Home » Product Reviews » Smeg Victoria SR964NGH 60cm Gas Hob review
The Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is a 60cm built-in gas hob that blends retro styling with a solid, practical cooking layout. With four burners, chunky cast iron pan supports and a powerful wok zone, it’s aimed at households that still prefer the responsiveness of gas but want a smarter-looking set-up than the standard stainless-steel square.
Sitting firmly in the premium end of the 60cm gas hob market, you’re paying for both the Smeg badge and the Victoria design, which pairs neatly with matching ovens and cookers. In return you get thoughtful touches such as automatic ignition, a flame failure safety device and LPG conversion kit in the box.
Owners rate it very highly, with an average score of 4.8 out of 5 from a growing pool of reviews, suggesting that day-to-day performance and build quality generally live up to the price tag.
This hob is ideal for style-conscious cooks who want their hob to match a traditional or country-style kitchen. The Victoria design line is unmistakably retro, but underneath it’s a straightforward gas hob that anyone used to cooking on gas will feel at home with.
With four burners and three different burner sizes, it’s well suited to small and medium-sized households that regularly juggle a couple of pans at once, plus the odd larger pot for pasta or batch cooking. The layout makes it easy to keep an eye on everything without the surface feeling cramped.
The ultra-rapid wok burner will particularly appeal to keen home cooks who enjoy stir-fries, searing and fast boiling. If you often cook with a wok or need intense heat for big pans, this burner is a real step up from a standard ring.
Because there’s no timer, child lock, or smart features, it’s best for users who prefer simple, manual controls over gadgets. If you’re upgrading an older gas hob and want something familiar but more refined, this sits in a comfortable sweet spot.
The standout feature is the powerful wok burner, which delivers quick, intense heat up to 3.3 kW. That means rapid boiling and proper high-heat stir-frying, something many basic 60cm hobs struggle to provide.
Sturdy cast iron pan supports give the hob a reassuring, professional feel. They hold pans securely and span the surface well, so moving a pan from one burner to another feels stable rather than wobbly.
Automatic ignition on the rotary dials keeps operation fast and fuss-free – turn the control and the burner lights without needing a separate ignition button or matches.
Safety is well covered, with a flame failure safety device and automatic safety shut off. If a flame goes out unexpectedly, the gas supply is cut, which is especially reassuring in busy family kitchens.
At just 3cm high and 59.5cm wide, it’s a standard 60cm footprint that slots easily into most existing cut-outs, and the included LPG conversion kit makes it a flexible choice for homes running on bottled gas.
For a premium-brand hob, the feature set is quite simple. There’s no built-in timer, no control panel lock and no extra convenience features such as automatic simmer settings, which some similarly priced rivals now offer.
The enamel surface, while traditional and attractive in black, usually requires a little more effort to keep looking pristine than some modern glass surfaces. Spills can bake on if not wiped promptly.
Installation isn’t plug-and-play: it needs a Gas Safe registered engineer for the gas connection and an electrician to attach the plug or cable. That’s standard for gas hobs, but it does add to the overall cost.
The manufacturer warranty is two years, which is decent but not exceptional at this price point, especially when some competitors now offer longer cover on built-in appliances.
Day to day, the Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is deliberately straightforward. The front-mounted rotary dials are chunky and clearly laid out, so you can see at a glance which burner you’re adjusting without reaching over hot pans. Automatic ignition means one-handed lighting – turn, click, and you’re cooking.
The four-burner layout with three burner sizes works well in practice. You can keep a small pan gently heating on a lower-output zone while using the powerful wok burner for fast jobs. The cast iron supports span the top comfortably, making it easy to slide pans around when you need to shuffle space.
Cleaning is as you’d expect from an enamel gas hob. The pan supports lift off for a wipe down of the surface, and the black finish does a good job of hiding lighter marks between deeper cleans, though greasy splashes still benefit from a quick daily wipe. The robust supports are weighty, but that solidity helps them sit firmly in place.
Because it’s a standard 60cm hob with a shallow 3cm profile, it integrates neatly without dominating the worktop, and feels familiar to anyone switching from an older built-in gas model.
Performance centres on a burner range from 1.05 kW up to a punchy 3.3 kW, giving you gentle heat for simmering at one end and intense heat for searing at the other. The ultra-rapid burner is the obvious star here, making light work of big pots of water and delivering the fast, concentrated heat you want under a wok.
The three different burner sizes let you match pan to flame more precisely, avoiding wasted gas and hotspots on smaller pans. For everyday cooking – from pasta and curries to Sunday gravy – the spread of power feels well judged for a 60cm hob.
Cast iron pan supports are a clear upgrade over basic enamel or wire designs. They’re more durable, handle heavy cookware well and give the hob a sturdier, more premium feel. Combined with the enamel top, the overall look is classic and coordinates nicely with other Smeg Victoria appliances.
On the safety side, the automatic safety shut off and flame failure device provide peace of mind. If a pan boils over or a draught blows the flame out, the hob won’t quietly leak gas. Automatic ignition on all burners streamlines lighting, avoiding the faff of separate spark buttons.
There are no advanced extras such as touch controls, timers or smart connectivity, but for many gas hob buyers, the appeal here is solid, predictable performance with a traditional control layout rather than clever electronics.
With a price that sits towards the higher end of 60cm gas hobs, the Smeg Victoria SR964NGH isn’t a budget choice. You’re paying for the combination of the Smeg name, the distinctive Victoria styling and the more upmarket materials such as cast iron supports.
However, the specification matches the premium positioning reasonably well. The powerful wok burner, robust build, LPG compatibility and strong safety provision all align with what you’d expect from a higher-priced model. For buyers who care about how their hob looks as much as how it cooks, that styling premium is likely to feel justified.
The strong owner rating of 4.8 out of 5 reinforces the sense that most users feel they’ve had good value from their purchase. If you simply want the cheapest 60cm gas hob, there are more basic models available. But if you want a stylish, traditional-looking hob with reliable performance from a respected Italian brand, this offers solid value for the money.
The Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is a well-executed, traditional gas hob with a premium twist. It delivers exactly what most home cooks need: four well-spaced burners, a genuinely powerful wok zone, reassuring cast iron supports and proper safety features, all wrapped in a handsome black enamel finish.
It’s not the most feature-packed hob on the market – there’s no timer, lock or smart controls – and the price reflects both the Smeg badge and the Victoria design rather than an exhaustive feature list. If you want cutting-edge tech, you may be better served by a high-end glass gas hob or induction.
But if you’re upgrading a tired built-in hob and want something that feels solid, looks great in a classic or shaker kitchen and performs reliably day after day, the Victoria SR964NGH is a very strong contender.