MicroSD cards are compact but notoriously slow. M.2 SSDs deliver blazing speeds, but they’re bulkier and require enclosures. A new storage format out of China promises the best of both worlds — and it’s already making its way into the latest gaming devices.

Chinese storage maker Biwin has unveiled the “Mini SSD” (also called the “1517” by another manufacturer). Measuring just 15mm x 17mm x 1.4mm, it’s smaller than a U.S. penny and only slightly larger than a MicroSD card. Despite its tiny size, it delivers up to 3,700MB/s read speeds and 3,400MB/s writes over a PCIe 4×2 connection, with storage options of 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB.

For comparison:

MicroSD Express cards (like those compatible with the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2) top out at 985MB/s — less than one-third the speed.
Full-size SD Express cards can theoretically reach 3,940MB/s, but they’re nearly twice the size of Biwin’s Mini SSD.

Nano-SIMs in smartphones are smaller still, and M.2 drives remain faster overall, but this new format balances size and performance in a way that stands out.

Biwin is marketing the Mini SSD for laptops, tablets, phones, and cameras. It uses a tray system that works just like a SIM card slot — press with a pin, slide it out, and swap the drive. The company also claims IP68 water and dust resistance and protection from drops of up to three meters, making it particularly appealing for mobile devices.

The first products to support the Mini SSD are already here. At the recent ChinaJoy expo, two Chinese gaming handhelds announced compatibility:

GPD Win 5, the Strix Halo-powered portable shown off in July
OneNetbook’s OneXPlayer Super X, a hybrid laptop/tablet, also running on the Strix Halo chip

Pricing details haven’t surfaced yet, and no official product listings are available — but if the Mini SSD catches on, we could be looking at a whole new category of swappable high-speed storage.

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