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Which Paper Shredder Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 13 paper shredder options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Budget pick
Bonsaii 12-sheet
Price shown in test: $30
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Claimed Specs | Weight | Noise Db | Peak Energy W | Single Sheet Shred Time | Durability Test 20 Stacks | Basket Capacity Test | Credit Card Test | Cd Dvd Test | Paper Clip Test | Shred Size Mm | Estimated Pieces Per Sheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Bonsaii 6-sheet$30 | up to 6 sheets, cross-cut, credit cards/staples/clips, P-4 security, 3 minute run with 20 minute cooldown, 3.4 gallon bin, made in Vietnam | just over 6 and 1/2 lb | 81.4 decibels | 126 W to shred one piece of paper | about 6 seconds | 6-sheet 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 | empty basket 1.31 lb, full 2.83 lb, about 1.52 lb of shredded paper capacity | handled successfully, no brand-specific detail narrated beyond the general statement that all shredders handled credit cards easily | not rated to shred CDs; made it about halfway through a DVD on the first attempt, succeeded on the second attempt leaving fairly large pieces | 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 | not tested | not tested |
| 2Amazon Basics 8-sheet$35 | 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 | 8.4 lb | 81.9 decibels | just over 110 W | 3.39 seconds, the fastest single-sheet time of any shredder in the lineup | 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 | empty bin 1.045 lb, full 2.505 lb, about 1.46 lb of shredded paper capacity | not tested | performed a lot better than the Bonsaii, destroyed the DVD on the first attempt | partially broke down the paper clip, similar result to the Bonsaii | 5.13 mm by 18.68 mm | not tested |
| 3Wolverine 8-sheet$200 | 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 | 17.19 lb, by far the heaviest yet at the time of testing | 78.2 decibels, quietest yet at the time of testing | 44 W, extremely efficient | 5.31 seconds | 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 | empty basket 2.62 lb, full 4.85 lb, about 2.23 lb of shredded paper capacity | not tested | could not reduce the DVD to tiny pieces, but the narrator notes this is not designed to shred CDs so the comparison is unfair to it | despite claiming P-5 security, was not able to break the paper clip down completely | 3.73 mm by 15.79 mm | not tested |
| 4Wing Wise 9-sheet$105 | 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 | 22.29 lb | 74.9 decibels | around 203 W, the most energy use in the lineup at the time of testing | 6.7 seconds, the slowest yet at the time of testing despite using the most energy | 7.2 seconds 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 | empty basket 2.89 lb, full 6.22 lb, about 3.33 lb of shredded paper capacity, moved into the lead at the time | not tested | not tested | performed about the same as the Wolverine, leaving behind large pieces | 3.44 mm by 12.03 mm | not tested |
| 5Bonsen 10-sheet$60 | 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 | 9.6 lb | 79.3 decibels | 161 W | 6.13 seconds, a little slower than average | 9.7 seconds 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 | empty basket about 1.8 lb, full 4.39 lb, about 2.6 lb of shredded paper capacity | not tested | not tested | not able to completely break down the paper clip | 6.69 mm by 23.08 mm, the largest clipping yet at the time of testing, described as the easiest to piece together so far | not tested |
| 6Aurora 10-sheet$148 | 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 | 24.21 lb | 75.7 decibels, quieter than most of the lineup | close to 123 W | 6.75 seconds, the slowest in the lineup at that point in testing | 8.9 seconds 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 | automatic shutoff when the bin is full; empty basket 2.6 lb, full 5.32 lb, about 2.72 lb of shredded paper capacity | not tested | absolutely destroyed the CD, described as it 'ate that CD for breakfast' | 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 | 3.06 mm by 10.95 mm, the smallest clipping in the lineup at that point | an estimated 1,800 pieces per sheet, very close to the Wing Wise 10-sheet's 1,827 |
| 7Wing Wise 10-sheet$200 | 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 | 19.14 lb | 73.7 decibels | 56 W, very efficient | 7.27 seconds, the slowest single-sheet time in the lineup at that point | 12.75 seconds 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 | automatic shutoff when the bin is full; empty basket 2.89 lb, full 5.65 lb, about 2.76 lb of shredded paper capacity | not tested | has a dedicated CD/DVD feed opening and made very easy work of the DVD through it; struggled somewhat sending a CD through the main paper feed opening but succeeded after a couple of tries | unable to break down a paper clip as well as the Aurora did, best possible paper-clip rating of 2.5, second place | 3.01 mm by 10.97 mm, very close to the Aurora's smallest-yet figure | an estimated 1,827 pieces per sheet |
| 8Amazon Basics 12-sheet$61 | 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 | 12.82 lb | 78.9 decibels | close to 160 W | 4.8 seconds, second place behind the Amazon Basics 8-sheet | 9.1 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 | empty bin 2 lb, full 4.65 lb, about 2.64 lb of shredded paper capacity | not tested | made very easy work of the DVD; later in the same test section this specific unit is noted to have overheated shredding paper and stopped functioning, described as no longer working | left behind pretty large pieces of the paper clip | 5.17 mm by 29.32 mm, the largest clipping yet at that point | not tested |
| 9Woolsche 12-sheet$62 | 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 | 11.3 lb | 80.2 decibels, a little noisier than average | close to 124 W | 3.5 seconds, second place behind the Amazon Basics 8-sheet in the initial speed test | 8.3 seconds 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 | empty basket about 1.84 lb, full 4.23 lb, about 2.39 lb of shredded paper capacity | not tested | performed just as well as the Amazon Basics 12-sheet on the DVD test | left behind large pieces of the paper clip | 5 mm by 30.02 mm | not tested |
| 10Bonsaii 12-sheet$100 | 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 | 14.6 lb | 81.1 decibels | very close to 92 W | 6.2 seconds, almost twice as long as the Amazon Basics 8-sheet | 8.7 seconds 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 | 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 | not tested | definitely reduced the DVD into a less usable format | left behind some very large pieces of metal, unable to fully break down the clip | 5.64 mm by 12.81 mm, much smaller than the Wolverine/Woolsche figure it is compared against | not tested |
| 11Amazon Basics 18-sheet$98 | 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 | 23.89 lb | 72.9 decibels, relatively quiet | around 81 W peak | 5.72 seconds, faster than most of the other brands | 9 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 | 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 | not tested | made very easy work of the DVD | not tested | about 5 mm by 28.76 mm, described as easy to piece back together | not tested |
| 12VidaTeco 18-sheet$130 | 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 | just over 29 lb | 74.1 decibels, relatively quiet | peak of around 83 W, varies quite a bit | 8.9 seconds, in no hurry to finish | just over 12 seconds for the first stack, struggling on several attempts; finished all 20 stacks in 4 minutes 53 seconds | 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 | not tested | performed well, reducing the DVD into tiny pieces | not able to completely break down the paper clip | 4.75 mm by 15.76 mm, described as performing well for a P4-rated shredder | not tested |
| 13Fellowes 18-sheet$279 | 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 | 35 lb, the heaviest shredder in the lineup | 75.8 decibels | around 209 W, the highest energy demand in the lineup | 4.79 seconds, faster than most of the other brands | 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 2.78 lb, full 6.44 lb, about 3.66 lb of shredded paper capacity, third place in that test | not tested | accomplished the job with ease | some large pieces of paper clip remained after passing through it | close to 4.51 mm wide but 40.87 mm long, described as relatively narrow but long | not tested |
How it was tested
- single sheet shred speed
- shred size and security level (piece dimensions, estimated pieces per sheet)
- durability and speed shredding 20 stapled stacks at rated sheet capacity
- maximum basket capacity by weight of shredded paper
- credit card shredding
- CD/DVD shredding
- paper clip shredding
- overall average-finish ranking across all graded categories
Data notes and caveats
Despite the title's promise of 'One Clear Winner!', the closing verdict actually gives three separate, differently-scoped picks: the Wing Wise 9-sheet is named the best average finish (3.4) among the P5-security shredders and 'my pick for overall value and performance'; the Aurora 10-sheet is named 'my favorite shredder of all the shredders in the lineup' despite a numerically worse average finish (3.8); and the Bonsaii 12-sheet is named the best P4-security value pick (average finish 3.6, around $100). Per the per-use-case-favorites rule this is recorded as winner:null, with budgetPick set to the Bonsaii 12-sheet (the only pick explicitly framed around value/price) and the other two picks preserved in their own products' notes. The single word 'Wolverine' is used as a caption mangle for at least three different other brands at matching testing-order positions across the shred-size, basket-capacity, and durability-recap sections (resolved in this file to Bonsen 10, Wing Wise 10, and Woolsche 12/Bonsaii 12 respectively, each flagged individually in that product's notes); 'Bonsai'/'Bonsaii' is also used ambiguously for what appears to be Bonsen 10 in the paper-clip section. The Woolsche 12-sheet brand name is captioned four different ways (Wooshi, Wooshred, Walsh, and the description's correct Woolsche). The VidaTeco 18-sheet brand name is captioned four different ways (Vida Teco, Vid Tiku, Vid Tego, Vidatiko, Vinteko). All 13 products from the description's Products Tested list are accounted for. No meta chapters were present (chapters: null) to cross-check the many mislabeled sections against.