SumUp Solo (with Printer) – Our Complete Review and Test

4 MIN READ

The SumUp Solo is a standalone 3G and Wifi payment terminal. It consists of a standalone reader and a charging stand.

SumUp Solo = Payment Terminal + Charging Stand (with or without printer)

SumUp Air
	Transaction fee: 1.69% Price: £34 + VAT £25 + VAT To SumUp
SumUp Solo
	Transaction fee: 1.69% Price: £79 + VAT £69 + VAT To SumUp

 

Unlike the Air, the SumUp Solo is standalone, meaning you can use it without a smartphone. You can optionally equip its charging stand with a printer for card receipts.

SumUp Solo at a glance

 

The SumUp Solo is good if you have both mobile and in-store activities. If you need a small card reader the size of the Air reader, the SumUp Solo is standalone. It allows you to process customer payments without using your smartphone.

If you have a business and need a traditional terminal with a printer for receipts, pick the SumUp Solo.

The model is the same for all other readers of the brand. You buy the reader and pay a fixed commission of 1.69% on your takings. No commitment, no subscription, nor any additional fixed fees are charged. Read our detailed review of the SumUp offer.

The price of the reader is £79. This is an interesting price for a mobile 3G/Wifi and standalone payment terminal (usable without a smartphone).

Pros and Cons

Pros

• The reader is standalone and usable independently of the base and a smartphone. It can connect to both 3G and Wifi networks
• The model and operation: no commitment, no fixed fees, no additional hidden costs
• The Recharge Support equipped with or without a printer
• The design: the payment terminal is a jewel, the design is neat and of good quality. In our opinion, the most beautiful of the card readers
• The user-friendly Tipping functionality

Cons

• No possibility (for now) to connect the reader to cash register applications

SumUp Solo in Detail

The Solo reader has been on sale in the UK since 2020. It completes the range of SumUp readers which now consists of the Air and Solo.

It thus replaces the SumUp 3G which is no longer available since the beginning of 2023.

The Solo reader does not need a smartphone, unlike the Air that needs a smartphone to use. The SumUp Solo is the best standalone mobile 3G/Wifi terminal.

The terminal works with the SumUp offer and is perfectly suited for small merchants. No need to go to the bank for an appointment and get a POS contract.

You can register for free online on the SumUp website. You can enter your bank’s RIB from the SumUp app. The terminal directly send the money collected to your indicated account.

The SumUp Solo

• A standalone payment terminal with a large backlit touchscreen
• A charging stand adapted to the terminal with USB-C port equipped if necessary with a printer
• A clear plastic cover indicating the accepted payment cards and protecting the reader from dust
• A cable to connect the charging stand to a USB power adapter (But they do not provide the adapter to connect the USB cable to the power outlet).
• A sticker indicating the accepted payment cards

Operating the Terminal

The reader’s base allows charging the reader and elegantly presenting it on a counter in front of the customer. You perform all operations directly on the terminal, without needing a smartphone.

Making a Payment

To start the reader, press the On/Off button on the side of the mobile reader.

1. Enter the amount you wish to collect
2. Specify the product on the receipt for the customer or for tracking your collection.
3. Press Next
4. Make the reader available to the customer
5. The customer can add a tip (You can modify tips from the settings)
6. The customer can pay with or without contact (With contact the customer enters their card code directly on the touchscreen)
7. You can send the receipt by email or SMS to the customer

Setting Up Tips

The novelty of this terminal is the intelligent tipping feature.

Certainly, the 3G reader also offered this feature but in a less easy way for the customer. With SumUp Solo, you can suggest 3 tip options based on the payment amount to your customer. The customer can thus add the tip amount to the collection with one click on the screen.

Tips are £1, £2, and £3 for amounts under £10. For amounts over £10, tips are 10%, 15%, and 20%.

To set up tips, go to the Menu, then to the Tip tab. Choose whether you want to display tips to your customers or not.

Tracking Transactions, Refunding a Payment, Sending a Receipt to a Customer

Go to the menu and then to the Sales History tab. You can view each transaction with the date, time, amount, and status (paid, pending, refunded).

By clicking on a transaction, you can refund your customer and resend the receipt by SMS or email.

Comparing SumUp Solo VS SumUp Air

Should you prefer the Solo over the Air?

In short, it depends on your needs and preferences.

Whichever reader you choose, the SumUp offer remains the same. You buy the reader and pay 1.75% commissions on collections, with no additional fees, no subscription, and no commitment.

• The SumUp Air is cheaper than the Solo but you will need a smartphone to use it
• You can use the SumUp Solo without a smartphone.

If you are starting a business and do not know how much money you will make, choose the SumUp Air, it costs almost nothing.

If you are a fan of the design and the tipping functionality, prefer the SumUp Solo.

If you are sure to make many collections, we recommend the SumUp Solo with its printer base.

SumUp Solo Printer Base

At its launch, they sold the reader with a base that did not include a printer. Since then, SumUp has released a base with a dedicated printer.

You can purchase the base with or separately from the reader at a price of £69 excl. VAT. To obtain it, you must: 1/ log in to your SumUp customer account and 2/ go to the shop.

The box contains:

• The base with printer
• 2 thermal rolls for printing receipts
• A USB-C charger
• A power adapter

The design of the base is successful. The SumUp Solo fits perfectly into it, you must clip it directly onto the printer base. You can charge the reader directly from the base. The base also has a battery, so it serves as an additional power supply for the SumUp Solo if needed.

Our Verdict

The SumUp Solo is sublime. The standalone Wifi/3G terminal the size of a SumUp Air, equipped with its stand, makes card collection even easier. The intelligent tipping is an advantage and SumUp could add other features to the reader in the future.

We recommend the SumUp Solo if you also like the design of the reader and need to print receipts.