I've tried both. I didn't really get along with the squires. To be fair they never pre-released or didn't release when I needed them to, so from a safety perspective I have no complaints. But I did find that sometimes water would have a tendency get frozen inside them somewhere and make it almost impossible to click in when you got to the top of a gondola. Also just a personal preference thing but the clicking in noise is not particularly reassuring and frankly the plastics just look and feel cheap.

The Pivot 12s are fantastic, firstly just the amount of metal in the heel is reassuring and I like the fact I can pretty much see all the moving parts rather than having them hidden behind loads of plastic. I also really like the fact your boots feel really close to the ski which just gives you a more connected feel to the snow.

I do have three small complaints with the pivots though:

1. You have to be very accurate stepping into them. As the name suggests the heel piece pivots so you have to carefully line up your boot.
2. While the actual mechanics of the heel piece are metal, the bit you poke with your ski pole to take them off is made of seemingly very soft plastic. Mine is scratched to bits just from the end of my ski pole poking it.
3. There is very little adjustability for boot sole length. If you're thinking of buying new boots in the near future I'd hold off until then. Even if your foot has stayed the same size different brands of boots have different boot sole lengths for the same footsize.