I welcomed my partner into the world of handheld gaming by gifting him a Steam Deck OLED back at Christmas, so now we can sit on either end of the couch playing our Steam Decks in satisfied silence. Perfection. However, he's quickly reaching capacity on the 512GB model, and I've been waiting to take advantage of the Amazon Prime Day sales to get a good price on the Samsung cards, which are my personal favorite. Today, I landed on this fantastic deal for the speedy Samsung Pro Plus microSD 512GB for only $39.99 at Best Buy and Amazon.
✅Perfect for: If you want to expand your Steam Deck storage with a pro-grade card, this one has speedy read and write speeds for multiple devices, including gaming handhelds.
❌Avoid if: You think you will fill the capacity easily. Sandisk have 1.5TB in the sale for $83.59 if you have a higher budget, but it is also a slower card for loading times.
💰Price check: $39.99 at Amazon
🤔Why Best Buy? We would always recommend a bricks-and-mortar retailer over an online outlet as you have access to more customer service options, also if you have a Best Buy Membership you can get some other perks.
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Which microSD card is best for the Steam Deck?
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It's hard to narrow down the singular best Steam Deck microSD card because it really comes down to how much you care about tiny differences in loading speed, what capacity you are looking for, and what your ideal budget is. This particular Samsung PRO Plus microSD is on our list of the best for a number of reasons.
Firstly it supports high read and write speeds, higher in fact than the Steam Deck itself, but you may not care about that if you are going to use it only in the console. I do use mine for transferring files to and from my Steam Deck, though, such as screenshots, so the Samsung card appeals to me more than the cheaper and slightly less speedy Sandisk offerings. That being said if you want the absolute maximum extra storage you can get from a microSD card, the Sandisk 1.5TB is currently on offer too for $83, but you'll need to stretch your budget for the extra bytes.
The Samsung PRO Plus is one of the fastest you can buy for the Steam Deck, with what I believe to be a good balance between price, availability, and performance. If you don't want to spend over $50 on storage, this is the best card you can get right now for the Prime Day event. It only took me installing Baldur's Gate 3 at a whopping 120GB to realize I was going to need some storage for my Steam Deck, and this is the card I went for, which has served me well for nearly 2 years now and why I'm choosing to gift one to my partner too. The gift of storage, how romantic right?
If you are braver than me and happy to take apart your Steam Deck, we have a very thorough guide on how to upgrade the Steam Deck SSD internally, but for a plug-in-and-play option, this microSD is the best bet.
What does Prime Day end?
Amazon's two-day Prime Day 2024 sale event is live for its second day. It started on the morning of July 16 and runs through the end of today, July 17, 2024, at 11:59 PM PT (that's 3 AM ET on July 18.) It always causes competitive pricing among its rivals, including Newegg and Best Buy, each selling the Steam Deck accessories alongside Amazon. While there are plenty of lowest-ever prices offered up with exclusive deals, the deal-matching (or even busting) habits at Newegg's 'Fantastech' deals page only lead to benefits for shoppers.
If you're already an Amazon Prime member, it can be easier to take advantage of next-day shipping on most products. A free 30-day trial is also open to those who have never signed up before, but Newegg offers free delivery without extra fees and free 30-day returns if you're on the fence.
Do I need a Prime membership for Prime Day?
Yes, a paid membership or 30-day free trial is required to access the full range of Prime Day benefits during this event. If you haven't signed up in the past, you'll be eligible for the free trial and can cancel afterward if you want to.
