Square introduces the Square Handheld, a multipurpose card reader that fits in your back pocket

Square, the popular business technology platform known for its Point of Sale (POS) systems, has launched a new device designed to allow sellers to ring up various kinds of purchases and perform other tasks without carrying around the extra weight of bulkier hardware.

The Square Handheld, with a screen that is slightly bigger than a cellphone, is less than an inch thick, thin enough to fit in your back pocket.

Handheld card readers currently on the market are bulkier, requiring sellers to use lanyards or handstraps to carry them around. The Square Handheld frees up hands for a more seamless integration into the user’s workflows. The device supports a full range of payment options, includes a camera and barcode scanner, and is designed to last. 

The device is IP54-rated, meaning it can handle water splashes and dust. Users can further protect the device by purchasing a case, offered on the Square online shop and developed in partnership with Belkin. 

At a product event in New York City last week, businesses that have already trialed the Square Handheld discussed both the device’s functionality and the connection to customers that the device helps facilitate. Staff at Cisco Brewers, originally established in Nantucket, Massachusetts, use the Square Handheld’s barcode scanner to verify customers’ IDs.

Other restaurant owners say the device makes placing orders easier. “It’s tremendously helpful to place orders instantly at each table instead of waiting at a counter and entering multiple tables’ orders at once,” said Trevor Ledergerber, owner of La Mediterranee, in Berkeley, California, via a press release. 

Sellers also say they appreciate the connection it creates between businesses and clientele.

Maricia Du Plessis, owner of Polly’s Cafe in Brooklyn, says that the device operates as a conversation starter as well as being convenient. “It helps to be able to be superclose to our customers—quite literally—and connect more deeply with them and really understand who they are and what drives their behavior and how we can observe them over time,” Du Plessis said.

The device is supported by Square’s Point of Sale app, which features seven different modes of functionality, including Bar mode, Quick Service mode, and Retail mode, with the option to expand and customize features as a business grows. The Square Handheld includes customer profiles that businesses have already made with Square, and according to a press release, it can fit into any in-store workflow and is especially suited to restaurants and retailers. 

“Square Handheld fuses Square’s industry-leading design with powerful commerce software to deliver a dynamic device that empowers sellers to keep pace with the breakneck speed of modern business,” said Thomas Templeton, head of hardware for Block, Square’s owner, in a press release. 

The device is currently available for $399 on Square’s online store, with the accompanying Belkin SheerForce cases available for $39. 

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