i just finished putting in a short section of wood fence,4x4 posts and 8ft slats.i used square heads where the 2x4 crossed the 4x4 and phillips head on the slats...i was just using drives that i got out of a fish bowl at my local hardware store.the other stuff was from a big box store.i was stripping out the heads right and left with the driver chattering around.
i'm not a real handy man sort of guy and went back to the big box and asked about that.what i needed was a driver that was the right size! a #2 and by gosh the rest of the fence went up in no time at all.

There is also a combo Phillips and square head in one - that is supposed to be the best of both worlds. Kreg (the pocket hole joint company) started using the combo heads. I've avoided them thinking that the best of both is not as good as a square drive alone. No direct experience with them though.

Silicone spray. You can treat a whole box of screws in seconds. Like the soap only faster.

I've found that while the square drive screws go in easily, they tend to strip out a few years later if you want to remove one. Something to think about for long term if you ever plan to add to / repair / re-use.

If a square drive strips when you try to remove it what chance do you have with a phillips?

I actually just tried to remove some phillips that's probably in the deck rail for over 10 years this past weekend. First it just slips, then I pushed on the driver hard while cranking it, the bit exploded instead. Luckily the heads aren't all the way inside wood so I ended up using a small pipe wrench to remove them.

I boarded up 27 windows on a frame house for a Cat 3 in 2004...my 12v cordless drill died, and Phillips style screws were a pain to start while single handed holding the plywood....I've upgraded to a good 18v (Ridgid) drill and T21 or T25 TorX exterior coated screws for the next go around...a Stanley Yankee Screwdriver in case both batteries for the Ridgid don't make it

JIS drivers looks like Phillips but have a slightly differently-shaped tip that gets a better "bite" on the screw and allows you to get more torque on the screw before cam-out than a Phillips driver.

JIS originated in Asia in electronics manufacturing where Phillips cam-out is much too easy.

A JIS driver will not damage a Phillips screw head (but the reverse is not true). I only use JIS drivers these days for that reason.

Manual JIS drivers exist up to #3. A JIS driver might help but I know of no reasonably-priced source.

Those screws may be sloppily made too. A JIS driver may not get any additional bite if the head cuts are not made to Phillips (or JIS) standards.

the cheap hardware works fine for many applications.

but there is a reason it costs less.

buy as good a screw as you need for the application.

The depth of the hole is less with square drive where a phillips goes about twice as deep. Sure I've had plenty phillips strip bit have had just as many square strip and they are used much less often so the % that strip out is much higher.

I've had better luck with Torx.

From an ex-hardware guy who worked at HD. Rigid's lifetime warranty is a crock. Had a drill guaranteed for life - except they quit making the batteries the next year when they upgraded the drill line.

And I use most any type of screw, but I'm careful to match the size of the bit to the screw.