The P-number is the specification. The cut-type name is not.
Fellowes publishes the DIN 66399 scale its shredders are rated against, and it is the one piece of background every buyer in this category needs. P-1 and P-2 are strip-cut, with an A4 sheet becoming 36 strips. P-3 and P-4 cross-cut turn a sheet into at least 300 particles. P-4 mini-cut raises that to at least 1,000, P-5 micro-cut to at least 2,000, and P-6 and P-7 to at least 6,000. P-4 appears twice on that table, once at the top of the cross-cut band and once at the start of the mini-cut band. That overlap is why two machines can both be rated P-4 and produce visibly different output.
HSM’s shredstar X5 is a cross-cut shredder with a 3/16 in by 1-1/8 in particle (4.5 x 30 mm), and HSM’s own product page rates it P-4. The Amazon Basics 8-sheet cross-cut produces a 0.2 by 1.9 in particle (5 x 47 mm) and is rated P-3.
“Micro-cut” is just as loose. The Fellowes LX220, the Amazon Basics 6-sheet and the Bonsaii C234-A are all micro-cut and all P-4, with a 4 x 12 mm particle. The Fellowes 99Ms and the Aurora AU1060MA are also micro-cut but rated P-5, and their particles are about half the width: 5/64 by 9/16 in for the 99Ms, roughly 2 x 12 mm for the Aurora. Same marketing word, one security level apart.
So the rule is to find the P-number on the listing or spec sheet and ignore the adjective. Where a listing gives only “high security” with no P-number, treat the level as unknown.
Use the particle size to check the rating, not replace it
Particle dimensions are the physical fact behind the rating, which makes them a useful cross-check. If two machines claim P-4 and one publishes a particle three times the area of the other, you are looking at the two ends of the P-4 band described above.
Is P-3 enough for tax returns?
None of the sources retrieved for this guide cites a regulation that names a required level for personal tax records, so this guide cannot tell you which level you are obliged to use. What it can tell you is what each level produces and what moving up a level costs you in other specifications.
Within the Amazon Basics line the trade is small. The 8-sheet cross-cut (P-3) and the 6-sheet micro-cut (P-4) share the same 3-minute-on, 30-minute-off duty cycle, the same one-card-at-a-time credit card slot, a 4.1-gallon bin on their Amazon listings, and nearly identical dimensions (12.8 x 7.3 x 15.9 in versus 12.76 x 7.32 x 15.94 in). The 8-sheet listing states a 1-year limited warranty and the 6-sheet listing does not state a term.
Moving to P-5 is a bigger step, because both P-5 machines here are larger units. The Fellowes 99Ms stands 25.2 in tall with a 9-gallon pull-out bin. The Aurora AU1060MA is about 20.9 in tall and weighs around 24 lb. None of the three compact P-4 units publishes a dimension over 16 in.
Run time is the spec that decides how long the purge takes
The decision this guide is weighted for is a one-sitting purge of old records, and for that the duty cycle matters as much as the rating. The published figures fall into two groups.
The compact units run for minutes. Both Amazon Basics models state 3 minutes on followed by 30 minutes off, which works out to about five and a half minutes of shredding in every hour of elapsed time. The Bonsaii is listed at roughly 3 to 4 minutes continuous, with no cooldown period published. HSM publishes no run-time figure for the X5 at all, so how it behaves on a long session is unverified.
The larger units run for tens of minutes. The Fellowes LX220 states 30 minutes on and 15 minutes off, which is 40 minutes of shredding per hour. The Fellowes 99Ms states 20 minutes on and 40 off, or 20 minutes per hour. The Aurora AU1060MA lists 60 minutes of nonstop continuous running; its listing does not state a cooldown period after that.
Sheet capacity and bin size work as a pair
Sheet capacity sets how many passes a stack takes, and the bin sets how often you stop to empty it. The Fellowes LX220 takes 20 sheets per pass into a bin that US retailers list as 8 gallons. The 99Ms takes 14 sheets into a 9-gallon bin, the largest here. The Aurora takes 10 sheets into a 6-gallon bin. The compact units take 5 to 8 sheets into bins between 3.4 and 4.8 gallons. HSM is the only manufacturer here to publish a collection volume in sheets: 225 sheets of shredded paper fill the X5’s 4.8-gallon container.
Two cautions on the figures. The Amazon Basics and Bonsaii capacity ratings are stated for 20 lb paper and HSM’s for 80 g/m² paper; the Fellowes and Aurora listings do not state a paper weight for their figures. And the bin figures are not all consistent: the Amazon Basics 6-sheet is listed at 4.1 gallons on Amazon and 3.7 gallons on another retailer. The Bonsaii’s transparent bin window lets you see the fill level without opening the unit.
Features that matter during a long session
Both Fellowes machines carry SafeSense, which stops the cutters when a hand touches the paper opening. The LX220 is also described on the Amazon listing as having a jam-proof system, and the Aurora has auto-reverse for clearing jams. The HSM X5 starts and stops on a light barrier when paper enters the feed. The Aurora’s Amazon listing gives the fullest set of status lights, with standby, overheat, bin-full, overload and door-open indicators; the Amazon Basics models have power and overheat LEDs. The 99Ms powers down after 2 minutes idle.
When a compact P-4 unit is enough
If the records arrive a few pages at a time, a 3-minute duty cycle never gets in the way, and the Amazon Basics 6-sheet or Bonsaii C234-A give you a P-4 particle comparable to the 20-sheet LX220 in a box with no dimension over 16 in. The HSM X5 does the same at a coarser P-4 particle and adds disc shredding.
It stops being enough when the job is a backlog. Several years of returns, a closed client’s file box, a drawer of old statements: that is the session where 3-on, 30-off turns into hours, a 4-gallon bin fills repeatedly, and 6 sheets per pass means many more passes. For that job the LX220, 99Ms and Aurora are the machines whose published run times and bins are built for it, and the choice between them comes down to whether you want P-5 (99Ms, Aurora) or the 20-sheet throughput of the P-4 LX220.
