Nintendo Switch 2 game load times are much slower on cartridge

Analysis of load times on Nintendo Switch 2 has unearthed a noticeable difference between the three means of storing games on the console. The handheld’s internal storage and microSD Express cards are broadly comparable, but cartridges are demonstrably far slower.

Digital Foundry found that Switch 2 games running from the cartridge can take up to 52% longer than other methods. For example, starting Mario Kart World from the system menu takes 15.92-16.42s via internal storage or microSD Express, but balloons to 24.90s from the cartridge. This difference in speed manifest waiting for races to start too, going from 6.57-8.03s to 11.83s.

Longer load time on cartridges may stem from decompression engine performance or interface transfer speed, details of which Nintendo unfortunately doesn’t provide. Based on these results, though, you can confidently conclude it’s less than the 900MB/s of MicroSD Card Express and far below the 2,100MB/s of the UFS 3.1-based internal storage.

It’s clear that cartridges offer the least-snappy experience, which while disappointing thankfully isn’t a deal breaker. While digital downloads will run faster, they don’t offer the versatility physical games will. Slow or no, they’re the only way to conveniently share libraries between friends and to recoup the cost of purchase through selling it later on. By the same token, preowned games should be cheaper than grabbing them direct from the Nintendo eShop.

This isn’t the first bit of Switch 2 hardware users have found to be surprisingly slow. The console’s LCD panel has generated some controversy over its response times, producing noticeable ghosting in some games despite its 120Hz refresh rate. These screen woes join the chorus of cries calling for better HDR implementation in docked mode.

Here’s hoping Nintendo can improve both cartridge load times and screen performance through system updates. For the moment, though, the company has remained silent on either issue.