Raspberry Pi 5 gets a microSD Express HAT

Will Whang’s RPI5-SDexpress-Hat is a small HAT+ for the Raspberry Pi 5, adding a microSD Express card slot for ultrafast storage, an eject button, and two Qwiic connectors, probably because there was still some spare space on the board…

As a reminder, microSD Express cards can deliver SSD performance thanks to the use of of PCIe interface and NVMe commands. The standard was first introduced in 2019, and even earlier (2018) for full-size SD cards, but manufacturers have not exactly rushed to release compatible hardware. A major change this year is the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 portable game console, one of the first mass market devices with a microSD Express slot, and this was partially why Will created the microSD Express HAT+ for the Raspberry Pi 5.

The read speed is indeed better than a typical microSD card (630MB/s+), but the sustained write speed is closer to a high-end traditional Class A1/A2 microSD card at under 200 MB/s. Random I/IOs are much better, too.

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