Amazon Basics 8 Sheet Micro Cut Review

The Amazon Basics 8 Sheet Micro-Cut is a great budget-friendly shredder for most home offices. It provides above-average shredding capabilities and high-security micro-cutting for the casual user.

Shredding Quality

During our shred testing, we pay special attention to the security of the shred size and shape, the load or paper stack capacity, and junk mail shredding capabilities. We also note the general reliability and robustness of each shredder. This budget-friendly option is quite good. It measures up to some of the pricier options in our test suite.

The level of security a shredder needs to provide depends on what you're shredding. If you're looking for an at-home shredder for your annual taxes, you probably don't need to turn every document into confetti. However, the Amazon Basics 8 Sheet Micro Cut offers a high-security level as the pieces post-shred are some of the smallest possible.

This device claims to shred stacks of up to 8 pages at a time. We are sure to push the limits during our testing to find each shredder's true limits. The Amazon Basics 8 Sheet Micro Cut easily shreds 10-sheet stacks, surpassing its stated limit. At 11-sheet loads, the shredder slows but completes the task. At 12 pages, the shredder jams and doesn't process the stack.

As for credit cards and CDs, the Amazon Basics 8 Sheet cuts through them with indiscriminate ease. It can only process one at a time and slows down significantly. It cuts credit cards into the same tiny squares as paper, but CDs are cut into 1-inch strips.

The general robustness and level of reliability that the Amazon Basics 8 Sheet offers are above average, but not in a meaningful way. The shredder is easy to unjam when too much paper is inserted, and it doesn't sound like it's about to destroy itself when more than the recommended eight pages are inserted.

Speed

We attack our speed metric from a few different angles. First, we tested to see how quickly each model could shred through one sheet, followed by a timed 20-sheet shred. Lastly, we calculated the maximum capacity shred rate by taking the advertised sheet capacity and dividing it by the time it took to shred that many pages.

The Amazon Basics 8-Sheet falls behind our top performers in this case. It takes 9 seconds to go through just one sheet of paper. It went through the stack of 20 sheets in 31 seconds.

It also has a downright slow maximum capacity rate of 41 sheets per minute. These numbers are in a similar range as the other 8-sheet shredders we've tested, but are quite slow compared to all shredders tested.

Ease of Use

Ease of use can play a huge role in how often you utilize your shredder. The user interface is the biggest factor here. Intuitive error indicators, easy-to-empty waste bins, and readable buttons are examples of a few attributes we keep an eye out for. The stability of the shredder and its ability to move or store it also come into play.

The Amazon Basics 8-Sheet performs well here. The user interface is intuitive and uncomplicated. Using the clearly labeled slider to turn the shredder on, reverse jams, and turn off is straightforward. The small window allows the user to see how full the bin is, and the 4-gallon wastebasket is easy to remove, empty, and replace. The biggest drawback here is the sheer size of the unit. It is on casters, so moving it around is easy enough, but it is almost as large as high-capacity, high-speed, premium whole-office shredders.

Noise

The noise these shredders emit may or may not affect your purchasing decision, but it is an important factor for most. You don't want to be on the receiving end of dirty looks in the office for having the squealing shredder. If you're the work-from-home type, you may have roommates or sleeping children who would appreciate a less intrusive-sounding device.

While paper shredders are not known for their soft, soothing sounds, there are some that offer a less jarring and interruptive noise. Generally speaking, the lower the pitch of the hum, the less intrusive. Overall, the Amazon Basics is above average when shredding paper. While shredding paper, we measured the peak sound volume from a foot and a half away at 74 dB, which is louder than most of its competitors. However, it was a relatively low-pitched, innocuous sound that was actually easy to ignore.

Should You Buy the Amazon Basics 8 Sheet Micro Cut?

This budget-friendly paper shredder is a great option for the average home user or for a small business. Whether it be for personal finances or your home office. Without costing a lot, it operates reliably to protect your sensitive information with the highest security shredding option available.

What Other Paper Shredder Should You Consider?