SumUp Solo review: palm-sized smart terminal for credit card payments

Get SumUp Solo for $129 + sales tax. No ongoing fees or contract. Free shipping in 4-5 business days.

How it works

SumUp is known for its user-friendly, simple card payment solutions for small businesses and sole traders alike.

The latest card terminal, SumUp Solo, is a special one: a square-shaped, standalone card reader without a physical PIN pad. Instead, it is operated exclusively via the front-facing touchscreen, like a purpose-built mobile device for card payments.

Fees and pricing

SumUp Solo only costs a one-off price of $129 + applicable sales taxes. No setup fee applies, and it gets delivered for free within 4-5 business days. If you change your mind about the purchase, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee.

There is no monthly fee, contractual commitment or other ongoing costs, just a fixed transaction rate of 2.75% regardless of the brand and type of credit or debit card.

Payouts are processed free to your bank account.

It is free to refund card transactions, as long as the transaction has not yet been settled in your bank account (i.e. within 1-3 days of the original transaction). After that, SumUp retains the 2.75% transaction fee to process the refund.

SumUp charges no additional fee for chargebacks, but retains the transaction fee.

SumUp Solo card reader features

SumUp Solo is a totally unique card terminal to enter the American market. It is the first card machine 100% designed by SumUp in-house by a team of over 100 engineers and product designers. Previous card readers – such as SumUp Plus – were partly designed by SumUp, using certain hardware components by third parties.

And the result? A simple touchscreen terminal that can constantly evolve with software updates. It is comfortable to hold in your hand, lightweight and easy to slide into a pocket. The built-in software is quite basic at this point, but SumUp may add features down the line.

The colorless touchscreen is highly responsive, but with a slight time lag when tapping letters and numbers on the virtual keypad.

When it’s on standby and not in the accompanying dock, you simply tap the dark screen to show the checkout screen. If stationed in the dock, you have to press the power button on the side to activate the screen.

You can adjust the screen brightness to suit any environment and set it to turn off the screen after 30 seconds, 1-5 minutes or never.

We tested the maximum screen brightness in strong sunlight, and text was still readable. But it was gray and not bright in the sun – though better than the performance of SumUp Pro’s display that has had complaints about being hard to see in the sun.

The battery life is supposed to be 100 transactions from a full charge, but it really depends on how it’s used.

With maximum screen brightness and frequent testing, the battery did not take more than an hour to use half its power. If you only use it for transactions, with low screen brightness, it would last longer. It also drains the battery within hours to keep it on standby.

It takes a few hours to charge Solo from 0% to 100% – not quick, so you should always make sure it’s got enough power when it’s most needed. With a portable power bank in your bag, you can always charge it on the go.

What about the software and its limitations? Here are the features:

Accessories and printed receipts

Since this is a standalone card machine, there are not many accessories it connects with.

The main accessory – included in the package – is a non-slip display stand to put on a countertop. This doubles as a charging dock with an internal storage compartment for a USB charging cable that is also included.

You can either plug the charging cable into Solo directly, or place Solo in the cradle and plug the cable into the dock to charge the card reader. You’ll need your own adapter plug for the USB cable, or charge it through a USB charging socket.

The dock’s clear, magnetically attached lid is a great, stylish protection to keep the card reader free from dust and dirt.

The included decals showing all the cards accepted by SumUp Solo can be stuck onto the lid perfectly.

A major downside is its lack of compatibility with a receipt printer. SumUp is planning to release a special receipt printer to connect with Solo. In the meantime, SumUp Pro and SumUp Plus with a compatible Bluetooth printer can be used for paper receipts.

You cannot connect Solo with point of sale equipment like a cash drawer, barcode scanner or kitchen printer. It is meant purely for card and mobile wallet transactions, not cash or POS setups where you scan products or print itemized receipts.

SumUp Solo vs Plus

There are some crucial differences between SumUp Plus and SumUp Solo, in case you’re wondering.

For a start, SumUp Plus only works with SumUp App on a phone or tablet connected to the internet. Solo, on the other hand, works on its own.

Because Plus is only switched on when a transaction in SumUp App is ready for the card payment, the battery life of Plus is much better than Solo at 500 transactions from a full charge. Transactions on Solo are created from start to finish via a power-consuming touchscreen, so it only lasts 100 transactions from a full charge (if you don’t have the screen on maximum brightness).

Solo compared with alternatives on the market

To our knowledge, SumUp Solo is the only palm-sized touchscreen terminal that works independently in the US. The fact it only has basic card acceptance functions makes it the cheapest of its kind.

The closest alternative on a low budget is the much bigger Square Terminal that also works on its own, but only on WiFi since it can’t have a SIM card. It is therefore not suitable for on-the-go payments.

Like Solo, Square Terminal has a touchscreen, but a large one with many more free point of sale (POS) features built in. Square doesn’t require a contract, nor does it have a monthly fee, just like SumUp.

Then there’s the much cheaper Square Reader requiring an app, like SumUp Plus but without a physical PIN pad. It has a long battery life and is lighter and smaller than Solo, so might be better suited for mobile merchants who’s okay about connecting it with an app to take payments.

PayPal Zettle offers a different, low-cost credit card reader with a physical PIN pad, but it also needs an app plus a PayPal account for settlement.

Card machines like Clover’s and PAX’s come at a much higher cost and contract lock-in, but they are better for businesses with a high, stable and long-term sales volume.

Reporting and other free extras

If you need more than a basic transaction overview, you can log into ‘SumUp Dashboard’ (merchant portal) on a laptop. Here, you can analyze sales and export reports, but it is not possible to integrate with accounting software.

You’ll also see free, additional features like invoicing and a product library.

Even if you don’t have a SumUp Plus reader, we recommend downloading SumUp’s app on your phone because it has lots of additional features. You can send payment links, accept QR code payments and generate e-gift cards to sell online.

The app has an overview of payouts, employee accounts (staff can have different logins) and a product library to sell from in the app only, not SumUp Solo.

Customer service, reviews and complaints

SumUp merchants can call, email or message customer support on business days between 9am – 7pm (EST). There’s no evening or weekend support team to assist.

An online Support Center section contains help guides and explanations of features, which is most cases answers people’s questions. This is not accessed on the terminal – you’ll need a smartphone or computer to look this up.

Based on customer reviews, some merchants do not get prompt support while others do.

You’re meant to have a helpline to call, but many users have said no one is answering or that the SumUp staff on the phone do not fix the issue, stick to their promises or follow up with a resolution. Merchants are being told to use the online chat or email for help, even when the user prefers a phone call.

We have also seen several complaints about SumUp Solo in particular, mirroring our experiences of the product. This includes a short battery life (up to 4 hours maximum, according to one user), frozen screens and unwelcome updates preventing you from taking payments when needed.

Getting started

SumUp is one of the easiest options around for getting started with card payments.

You simply go on the website, click to get started and complete an online sign-up form (takes about 5-10 minutes). Then order the card reader on the website and wait 4-5 business days to receive it by post. Ordering it from the SumUp website is the only way you can buy the card reader at the moment, as far as we know.

It may take a few days before your bank account – which must be in a name that matches your business name – is linked to your SumUp account, but you can still accept payments straight away.

Our verdict

SumUp Solo is an interesting credit card machine for card payments that don’t require an integration with a POS system. It works well for simple transactions where you just enter a payment total, not itemized receipts linked to a food menu or inventory library.

It’s fundamentally different from its predecessor SumUp Pro because of its touchscreen and compact design, but they are equally basic in their features. Due to its touchscreen, Solo’s battery life is no more than a few hours, making it better for a fixed checkout or as a backup terminal on the go.

If you want more advanced features, you may consider SumUp Plus that requires a connection with SumUp App on a smartphone or tablet to accept cards. Plus has a much longer battery life compared to Solo.

With Solo, you can truly use it solo, anywhere with a mobile connection or wireless internet. The accompanying stand makes it great for, say, hairdressers and pop-up stores with a counter, and the tipping options are advantageous for hospitality and professional services.

As to support, we are a little concerned about the lagging service users have pointed out. Software glitches have also caused issues for some, but it appears the Solo card reader has overall positive reactions.

Last but not least: the lack of monthly fees, commitment and complicated costs is attractive for a card reader. The upfront cost is low compared to traditional card machines, and the fixed rate competitive below a monthly turnover of $6,000.