Square Unveils Flagship AI-Powered Kiosk for $1,999: 21.5-Inch Touchscreen, Agentic Voice Ordering, and ToF Presence Sensing

To address chronic staffing shortages, peak-rush ordering bottlenecks, and rising labor costs across the food-service industry, Square (a division of Block, Inc.) has officially introduced its new flagship Square Kiosk.

Priced at $1,999 with a countertop mount included (or available via financing at $97 per month over 24 months), the enterprise-grade terminal shifts self-service beyond static digital menus. Powered by agentic AI voice ordering, a commercial 21.5-inch high-resolution touchscreen, Time-of-Flight (ToF) presence detection, and an integrated three-microphone directional beamforming array, the kiosk allows restaurant guests to order, customize, and inquire about ingredients using spoken natural dialogue while retaining the ability to switch to touch at any moment.

Agentic AI Voice Ordering Meets Touchscreen Multimodality

Traditional self-ordering kiosks often suffer from deep, multi-tiered digital menus that frustrate customers seeking simple item modifications or ingredient substitutions. Square’s flagship kiosk resolves this friction through a multimodal ordering engine:

• Conversational Natural-Language Ordering: The kiosk’s agentic voice architecture listens and interprets queries in real time. Guests can place orders conversationally-for example, asking “Can I get a double smash burger with no onions, extra pickles, a side of sweet potato fries, and what dipping sauces do you recommend?”-and the AI extracts modifications, suggests pairings, and adds the items to the cart.
• Fluid Multimodal Switching: Ordering is not locked to an exclusively voice or touch mode. Customers can begin an order via touch, speak an allergy question aloud (“Does this dressing contain dairy?”), and tap the screen to confirm payment without resetting the conversational session.
• Acoustic Beamforming in High-Noise Environments: The terminal houses an integrated three-microphone directional array paired with on-device acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) and AI background noise suppression. This allows the system to isolate the speaking guest’s voice even amidst the ambient noise of espresso grinders, kitchen fryers, and dining-room chatter. Square recommends spacing adjacent kiosks at least 24 inches apart to ensure voice channel clarity.

Hardware Architecture: 21.5-Inch Display & Time-of-Flight Presence Sensing

Engineered specifically for high-traffic commercial environments, the terminal’s physical hardware emphasizes ergonomics and durability:

• Commercial 21.5-Inch Full HD Touchscreen: The expansive vertical display showcases high-resolution dish photography, dynamic combo builder menus, and prominent allergen tags, protected by an oleophobic, smudge-resistant tempered glass cover.
• Time-of-Flight (ToF) Proximity Wake: Built into the top bezel is a Time-of-Flight sensor that monitors the distance and trajectory of approaching patrons. The kiosk automatically wakes from low-power standby before the guest arrives at the terminal, displaying an animated greeting card and prompt interface.
• Integrated Universal Payment Deck: Unlike modular setups that require external payment dongles, brackets, or sidecar readers, the terminal integrates a flush, all-in-one payment reader directly below the display. It accepts EMV chip dip, NFC contactless tap (Apple Pay, Google Pay, contactless cards), PIN entry, and gift-card scanning, with integrated barcode scanning for packaged grab-and-go retail items arriving via a software update.
• Flexible Mounting Options: Square offers four installation configurations: an included angled countertop bracket, a freestanding weighted floor pedestal, a flat wall mount, and a standard VESA-compatible pattern for custom architectural integration.

Contextual Upselling and Multi-Account Franchise Management

Beyond front-of-house customer interactions, the new Square Kiosk operates as an intelligent sales driver linked directly to kitchen operations:

• Real-Time Contextual Upselling: The on-device recommendation algorithm continuously evaluates local real-time sales variables-such as store-level historical popularity, ambient weather conditions, time of day, and items currently sitting in the order basket-to suggest intuitive add-ons and drink upgrades, measurably lifting average order value (AOV).
• Direct Kitchen Display System (KDS) Routing: Orders placed on the kiosk instantly synchronize across the restaurant’s Square KDS screens, kitchen ticket printers, and mobile POS devices, bypassing the cashier queue. Menu changes, sold-out 86’d items, and price adjustments made in Square Dashboard propagate instantly across all active kiosks.
• Multi-Account Franchise Infrastructure: Alongside the terminal, Square launched a new enterprise management suite tailored for multi-unit quick-service restaurant (QSR) franchisees. Corporate operators can enforce brand-wide baseline menus, seasonal pricing rules, and aggregated reporting, while individual franchise owners retain local autonomy over store-level inventory, local promotions, and localized staff shifts.

Square Kiosk (Flagship 2026) vs. iPad-Based Square Kiosk Lite

Square Kiosk: Official Hardware Specifications

Market Positioning and QSR Economics

The introduction of the $1,999 AI-powered Square Kiosk directly targets enterprise restaurant chains currently weighing costly legacy infrastructure from NCR Voyix, Toast, or Revel Systems:

1. Labor Optimization: By shifting repetitive line-busting orders and modifier selections to automated kiosks, fast-casual operators can reassign limited kitchen staff to food preparation and order expediting, directly shortening ticket fulfillment times.
2. Elimination of Modular Hardware Clutter: Traditional self-service kiosks frequently combine separate retail tablets, dangling payment readers, external PIN pads, and third-party receipt printers inside custom metal housings. The all-in-one unibody architecture of the Square Kiosk streamlines reliability and minimizes cable points of failure.
3. Accessible Enterprise Tech: While custom legacy QSR kiosks typically run between $4,000 and $7,000 per station with prohibitive installation and integration retainers, Square’s $1,999 plug-and-play package democratizes self-service technology for independent operators and mid-sized regional chains.

The flagship Square Kiosk is available immediately for restaurant operators across the United States through Squareup.com, with international expansion across Canada, the UK, and Australia scheduled for 2027.

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