Square has launched Square Handheld, a new pocket-sized point-of-sale (POS) device. It comes at the perfect time for UK hospitality firms, as they enter the busy summer period.
As footfall amps up throughout the hotter months, restaurants and cafes are keen to match the pace with faster, more efficient service. One way of doing this is by adopting technology designed specifically for hospitality.
Research by Square and Tech on Toast found that embracing new tech leads to positive staff feedback, fewer errors, and a boost in efficiency.
What is Square Handheld – and how does it work?
The newly released Square Handheld is a portable, all-in-one POS system. Weighing just 0.31kg, about the same as an apple, and measuring only 1.5cm thick, it’s slim enough to slip into your back pocket.
Staff can take payments, scan barcodes, and capture images, even when offline, reportedly making the handheld device ideal for outdoor dining, pop-up events, or festivals.
Square Handheld also offers a range of hospitality-specific features which it says are designed to make life easier for restaurants and cafes. These include:
- A new item-splitting feature, intended to streamline the process of splitting bills among diners.
- A Scan-to-Pay QR code, which allows customers to scan and settle up independently.
- Multichannel menu management which allows businesses to edit and update menus across all locations from one dashboard.
- Integration with ResDiary, which means reservations can be easily managed, including importing booking deposits and automatically deducting them from the bill.
“Light. Slimline. Fits in your pocket. Still has all the features we’re used to from Square and quite a lot more”, confirms Tom Haydon, Founder of Tom’s Pasta, which is one of the first UK businesses to try the new gadget.
Square is already our best all-round POS system for small firms and, in our most recent round of testing, it also emerged as our number one hospitality POS system for 2025.
What is the Square POS app?
Square Handheld is powered by the new Square Point of Sale app, which is a centralised hub for running any type of business.
Where there used to be separate platforms for Restaurants, Retail, and Appointments, Square says that, with the app, business owners can now enjoy the convenience of all features being housed under one roof.
Personalised layouts, smarter workflows, and intuitive features are some of the newly upgraded features in the app.
By adopting hospitality-specific tech, SMEs will be able to turn tables faster, reduce training and onboarding time, and enjoy more seamless payment processing.
What this means for small UK restaurants, pubs, and cafés
After a difficult few years, optimism in the hospitality sector has been hard to come by. Both staff and customers stand to benefit from a more seamless dining experience with the introduction of portable POS systems like Square Handheld.
Rising wage costs, staffing shortages, and changing consumer trends have made the road to recovery post-pandemic anything but easy.
Tools like Square Handheld offer a practical solution, helping businesses handle increased footfall with leaner teams, without compromising on service. With many pubs and restaurants already embracing AI and automation, hospitality tech could be the key ingredient in revitalising the sector.
If you like the sound of a pocket-sized POS, Square Handheld is now available in the UK.
