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Pros
- Compact.
- Matched its rated speed and capacity.
- Shreds staples, paper clips, plastic cards, and optical discs, in addition to paper.
- Jam protection.
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Cons
- Bin capacity is on the low side.
- Somewhat pricey for what it delivers.
- Short run time, followed by a long cool-down period.
The Swingline EX14-06 Super Cross-Cut Shredder ($409) is a compact model that can chew through DVDs, credit cards, paper clips, and other items in addition to paper. Built for use by one or two people, it's a good fit for a home office or very small business, or as a personal shredder in any size business.
Design and Features
Black, with rounded corners, the EX14-06 measures 18 by 10 by 16 inches (HWD). It is thinner and deeper than most shredders of similar volume, with its 9-inch-long feed slot at a right angle with the front of the shredder. That's an unusual configuration that we have only seen in the Fellowes Powershred 99Ms Micro-Cut Shredder among the other models we have reviewed.
View All In addition to paper, the EX14-06 can shred optical discs, credit and ID cards, staples, and paper clips. In front, just above the handle for the paper basket, are the shredder's only three controls: a button marked Auto, flanked by back-arrow (labeled Rev) and forward-arrow (labeled Fwd) buttons. The Swingline EX14-06 cuts documents into narrow strips much shorter than the length of a sheet of paper. Individual shreds measure about 1.7 by 0.16 inches, small enough to be secure for typical business documents. The 6-gallon basket that catches the paper shreds is on the small side and filled up rapidly during testing.
The EX14-06 has a light duty cycle, designed for up to 8 minutes of continuous shredding, followed by a 40-minute cool-down period. Most of the shredders we've reviewed have more robust duty cycles. For example, the Swingline SX19-09 Super Cross-Cut Jam Free Shredder can shred for 16 minutes before needing a 40-minute break. The EX14-06 comes with a two-year warranty.
Performance and Conclusion
When I fed one sheet at a time through its slot during testing, the EX14-06 matched its rated speed of 8.2 feet per minute (fpm). It also matched its rated shredding capacity of up to 14 sheets of 20-pound paper. If you add any more sheets, a red warning light appears beside the slot—as happened when I loaded it with 16 sheets in testing—and it will not shred. The Swingline SX19-09, also rated at 8.2fpm, was a touch faster at 10.1fpm, but although it is rated to shred 19 sheets at once, it stopped shredding in my tests when I inserted any more than 16. The Staples 16-Sheet High-Speed Cross-Cut Shredder bested the EX14-06 in both speed (14.7fpm) and paper-feed capacity (20 sheets) in our testing.
The Swingline EX14-06 Super Cross-Cut Jam Free Shredder is built for fairly light-duty shredding for a home office, micro office, or as a personal shredder. Its speed and paper capacity are fairly modest, though you shouldn't have to worry about it jamming. The Editors' Choice Fellowes AutoMax 130C Auto Feed Shredder costs a lot less, and lets you automatically shred a stack of up to 130 pages, while the Fellowes Powershred 99Ms adds security by shredding paper into much smaller pieces. But, unlike the EX14-06, neither Fellowes machine can shred optical discs.