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When we embarked on the journey of creating the second generation of Square Register, we focused on starting where we always do – listening to what Square business owners want.
As the lead of the hardware product team at Square, I’ve worked with the team to spend countless hours in restaurants, coffee shops and retail stores, observing how these businesses are actually using their tools, listening to them talk to us about what works and what doesn’t, and trying our best to understand and think about where we can do better.
Since its launch, Square Register has always been our premium countertop point-of-sale system, an all-in-one device that’s designed to work with you and for you. But businesses have evolved, which means their needs are evolving, too.
Businesses wanted reliable devices that could easily keep up with their craziest days and provide the best connectivity possible in crowded and busy environments. This meant they were looking for incredibly durable hardware that could handle the ins and outs of a packed cafe, a buzzing bar or a local boutique on a busy Saturday afternoon. Every conversation we had reinforced the same truth. They don’t want to think about their tools during a rush. Instead, they want the tools to perform and get out of their way so they can focus on the things that matter most, like making customers happy and growing their businesses.
Enhanced durability, connectivity and speed
Over the past few years, we’ve focused on observing our devices in their real-world environments. The morning rushes at popular coffee shops. Packed restaurants on a Saturday night. Retail shops with tight counter space where every centimetre counts.
We watched our hardware get spilt on and bumped into throughout the day. We saw the ripple effects of dropped connectivity during those peak rushes. Many business operators told us how much they loved our countertop POS devices, but there is always room for improvement.
We’re committed to continually getting better and evolving with the businesses we serve. As we gathered feedback and looked for ways to keep businesses with complex operations running smoothly during busy periods, we knew we needed to dig in on durability, connectivity and speed.
Enter the new Square Register
To meet the rigorous demands of everyday business, our team is excited to introduce a remastered register ready to serve business owners. Working within our sleek design philosophy, Wi-Fi connectivity and performance improvements have been integrated into the hardware in a way that feels intuitive and nearly invisible, while maintaining reliable performance during your busiest rushes.
We invested in a faster chipset that delivers 3x higher performance than the previous generation, paired with 2x more memory and 4x the storage capacity – numbers that directly translate into smoother multitasking and faster load times. We also upgraded the wireless chip and revamped the antenna design.
The antenna on the new Square Register, which is integrated directly into the Square logo, quietly enhances essential work. It works behind the scenes, making the Register quicker and more reliable with stronger internet connectivity to ensure nothing gets fumbled during the day’s most important moments.
Our engineering team has built a cutting-edge software stack optimised to take full advantage of this more powerful hardware, enabling business owners to experience speed improvements across every function, from processing payments to managing inventory to reviewing daily reports.
And we understand that we’re building something that needs to withstand daily realities, namely, drops, bumps and spills. None of these improvements mean much if they stop working because of a little coffee or soda. Our engineers and designers put every element through rigorous product development testing, simulating everything from classic liquid spills to the wear and tear that inevitably happens on a busy retail countertop. To our engineers, improved performance means improved reliability.
To support this goal, our hardware engineering teams designed an improved glass enclosure that provides durability while maintaining screen responsiveness, no matter what tasks you may be switching between. Processing transactions, checking inventory levels, clocking in employees on the fly – our Register’s new screen responds quickly and reliably at all times.
As your business evolves, so will we, adding more capabilities and delivering a quicker, more powerful point-of-sale device that ultimately means more productivity with less waiting and less frustration.
More than just a checkout tool
Throughout the process of developing the new generation of the Square Register, we kept coming back to the real-world business experiences. Nothing was created or imagined in a vacuum. Our thoughts and actions came from our experiences in the field.
This meant witnessing the unexpected moments, understanding the pressure and feeling the high stakes that come with a busy Saturday when there’s a line out the door. Being there in person and observing how our devices live in the real world is the only way we can build something that disappears into the background, doing its job so well that you forget it’s even there.
Plus, years ago, point-of-sale hardware really just focused on one thing: accepting payments. But today, businesses of all kinds are using their Square Registers to do so much more – manage shift schedules, review inventory, clock their employees in and out, and handle operational tasks that keep their businesses up and running.
We focused on speed, power and reliability because, really, these small devices become a business’s command centre. We’re thinking beyond what business operators need today and building something that they’ll need two, three, even five years from now.
What’s next?
The Register line has always been our pride and joy, representing our commitment to raising the bar for what business owners should expect from their point-of-sale systems. With the second generation, we’re pushing that standard forward.
This launch builds on what Square hardware already does best – delivering refined, deeply integrated tools designed around your real needs. As always, we build with the businesses we serve at the centre of every decision.
We know that the best technology gets out of the way and works so seamlessly you forget it’s there. And with the second generation of Square Register, which is significantly faster, more reliable and more durable, we’re delivering on that promise.
