The Staples 12-Sheet Micro-Cut Shredder (ST62153) cuts to P-4 security with a 4.3mm x 12mm particle size, which covers personal and office paperwork. Reviewers noted it takes paper, credit cards, CDs/DVDs, staples, and paper clips. It runs quietly at 65 decibels. The warranty is only 1 year limited. Individuals and small offices with medium shredding needs are the right buyers.
Full review
P-4 particles at 4.3 by 12 millimetres
The ST62153 shreds to P-4, producing particles measuring 4.3 by 12 millimetres. That is the level worth understanding before buying, because it is the practical boundary between paper that can be reassembled with effort and paper that cannot. P-4 is the standard recommendation for household and small-business confidential material: bank statements, medical letters, anything carrying an account number. It is not the level specified for genuinely sensitive legal or classified material, which calls for P-5 or P-6 and a correspondingly slower, more expensive machine. For the documents that actually accumulate in a home office, P-4 is the right amount of security and anything finer is paying for a threat model that does not apply.
A five-gallon bin on casters
The waste bin holds five gallons and pulls out from the front, which is enough for routine weekly shredding and not enough for a purge. Micro-cut particles are small and pack loosely, so the bin fills faster than the volume of paper going in would suggest, and heavy users will empty it more often than they expect. Casters underneath make the unit easy to roll between a desk and a storage cupboard rather than lifting it. Noise is quoted at 65 decibels, roughly conversation level, so it can run in an occupied room without dominating it, though it is not something to use during a call.
Strengths
- +Provides P-4 security level shredding with pieces sized at 4.3mm x 12mm
- +Shreds paper, credit cards, CDs/DVDs, staples, and small paper clips
- +Features quiet operation at 65-decibel noise level
Watch-outs
- −Limited 1-year warranty
How it compares
The Staples ST62153 offers a 4.3mm x 12mm particle size for P-4 security, which is finer than the Fellowes LX85's cross-cut but not as secure as the Wolverine SD9520's P-5. It uniquely handles CDs, DVDs, and credit cards, which the Bonsaii C206-H and Fellowes 40C cannot do.
Rating sources
Every source above reviewed this product without printing a score, so there is no average to show. More about methodology.
