Amazon has come out with a new retractable utility knife under their amazonbasics branding. It features and auto-loading mechanism, rubber grip, retractable 3-position design, and comes with 5 blades.
It features heavy duty zinc-alloy construction, although to be frank I’m not sure how to interpret this – it looks like your average cast metal utility knife handle to me. The included blades are made from SK5 [high-carbon] steel.
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Amazon says their new knife is:
Best for general and precision cutting: box cutting, arts and crafts, cardboard, carpet, drywall, rope, vinyl, leather, flooring, and wood.
The blade change mechanism caught my attention. They say it auto-loads blades, and it looks to me that the red button is the blade release, for removing dull blades, and that the blades are automatically loaded in from a side door. This seems like easy-to-use design.
Looking deeper on Amazon, there are similar and even near-identical designs, ranging in price from $10 to $13.
Price: $10
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Compare: Stanley QuickChange
Discussion
To me, it looks like Amazon identified a product that was selling well and commissioned the OEM to create a batch with their branding.
At the time of this posting, there are 26 ratings, mostly 4 or 5 stars, from customers that received free products or “early reviewer rewards.” An identical-looking knife from “Internet’s Best” is priced at $11 and has 145 ratings, mostly positive as well.
Personally, I’d be far more inclined to purchase a knife from Stanley, Milwaukee, or other such established companies. The Stanley QuickChange knife I linked to above is $8.13, and you can probably find it for less at home improvement stores. If you’re not a very heavy-duty user, the 3-blade storage and quick change mechanism should be fast enough.
A new Amazon-branded utility knife isn’t a big deal. But what’s going on behind the scenes to prompt this? Is Amazon looking to compete with established brands in the consumer tools and home improvement market?
As for the knife itself, it looks like it might work as well as a $10 retractable knife could be expected to. My only concern would be that the blade storage compartment door might pop open if it’s dropped onto a hard surface, but a quick scan of user reviews doesn’t mention this happening.
Hilton
Interesting but I suppose it depends on what you’re doing and how much time you can spare changing blades.
I have a bunch of these utility knives including the Stanley reference above (10-499) and it’s quite good.
You can get a IRWIN Hi-Vis Retractable Utility Knife, 2082300 for half the price of the Amazon and it’s all metal with no plastic blade holders.
Mike Kotlarz
I have used many quick change utility knives and they are my favorite type of utility knife because you can push the button and spin the blade around. Also you can reload fast by removing the old blade and pulling the slide back and forth. I have a heavy duty Stanley that I love and I also have a bunch of strategically placed uline quick change knives around the house https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-1470/Utility-Knives-and-Cutters/Uline-Quickblade-Knife-Automatic-Loading. The problem with uline is you have to buy 6, but they are heavy duty!
Greg
My question would be.
You only use half of utility blade and then you take it flip it around and use the other half. With the auto loading feature get in the way of performing this?
Koko The Talking Ape
I suppose you could load the used blade back in the hopper, with the fresh side aimed forward.
My question is what pushes the fresh blade out once you remove the old blade. Does it sort of rattle out, and then you pull it to lock it in place?
sullivan504
Blade removal is a two-handed operation. Fully extend the blade, press the red button, and pull the blade out. Retract the top-mount slider and a new blade locks in from the magazine when you push the slider forward again.
I will then pop open the magazine lid, and drop in the half-used blade so that the sharp side will be available when that gets to the other side of the blade magazine.
The problem with this type of knife is if you’re cutting through something that drags the blade and accidentally press the red button– the blade will be pulled out. It happens often enough to be annoying, but not enough to make this style of knife (Husky brand in my case, and a generic knock-off of the Husky) my clear favorite.
Tim
I was thinking about this too. Maybe you have to retract the empty blade slider all the way to load a fresh blade. Switching ends may go the same as unloading from the front and just pressing the red button to re-load the same blade.
Corey Moore
Dewalts auto loader won’t reload until you retract and re-extend the thumb switch. You can press the release button to pull the blade out and reinsert it.
Brad
Might just be me, but it looks like taking it apart for cleaning/repair is designed to be a no-go. Appears to have security screws on it which the average person probably does not have a bit to remove.
Will stick with my Klein 44100
https://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-44100-Utility-Retractable/dp/B00093D5WS/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=klein+utility+knife&qid=1579020686&s=hi&sr=1-9
Corey Moore
Security bits always amused me doing security and alarms. “Tamper proof!” … Unless you have $20 at home Depot to pick up a Klein set haha
sullivan504
I, for one, am thrilled to see someone else making this design. A few years ago, Stuart and I exchanged emails about the Husky version (sadly, now discontinued) of this knife, when I couldn’t find one anywhere. It’s my go-to utility knife* that comes in handy in the office, shop, and vehicles. Stuart’s search-fu was stronger than mine, and he found a generic version of the Husky which filled an important void in my tool chest.
My complaint with the Stanley version of the design is the string cutting notch… it doesn’t do a great job of cutting string when you need it, but I’ve hooked it on my pants pocket a time or two and just don’t *trust* that notch as a result. It boils down to an always-exposed blade for me.
Hopefully the Amazon version will have the right heft in my palm. I’m ordering a couple of them to try out today. If the hand-feel is right, the other potential weaknesses will be accidental triggers of the release button (also a problem with the Husky) or of the replacement blade magazine latch.
* Before anyone asks– I realize that I probably should just have an EDC pocketknife, instead of keeping utility knives in half a dozen locations. But point-of-use works for me in this case.
George
My two cents: Every utility knife I’ve ever owned with a top-slide mechanism has either started or rapidly become harder to open than necessary. Then I got the Milwaukee slide-out knife (side slider) and it’s been working beautifully ever since. Maybe this one is different but it’s also more expensive than the Milwaukee knife.
Strangely, the other thing I’ve gotten used to for both it’s intended use as well as opening the tape on box tops and cutting string is the “wire stripping” notch that exposes the blade even when closed.
James C
What’s going on behind the scenes? The Amazon Basics internal system / AI flagged this knife as something that could meet their profitability threshold so they made it happen. We’ll all scoff at it here in the comments but Amazon will be laughing all the way to the bank.
This reminds me I’ve been meaning to bite the bullet and pay the slight premium to support my local lumber yard and get the compact fastback utility knife I’ve been eyeing.
Jim Felt
“What’s going on behind the scenes” is that our long time downtown Seattle neighbor now have multiple Amazon towers full of six figure folks trying to justify both their own jobs and their ever growing legions of direct reports.
As for this clunky/dopey Amazon branded utility knife: yawn.
We’ve got at least 6 or 8 better Red, Silver and Yellow variations. All way better.
Raycr
I have 4 of the folding metallic blue Kobalt utility knives. It has a belt clip and the bare metal portions are stainless steel.
It has finger grip indentations. Each came as a single for 6.99 with 10 blades or a double set for 12.99 with 50 blades.
You can not expose only part of the blade like some slides but you can change the blade in 2 seconds without a screwdriver.
I also have the black Husky one from the depot in my car. Changing the blade in that one is just a bit harder since it has a different design.
Toolfreak
Yeah, this seems like the typical gimmicky thing you’d wind up using in an office, though it probably is a decent utility knife for the market it’s probably aimed at.
The average amazon buyer will probably stash this in a drawer and just wants something to grab when they need a utility knife a few times a year and a way to change the blade without taking it completely apart, which they will probably only do a few times, less than the number of blades that come with the knife.
It’s probably okay and decent for the price compared to the time you’d spend trying to find the best bang for the buck, but then again you can get a decent utility knife with blades at the dollar store for $1, or something like the Stanley 99E or Milwaukee Fastback for higher performance/quality for not much more money.
Patrick
I’ve been using a foldable and retractable Stanley one I got long ago (model 10-823). For me, it’s the best design. Retract it before folding for the smallest size and safest folding. Locks open and closed as well.
Sadly, it seems that design was discontinued. Thankfully I got a spare when Lowes was closing them out.
This design looks great with the exception of flipping the blade. Unless the blade release holds the rest of the blades in place from being pushed to the next (I doubt)
mattd
The Stanley 10-499 is easily my favorite utility knife. I like the feel of it and have never had any problems with them. you can get a 2 pack of them from Home Depot for$9.97 which is less than the cost of one of these amazon knives. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Stanley-Quick-Change-Retractable-Utility-Knife-2-pack-STHT10274/205074559
Heck Home Depot even sells the singles for $5.47 which is cheaper than amazon’s $8+ https://www.homedepot.com/p/Quick-Change-Retractable-Knife-10-499/100017464
the new amazon knives also look like they would be bulkier than the stanley. overall I give amazon a 2 out of five stars on this tool that I have never seen IRL.
Jp
I prefer olfa la-x. I was introduced to the brand on this site. Don’t care for Milwaukee fastback knives. Got others from husky, craftsman, etc. They are ok
The What?
This is almost identical to the husky knife that I bought a month or so ago. Although I really wouldn’t trust any tools made by Amazon. Especially with a name like basics. Doesn’t sound like a very assuring brand name. And considering that they aren’t really known for making tools I’d likely not buy their products. But I’m sure that it’s a whole lot better than the Milwaukee fastback knives which are the worst knives on the planet along with dewalt folding knives and several others sold at the store. The best folding knife I’ve found is from Wiss. Very solid knife and its the only one that I’ve found that retains the blade when you use it unlike the fastback. You can’t even strip wire or sharpen a pencil using the fastback without the blade falling out. It won’t even hold the blade when cutting drywall or linoleum. Milwaukee failed miserably with the fastback. They really need to discontinue their folding knives. Dewalt is just as bad. They really are. Although I will say that I would buy an Amazon basics knife before I would waste a dime on Milwaukee or dewalt utility knives.
Steve Goodman
Auto load knifes are as AVE would say for home gamers. How quickly would I name that thing using it for construction? ….quickly….very quickly….
Mike
I tend to be dubious of quick change blade knives because I find that often times I manage to pull the blade right out of the handle cutting tougher stuff.
Stephen
The quick change feature seems like too much complexity for a simple utility knife, especially if you want to use both sides of the blade. Oh well, most utility knives are cheap enough to not worry too much about anyway.
Personally, the knife I use the most is our Slice auto-retract knife with the ceramic blade. We found ourselves opening so many Amazon boxes each week, that it made sense to have a knife dedicated to opening boxes. The Slice is perfect for this, the ergonomics are fantastic, and the ceramic blade is very safe and durable.
When I’m cutting anything else, I have probably a $100 collection of various knives I’ve bought over the last 20 years. One for just about any cutting task you might need.
Al
It’s the same one from marshalltown
Michael
I have one that I can’t find a name on. I’ve had it for a number of years. Never had any problem with it. It is bulkier than any of the other knives so not as Handy to put in a nail bag or pocket.