Earlier this year, Nintendo helped popularize the microSD Express standard by requiring it for the new Switch 2 console. Created in 2019, the specification had languished in relative obscurity for years because the cheap, plentiful non-Express microSD cards were generally fast enough for the things that people were using them for, and because most hardware didn't support microSD Express cards in the first place.
However, Nintendo's console needed performance closer to that of an internal SSD to run games, given that the more powerful Switch 2 can run more of the titles being developed for SSD-equipped systems such as the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series S and X, and the PC. And now other companies are trying to push the "fast, removable storage" envelope even further.
The Verge reports that a Chinese company called Biwin has developed the "Mini SSD," a 15 by 17 mm-thick card that supports read speeds of up to 3,700MB per second due to a two-lane PCI Express 4.0 interface. The current microSD Express standard can support roughly the same peak speeds when connected to two PCIe 4.0 lanes. But in reality, most of today's cards top out around 900MB per second, roughly the amount of bandwidth available from a single PCI Express 3.0 lane.
Originally showcased in March, Biwin says its Mini SSD uses LGA packaging to squeeze NAND chips and an SSD controller onto the tiny cards, which are inserted into small metal trays and inserted into systems like a SIM card. The Verge reports that a pair of Chinese-made AMD-based gaming portables—the GPD Win 5 and the OneXPlayer Super X—are advertising support for the cards, which Biwin says will come in capacities between 500GB and 2TB.