Home » Product Reviews » Smeg Victoria SR964NGH 60cm Gas Hob review
The Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is a 60cm built-in gas hob that blends traditional styling with modern safety and performance. Finished in black enamel with chunky cast iron pan supports, it’s clearly designed to complement classic and shaker-style kitchens.
With four burners including a dedicated wok zone, automatic ignition and robust safety features, this is a straightforward, gas-first choice rather than a bells-and-whistles smart hob. The price puts it in the premium bracket for a 60cm gas hob, but you are paying for design, build quality and brand cachet as much as the specification.
Owners seem very happy with it, with a strong user rating of 4.8 out of 5 from a decent number of reviews, suggesting it performs reliably day to day and lives up to its looks.
The Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is ideal for anyone creating a traditional or farmhouse-style kitchen but still wanting the control and responsiveness of a modern gas hob. Its retro look works especially well alongside range-style cookers and classic cabinetry.
With four burners and a powerful wok zone, it suits small to medium households who cook most days and want enough flexibility for family meals, batch cooking and the occasional dinner party. If you regularly run several large pans at once, you’ll appreciate the sturdy cast iron supports and varied burner sizes.
This is a good fit if you prefer simple, tactile controls over touch panels. The front-mounted rotary dials and automatic ignition make it approachable for first-time buyers, but the ultra-rapid burner will also appeal to more confident home cooks.
Budget-wise, it’s best for those prepared to pay a bit more for style and brand reputation. If you just want the cheapest way to boil pasta, there are more basic 60cm hobs available; if you want a hob that looks the part and feels solid, this is much more up your street.
The standout feature is the ultra-rapid wok burner, delivering up to 3.3 kW of power for quick, intense heat. It’s excellent for stir-fries, searing meat and rapidly bringing big pots of water to the boil.
Cast iron pan supports give the hob a premium, range-style feel and provide a stable base for heavier cookware. They’re more durable than lighter enamelled supports and make it easier to slide pans from one burner to another.
Automatic ignition on all burners and simple front-mounted rotary dials keep operation intuitive – no separate ignition button or fiddly touch controls to contend with. This makes everyday use quick and hassle-free.
Safety is well covered with flame failure devices and automatic safety shut-off, which cut the gas if the flame goes out. Combined with LPG compatibility and an included conversion kit, it’s a flexible and reassuringly safe choice for different fuel setups.
The slim 3cm profile and standard 60cm width mean it will drop into most existing cut-outs, and Smeg’s two-year warranty adds peace of mind.
For a premium-priced 60cm hob, the feature set is quite traditional. There’s no timer, no control panel lock and no modern extras such as automatic pan detection or digital displays, so it may feel basic if you’re used to advanced induction hobs.
The enamel surface, while in keeping with the retro look, usually needs a bit more care to keep pristine compared with some modern glass or stainless finishes. Spills left to bake on can be harder work to clean.
Front-mounted dials are great for access but can be more exposed to splashes and small hands, and the lack of a control lock means extra vigilance in homes with young children.
Finally, the two-year warranty is decent but not class-leading in this price bracket, where some rivals offer longer cover.
Day to day, the Smeg Victoria SR964NGH feels very straightforward. Automatic ignition means each burner lights with a simple twist of the dial, so you can go from cold to cooking in seconds. The physical dials give clear feedback and are easy to grip, even with slightly greasy or wet hands.
The layout of the four burners, with three different sizes, makes it simple to match your pan to the right zone – smaller burners for simmering sauces, medium for general cooking and the ultra-rapid burner for big jobs. The cast iron supports span the whole hob surface, so you can shuffle pans around without lifting them, handy when juggling a few dishes at once.
Cleaning is typical of a traditional gas hob. The pan supports lift off and the enamel surface can be wiped down with a soft cloth and non-abrasive cleaner. It’s not as effortless as a flat glass induction surface, but the simple geometry and removable parts help keep maintenance manageable.
Installation does require both an electrician to connect the ignition and a Gas Safe engineer for the gas supply, and a hose is not included. On the plus side, LPG compatibility with a supplied conversion kit means it’s suitable for homes without mains gas, such as rural properties or holiday homes.
Performance-wise, the SR964NGH covers the fundamentals very well. The burner power range from 1.05 to 3.3 kW gives you both gentle simmering and punchy high heat. The ultra-rapid burner is the star of the show, offering the intense flame needed for proper wok cooking and fast boiling.
The three burner sizes across the four zones help you fine-tune your cooking. You can have a delicate sauce ticking over on the smallest burner while something more robust sears on the larger zones. Gas still offers outstanding responsiveness when you need to tweak the heat mid-recipe, and the open flame works well with everything from stainless pans to cast iron.
Safety features are reassuring. Flame failure devices on the burners ensure the gas supply is cut if the flame is extinguished, and the automatic safety shut-off adds an extra layer of protection. Combined with automatic ignition, this makes for a safe but convenient hob, especially in busy households.
From a materials and construction point of view, the enamelled surface and cast iron pan supports are in line with what you’d expect from a premium, classically styled hob. They contribute to a solid, weighty feel that cheaper models often lack.
There’s no smart connectivity or advanced automation – this is deliberately a conventional gas hob rather than a high-tech centrepiece. If you value simple reliability and tactile controls over app control and touch sliders, that will be a plus rather than a minus.
At around £379, the Smeg Victoria SR964NGH sits toward the upper end of the scale for a 60cm gas hob. You can certainly find cheaper models with four burners, so if you’re shopping on a tight budget this won’t be the obvious choice.
However, the price reflects the combination of Smeg’s design-led approach, the robust cast iron supports, Italian manufacture and the inclusion of a powerful ultra-rapid burner. For buyers who care as much about how the hob looks and feels as they do about the raw spec sheet, that premium is easier to justify.
The strong user rating of 4.8 out of 5 from multiple reviews suggests owners feel they’ve got what they paid for in terms of performance and build quality. If you’re after a stylish, reliable gas hob to complement a more upmarket kitchen, the SR964NGH offers solid value. If you just need a functional four-burner for as little money as possible, it will feel expensive for the features on offer.
The Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is a well-built, characterful 60cm gas hob that delivers where it matters: strong burner performance, excellent pan stability and straightforward controls, all wrapped in a classic black finish. The ultra-rapid wok burner and cast iron supports make it a pleasure for enthusiastic home cooks who like to cook with plenty of heat.
It’s not the most feature-packed hob on the market, and you are paying a premium for the Smeg name and retro styling rather than for smart tech or advanced automation. The lack of timer and control lock, and the slightly more involved cleaning compared with glass induction, are worth bearing in mind.
If you want a stylish, reliable gas hob that looks at home in a traditional or country-style kitchen and you’re happy to invest a bit more for design and build quality, the SR964NGH is an excellent choice. If your priorities are cutting-edge features or rock-bottom price, you’ll be better served by more modern induction models or simpler budget gas hobs.