Which Paper Shredder Brand Wins?

cross-cut, credit cards/staples/clips, P-4 security, 3 minute run with 20 minute cooldown, 3.4 gallon bin, made in Vietnam

paper and credit card shredder, 5 by 18 mm cross-cut strips, 3.7 gallon bin, up to 8 sheets of 20-lb bond paper, P-4 security, 3 minute run / 30 minute cooldown, made in Vietnam

P-5 ultra-quiet, 10 minute working cycle, claims up to 500 sheets per cycle, 4.5 gallon bin, shreds credit cards/staples/clips, rated for 8 sheets, made in China

P5 security claimed, handles 9 sheets, 5.8 gallon bin claimed, up to 10 minute working time, claimed 58 decibels, claims up to 430 sheets before emptying, shreds CDs and credit cards, made in China

cross-cut, P4 high security level, quiet credit card shredder claimed, 4 gallon basket, claims 4 minutes non-stop run, handles staples/paper clips/junk mail, handles 10 sheets, made in China

high security P5 claimed, micro-cut paper and credit cards claimed, designed to shred 10 sheets, claims 2,592 particles per sheet, claims continuous 60 minute run time, claims 6 gallon bin, made in China

P-5 high security claimed, handles CDs/credit cards/paper, claims a 7.9 gallon bin, 10-sheet shredder, claims 48 decibels, claims 500 sheets before a 40 minute cooldown, made in China

meets P-3 security claimed, not suitable for metal credit cards but designed for regular credit cards/staples/small paper clips, 9 minute run time and 30 minute cooldown, made in Vietnam

P-4 security claimed, shreds paper/credit cards/CDs, 5 minute run then 30 minute cooldown claimed, claims a 5.55 gallon capacity, claims 12-sheet cross cut, claims max capacity of 280 sheets, claims to be jam proof, made in China

claims P-4 security, handles CDs/credit cards/clips, claims a 4.2 gallon capacity, claims a total run time of 60 minutes, 12-sheet shredder, made in Vietnam

supposed to shred up to 18 sheets, meets P3 security standards, 6 gallon bin, makes confetti-like pieces measuring 4 by 35 mm claimed, handles CDs and credit cards, 30 minute on cycle with a 10 minute rest, made in Vietnam

designed to shred up to 18 sheets, P4 security claimed, claims ultra quiet 58 decibels, shreds bond paper down to 4 by 15 mm claimed, claims a 7.9 gallon storage bin, claims a 60 minute run time, shreds credit cards/CD/junk mail claimed, made in China

claims it tears paper into 397 pieces, claims a 9 gallon pull-out bin, rated P4 security, claims a continuous 30 minute run before cooldown, shreds staples/credit cards/paper clips/CDs and DVDs, made in Vietnam

and 1/2 lb

by far the heaviest yet at the time of testing

the heaviest shredder in the lineup

quietest yet at the time of testing

quieter than most of the lineup

a little noisier than average

relatively quiet

relatively quiet

to shred one piece of paper

extremely efficient

the most energy use in the lineup at the time of testing

very efficient

very close to 92 W

peak

peak of around 83 W, varies quite a bit

the highest energy demand in the lineup

the fastest single-sheet time of any shredder in the lineup

the slowest yet at the time of testing despite using the most energy

a little slower than average

the slowest in the lineup at that point in testing

the slowest single-sheet time in the lineup at that point

second place behind the Amazon Basics 8-sheet

second place behind the Amazon Basics 8-sheet in the initial speed test

almost twice as long as the Amazon Basics 8-sheet

faster than most of the other brands

in no hurry to finish

faster than most of the other brands

stack took 9.75 seconds; powered itself down after 16.5 of 20 stapled stacks at around 3 minutes 8 seconds, did not finish, works out to 31.6 sheets per minute

bogged down under load; finished the first 8-sheet stack in about 8 seconds; bin became full and began grinding clippings at 2 minutes 58 seconds with 1 and 1/3 stacks still remaining, did not finish, works out to just under 50 sheets per minute

became overloaded at 8 sheets, then at 7, then struggled even at 6 sheets, overloading multiple times; finally finished all 160 sheets (20 stacks) after 8 minutes 28 seconds, the slowest completion time of any shredder that finished

for the first stack, losing much less speed than the Wolverine; finished all 20 stacks in 2 minutes 22 seconds, the fastest completion time in the lineup up to that point

for the first stack, bogging down under load; finished all 20 stacks in 3 minutes 22 seconds, works out to 59.4 sheets per minute

for the first stack; finished all 20 stacks in 2 minutes 48 seconds, works out to 71 sheets per minute, second place behind the Wing Wise 9

for the first stack, losing a lot of speed with 10 sheets despite costing $52 more than the Aurora; held up fine to its rated 500 sheets per duty cycle; finished all 20 stacks in 4 minutes 48 seconds

for the first stack; finished all 20 stacks in 2 minutes 55 seconds, works out to 82.3 sheets per minute, the fastest completion rate in the lineup up to that point

for the first stack, losing a tremendous amount of RPM; powered itself down from overheating after only 12 of 20 stacks, at 1 minute 52 seconds, did not finish

for the first 12-sheet stack, a little slower than the Woolsche; rated for a 60 minute duty cycle and had more than enough capacity for all 240 sheets (20 stacks), finished at around 3 minutes 5 seconds

for the first stack; smelling very hot after the first minute of the test; finished all 20 stacks in 3 minutes 6 seconds, the fastest shredder in the lineup at an average of just over 116 sheets per minute

for the first stack, struggling on several attempts; finished all 20 stacks in 4 minutes 53 seconds

ran into problems on the first stack, needing multiple attempts to process it in just over 11 seconds; struggled to perform at its rated 18-sheet capacity; finished all 20 stacks in 4 minutes 52 seconds

empty basket 1.31 lb, full 2.83 lb, about 1.52 lb of shredded paper capacity

empty bin 1.045 lb, full 2.505 lb, about 1.46 lb of shredded paper capacity

empty basket 2.62 lb, full 4.85 lb, about 2.23 lb of shredded paper capacity

empty basket 2.89 lb, full 6.22 lb, about 3.33 lb of shredded paper capacity, moved into the lead at the time

empty basket about 1.8 lb, full 4.39 lb, about 2.6 lb of shredded paper capacity

automatic shutoff when the bin is full; empty basket 2.6 lb, full 5.32 lb, about 2.72 lb of shredded paper capacity

automatic shutoff when the bin is full; empty basket 2.89 lb, full 5.65 lb, about 2.76 lb of shredded paper capacity

empty bin 2 lb, full 4.65 lb, about 2.64 lb of shredded paper capacity

empty basket about 1.84 lb, full 4.23 lb, about 2.39 lb of shredded paper capacity

empty basket 1.76 lb, full 5.18 lb, about 3.41 lb of shredded paper capacity, the most yet at the time of testing

empty basket 2.29 lb, full 6.54 lb, about 4.25 lb of shredded paper capacity, the most shredded paper yet at the time, finished second overall behind the VidaTeco

empty basket 3.59 lb, full 7.96 lb, about 4.37 lb of shredded paper capacity, the largest shredded-paper weight capacity in the entire lineup

empty basket 2.78 lb, full 6.44 lb, about 3.66 lb of shredded paper capacity, third place in that test

powered through the paper clip physically but did not fully break it down into small pieces; narrator explicitly does not recommend storing sensitive information on paper clips with this model

partially broke down the paper clip, similar result to the Bonsaii

despite claiming P-5 security, was not able to break the paper clip down completely

performed about the same as the Wolverine, leaving behind large pieces

not able to completely break down the paper clip

first shredder in the lineup with enough power to fully break down the paper clip into tiny pieces, called very impressive, best possible paper-clip rating of 1

unable to break down a paper clip as well as the Aurora did, best possible paper-clip rating of 2.5, second place

left behind pretty large pieces of the paper clip

left behind large pieces of the paper clip

left behind some very large pieces of metal, unable to fully break down the clip

not able to completely break down the paper clip

some large pieces of paper clip remained after passing through it