobapad M12S vs M12HD

And now the highlight of this spending spree, and also its deepest swamp: Mobapad (MOBAPAD). Let me nail the conclusion up front. Give up rumble and take the M12S; give up connection convenience and take the M12HD. If you can’t give up either, there’s always my solution — buy both — but then you give up your wallet too.

I was shopping for Joy-Con replacement controllers and couldn’t decide between the M12S and the M12HD, so after much deliberation I resolved the dilemma by buying both. I didn’t buy them to write a comparison review — I ended up writing a comparison review because I’d bought them. The tail wagging the dog, in its purest form.

Three boxes: the M12 HD, the M12 S, and the M-A21 charging dock (Charging Grip). The unboxing moment was pure bliss. Right up until the credit card alert arrived.

Another angle, this time with the H12 carrying case box in the shot. At this point I could probably open a small Mobapad showroom.

Mobapad M12S review — built for the Switch 2, let down by its rumble

The white M12S is the model made specifically for the Switch 2. After real use, its strengths and weaknesses split very cleanly. The good news first.

• TMR glide sticks that feel great to use
• Micro-mechanical buttons with a crisp, definite click
• 9-axis motion support
• Being Switch 2 native, connection and responsiveness are completely stress-free

The letdown is the rumble.

• The vibration just doesn’t feel good
• And there’s no way to adjust the intensity

Mobapad M12HD review — great rumble, but the connection trips it up

The dark-colored M12HD stands at exactly the opposite pole. It has one advantage, but it’s a big one.

• It supports HD rumble, and the vibration genuinely feels good. Put it next to the M12S and the difference is immediately obvious

In exchange, two things hold it back.

• It doesn’t run the Switch 2’s native protocol, so compatibility and responsiveness are a touch slower
• It needs to be re-paired frequently

A bit more on the re-pairing: use it long enough and the moment where you have to reconnect comes around on a regular schedule. Once or twice, fine, whatever. On repeat, it quietly wears you down. There are days when the lovely rumble pulls my hand toward it — and then the reconnecting sends me right back to the M12S.

M12S vs M12HD vs Pro Controller 2 comparison table

I crammed the Mobapad M12S, the M12HD, and the Pro Controller 2 into a single table.

Not writing down what the two Mobapads cost is the last shred of dignity available to the man who bought both. If you’re curious, the product page will tell you.

The M-A21 charging dock and H12 carrying case

The M-A21 charging dock I bought alongside them holds the Mobapads in a grip shape while they charge, and the H12 carrying case’s whole selling point is that it fits the Switch 2 with the Mobapads still attached. Joy-Con replacements are chunkier than the stock controllers, so most regular cases won’t close over them — this one makes that problem disappear.

The whole rig slotted into the case, controllers and all. This combo is what finally made taking it out of the house feel effortless.

Actual footage of me playing handheld on the subway with the Mobapads attached. The commute flies by in an instant. So, on one occasion, did my stop — very nearly.

Customizing the Switch 2 — Shin-chan and Pokémon cases

Once you buy a device, you are obligated to dress it up. I rotate between two sets of silicone cases and thumbstick caps.

First up: the yellow Crayon Shin-chan silicone case with character stick caps. Yellow suits the Switch 2 far better than I expected, so this is its default outfit these days. The grip is also much better than the bare console.

Second: the Pokémon silicone case. With Pikachu on the shell and Poké Ball stick caps on the sticks, the immersion while playing Pokémon Legends Z-A goes up ever so slightly. It might be entirely in my head. I don’t care. The vibes are the point.

The Pokémon case from another angle. Swapping between Shin-chan and Pokémon to match the day’s mood is a small joy of its own. The Switch 2 accessory swamp (call them accessories, add-ons, peripherals — whatever the word, the wallet opens the same) always starts with practical purchases and ends with these purely-for-the-vibes ones.

And one more.

Two clips of the Switch 2 in everyday life. Looking at these, I really am getting constant use out of it. I’m earning back my money’s worth — that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Total Switch 2 accessory spending — the tail that wagged the dog

Now for the scariest part. Here’s everything the Switch 2 has cost me so far, all in one place.

To use a 720,000 KRW console, I spent nearly another 700,000 KRW (~$500) on things that plug into it. If that’s not the tail wagging the dog, I don’t know what is. The 535,000 KRW that went into an SD card and its reader alone will be dinner-party material for years. Do I regret it? Only briefly, every time the card statement text arrives.

Frequently asked questions before buying a Switch 2 (FAQ)

Will any SD card work in the Switch 2?

From everything I researched: no. Expanding game storage on the Switch 2 requires a microSD Express card, and the regular microSD cards from the original Switch reportedly can’t be used for game storage. This is exactly why my options were so narrow and my wallet suffered so much. Make absolutely sure the label says “Express” before you buy.

Is 256GB enough storage for the Switch 2?

In my experience, no. I started with the Samsung 256GB, and a handful of games took the free space down to 7.7GB. If you’re confident you can keep only two or three games installed and juggle the rest, you can survive — but I see no reason to pay money for that kind of stress. Go big from the start if you possibly can.

Mobapad M12S or M12HD — which should I buy?

Having used both: the M12S if connection stability and responsiveness matter to you, the M12HD if rumble feel matters. The M12S is made for the Switch 2 and completely frictionless, but its rumble is mediocre and can’t be adjusted. The M12HD has genuinely good HD rumble, but it isn’t the native protocol, so it responds a touch slower and needs frequent re-pairing. If I could only keep one, I’d side with the M12S — in daily use, the re-pairing stress weighs heavier. Either way, if you plan to take it outside, get the H12 case that stores everything with the controllers attached.

Is the Pro Controller 2 worth 110,000 KRW?

If you spend long hours docked to the TV, yes. The hand feel is so satisfying that going back to the Joy-Cons is genuinely difficult. If you play mostly in handheld mode, push it down the priority list and look at Joy-Con replacement controllers like the Mobapads first.

Are third-party docks safe to use?

Going by my NEED-USE SWITCH 2 mini dock: no problems so far. The direct HDMI connection keeps things simple, and it passed the firmware update (version 22.5.0) without issues. Of course, maybe my dock just got lucky. What happens on the next update, I know as little as you do.

Nintendo Switch 2 review wrap-up — who I’d recommend it to

• People who were buying Pokémon Legends Z-A anyway: the bundle stops being a tax and becomes a package deal. If a preorder window opens up, take it
• People who juggle several games at once: go straight to a 1TB microSD Express card. The Lexar PLAY PRO erased my storage anxiety completely. Don’t do the 256GB-first double spend like I did
• People whose main mode is the living room TV: I consider the Pro Controller 2 mandatory spending. The feel really is different
• People who play handheld a lot: a Joy-Con replacement like the Mobapads plus the H12 case that fits everything attached is a combo you’ll feel every single day
• People worried about their wallet: do not budget for the console price alone. You can end up more than 1.4 million KRW deep, like me. Walk in knowing the tail is bigger than the dog

That’s the Switch 2 review slash spending confession. Now, to make my contribution to the semiconductor bubble count for something, I’m off to play Pokémon.