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Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Micro Cut Paper Shredder vs Fellowes Powershred 79Ci

Which is the better buy? Side-by-side on rating, price, strengths, and watch-outs — with the published ratings we averaged to get there.

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The short answer

Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Micro Cut Paper Shredder and Fellowes Powershred 79Ci score essentially the same (3.9 vs 3.9). Pick the one whose trade-offs match your priorities — the strengths and watch-outs below are where they actually differ.

Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Micro Cut Paper Shredder
Ranked #4 in Best Paper Shredders
Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Micro Cut Paper Shredder
1 source$75as of Oct 17

A micro-cut shredder rated for eight sheets, with a 4-gallon pull-out bin and a separate CD slot. Wirecutter names it its budget pick, reporting that it never jammed on junk mail, credit cards or CDs and outperformed some models at twice the price. TechGearLab gives it its Best Bang for the Buck award, found it shreds 10 to 11 sheets despite the 8-sheet rating, and scored it 68/100, marking it down mainly for speed. It suits households with light, intermittent shredding; anyone clearing large backlogs should look elsewhere, because it stops after five minutes and needs a 30-minute rest.

Strengths
  • — Micro-cut blades handle paper, credit cards and CDs; Wirecutter saw it never jam
  • — Shreds beyond its 8-sheet rating: TechGearLab fed 10-sheet stacks easily and 11 with a slowdown
  • — Very small 0.18 x 0.5 in shreds, the highest-security cut in TechGearLab's comparison
Watch-outs
  • — Runs only five minutes before a 30-minute cooldown, so it suits light, occasional jobs
  • — Slow: 41 sheets per minute at most and 9 seconds for a single sheet in TechGearLab's tests
  • — Cutters kept running for almost a minute after the last sheet, a concern around toddlers
$75 · Check Price on AmazonFull review →
Fellowes Powershred 79Ci
Ranked #3 in Best Paper Shredders
Fellowes Powershred 79Ci
2 sources$269.99as of Oct 11

The Fellowes Powershred 79Ci is a 16-sheet cross-cut shredder built for volume. TechGearLab measured it at 140 sheets a minute, about double most shredders it tested, and ranked it first in its group for ease of use and noise; PCMag calls it a well-rounded, dependable personal office shredder. Both outlets jammed it at or above its rated capacity despite the jam-proof billing, and TechGearLab considers it expensive unless you shred in bulk.

Strengths
  • — 140 sheets per minute in TechGearLab's test, nearly double most models it tested
  • — Ranked first for ease of use by TechGearLab: bin-full light, pull-out bin, finger-touch safety sensor
  • — Lowest-pitched, most consistent noise in TechGearLab's test group
Watch-outs
  • — Not as jam-proof as promised, per PCMag; TechGearLab found the real capacity was 14 sheets, not 16
  • — Casters are hard to attach and the lid is unusually heavy, per PCMag
  • — Expensive and "not a great value" for general shredding, per TechGearLab
$269.99 · Check Price on AmazonFull review →

How they stack up

Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Micro Cut Paper Shredder

At about $75 it costs well under half the Aurora AU120MA, which Wirecutter credits with a 120-sheet auto feeder and a 5-gallon bin against this model's hand-fed 8-sheet slot and 4-gallon bin. Unlike the Fellowes Powershred 99Ci and 79Ci, which the page lists for buyers who do not need micro-cut security, this is a micro-cut machine, but its five-minute run time makes it a poor fit for the high-volume jobs those models are listed for.

Fellowes Powershred 79Ci

The 79Ci is rated for 16 sheets per pass with a 6-gallon bin, between the 12-sheet, 4-gallon Bonsaii C206-H and the 18-sheet, 9-gallon Fellowes Powershred 99Ci. It is fed by hand, unlike the 120-sheet auto-feed Aurora AU120MA, and it is cross-cut where the Aurora is micro-cut.

Specs side-by-side

SpecAmazon Basics 8-Sheet Micro Cut Paper ShredderFellowes Powershred 79Ci
Cut TypeMicro-cut (0.18 x 0.5 in)Cross-cut
Rated Sheet Capacity8 sheets—
Bin Capacity4 gallons (15 litres)6 gallons
Run Time5 minutes, 30-minute cooldown20 minutes, 30-minute cool-down
ShredsPaper, credit cards, CDs—
Dimensions13.2 x 8.9 x 18.1 in21.3 x 15.4 x 10.4 in (HWD)
Weight14.2 lb33.3 lb
Security Level—Cross-cut, about 0.16 x 1.3 in shreds (PCMag measurement)
Sheet Capacity—16 rated (14 in TechGearLab's test)
Shred Speed—10 feet per minute
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