Home » Product Reviews » Smeg Victoria SR964NGH 60cm Gas Hob review
The Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is a 60cm built-in gas hob aimed at anyone who wants traditional flame cooking wrapped in a retro-inspired design. Finished in black enamel with chunky controls and cast iron pan supports, it’s clearly pitched as a premium-looking centrepiece rather than a purely budget option.
With four burners including a powerful wok zone, automatic ignition and solid safety features, it covers the basics very well. A two-year manufacturer warranty adds reassurance, and a strong user rating of 4.8 out of 5 from owners suggests it’s doing the everyday cooking job very reliably.
It’s not the cheapest 60cm gas hob you can buy, but you are paying for Smeg styling, robust build and a more upmarket feel than many plain steel rivals.
The Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is ideal for small to medium households that do regular home cooking and want a dependable, good-looking gas hob rather than a basic white-box appliance. Four burners will comfortably handle everyday meals, from pasta and sauces to a couple of pans and a frying pan on the go.
It suits buyers with a mid-range to premium budget who care about design as much as function. If you’re updating a kitchen with other Smeg Victoria appliances or aiming for a classic or farmhouse look, this hob will slot in neatly and feel cohesive.
Keen cooks who like to stir-fry or sear at high temperatures will appreciate the dedicated wok burner, which delivers quick, intense heat that standard burners struggle to match. At the same time, its straightforward rotary dials and automatic ignition make it approachable for first-time gas hob users who just want something simple and reliable.
If you rarely cook, live in a very small flat or are on a tight budget, there are simpler, cheaper 60cm hobs that might make more sense. But for a stylish upgrade that still keeps controls and layout very straightforward, this Smeg is a strong fit.
The standout feature is the powerful wok burner, which gives a concentrated, ultra-rapid flame for fast stir-fries, quick boiling and deep pans. It’s a noticeable step up from four identical, lower-powered burners and makes the hob feel more versatile.
Sturdy cast iron pan supports give the surface a solid, professional feel. They hold heavy pans securely and make it easier to slide cookware between zones without lifting, which is handy when juggling multiple dishes.
Controls are kept pleasingly simple: front-mounted rotary dials with automatic ignition, so you just turn and click to get going. There’s no display or complex touch interface to learn, which many cooks will prefer.
Safety is well covered with a flame failure device and automatic safety shut off, giving peace of mind if the flame goes out or a pan boils over. The hob is also supplied LPG convertible with a kit included, making it flexible if you’re on bottled gas rather than mains.
Build and finish are reassuring, with an enamel surface and classic Smeg styling that looks more premium than many standard 60cm gas hobs. Backed by a two-year warranty and excellent user reviews, it feels like a hob designed to last.
For a premium-branded hob, the feature set is quite traditional. There’s no timer, no control panel lock and no extra convenience features like automatic re-ignition or digital displays that some modern rivals offer.
The enamel surface, while attractive, will demand a bit more care to keep looking its best compared with some tougher stainless or glass options. Spills left to bake on can be harder to remove, and enamel can mark if treated roughly.
Installation requires both an electrician to attach the plug or cable and a Gas Safe engineer for the gas connection, with the hose not included. That’s normal for built-in gas, but it’s an extra cost to factor in if you were hoping for a simple plug-and-play swap.
Finally, the two-year warranty is decent but not outstanding in a market where some brands offer longer cover on certain models. Given the price point and premium image, an extended warranty would have been a nice bonus.
Day to day, the Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is designed to be straightforward. With front-mounted rotary dials and automatic ignition, getting a burner going is as simple as turning the knob – no separate ignition buttons or fiddly sequences.
The four-burner layout with three different burner sizes makes it easy to match pans to the right flame, from small saucepans on the lower-powered zones through to large pots or a wok on the ultra-rapid burner. Cast iron supports keep everything stable, which is particularly reassuring with heavier cookware.
At just 3cm high and 59.5cm wide, it drops neatly into a standard 60cm cut-out, so it’s a good fit for most British kitchens. Once installed, it feels solid and planted on the worktop, without the flex or rattle you sometimes get on cheaper models.
Cleaning is fairly typical for a gas hob. The pan supports need to be lifted off, and the enamel surface wiped down with a non-abrasive cleaner. Because it’s black, marks and dried-on food can be more noticeable if left, so a quick wipe after cooking pays off in keeping it looking smart.
There’s no timer or fancy automation, so you’re relying on your own timings, but for many home cooks that keeps the experience refreshingly fuss-free.
Performance-wise, the Victoria SR964NGH is built around a solid burner range of 1.05 to 3.3 kW. That spread lets you simmer gently on the smaller burners or crank up serious heat on the ultra-rapid wok burner when you need speed.
The wok burner is the performance highlight. It’s designed to deliver quick, intense heat directly to the base of a pan, ideal for stir-fries, fast searing, reducing sauces in a hurry or bringing large pots of water to the boil. It’s a tangible upgrade over a hob with four identical mid-power burners.
Three different burner sizes mean better control over delicate tasks. The lower-powered zones are better suited to melting, gentle simmering or keeping food warm without catching, while the medium and large burners handle everyday frying, boiling and one-pot meals.
Safety features are comprehensive for a traditional gas hob. Flame failure protection cuts off the gas if the flame goes out, and the automatic safety shut off is there as a further safeguard. Combined with automatic ignition, this keeps operation confident and controlled.
The hob surface is enamel, which pairs nicely with the cast iron supports for a classic look. It doesn’t bring extra functionality like touch controls or smart connectivity, but the simplicity will appeal to those who prefer manual control and a timeless aesthetic. LPG compatibility and the included conversion kit are welcome touches for homes running on bottled gas.
At around £399, the Smeg Victoria SR964NGH sits in the mid-to-upper end of the 60cm gas hob market, reflecting its premium branding and design-led approach. You can certainly find cheaper four-burner hobs, but they typically lack the same level of styling, build quality and high-output wok burner.
What you’re paying for here is a combination of everyday reliability, stronger-than-average burner performance and that classic Smeg Victoria aesthetic. For many kitchen refurbishments, especially where the look is important, those touches justify the extra outlay over an entry-level model.
The excellent 4.8/5 user rating with a healthy number of reviews suggests owners feel they’ve had good value from the hob in real-world use. It may not be the feature-packed choice for tech lovers, but as a robust, attractive workhorse it offers solid value if your budget stretches to it.
If you simply want the cheapest functional 60cm gas hob, this isn’t it. If you want a stylish, well-made gas hob with a punchy wok burner and dependable performance, the price feels reasonable.
The Smeg Victoria SR964NGH 60cm gas hob is a strong option for anyone upgrading a kitchen and wanting more than a basic stainless or white hob. It combines classic Smeg styling, solid build quality and a genuinely useful high-power wok burner that lifts it above many no-frills alternatives.
Everyday use is straightforward thanks to simple rotary controls, automatic ignition and a practical burner layout. Safety features are well covered, and LPG compatibility adds flexibility if you’re not on mains gas. Owner feedback is overwhelmingly positive, reinforcing the sense that this is a dependable choice.
It could offer more bells and whistles for the price – there’s no timer, lock or advanced features – and the enamel surface will reward regular cleaning. But if your priorities are reliable gas performance, a powerful wok burner and a hob that looks the part in a traditional or classic-style kitchen, the Victoria SR964NGH is easy to recommend.