Square Reader

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Square Reader

File:Reader Contactless.png

Basic Information
Release Year	2023
Product Type
In Production	Yes
Official Website	https://www.squareup.com

The Square Reader for Contactless and Chip is an essential piece of hardware for millions of vendors. It's a lifeline for mobile businesses, pop-up shops, and independent contractors. Yet, like so much of today's consumer electronics, its lifespan is artificially capped by its power source. Once the non-user-replaceable lithium-ion battery inevitably degrades—a common complaint cited in community forums often occurring well within a few years—the merchant is left with a useless, ~$50 plastic brick.

The device itself is likely still fully functional. The chip reader is intact, the NFC coil works, and the plastic casing is fine. Only the battery, the single most disposable component in modern tech, has failed.

Square's official solution? Submit a warranty claim for a replacement. While helpful within the one-year limited warranty period, this policy completely abandons the user—and the planet—when the warranty expires. The company's hardware team, in an apparent acknowledgment of the device's design, reportedly advises that breaking open the reader to attempt a battery change would trigger its security features and deactivate the device. The message is clear: buy a new one.

References

https://community.squareup.com/t5/Payments-Troubleshooting/Square-terminal-battery/m-p/728507