The Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is a 60cm built-in gas hob with a classic, slightly retro look and a solid, no-nonsense feature set. With four burners, including a powerful wok burner, it’s designed to handle everything from quick weeknight meals to more ambitious weekend cooking.
Smeg sits firmly in the premium camp, and this model follows suit: you’re paying for design, build quality and brand reputation as much as the spec sheet. The enamel surface and chunky cast iron pan supports give it a robust, upmarket feel compared with many standard 60cm hobs.
Owners clearly rate it highly, with an average score of 4.8 out of 5 from a good number of reviews, suggesting that real-world performance, reliability and ease of use live up to the price tag.
The Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is ideal for households that cook regularly and want a stylish centrepiece rather than a purely functional hob. If you enjoy proper pan cooking, simmering sauces and the odd stir-fry, the mix of burners and sturdy supports will suit you well.
With four burners on a 60cm footprint, it’s a good fit for small to medium kitchens, flats and family homes where space is at a premium but flexibility is still important. The ultra-rapid wok burner is a strong selling point for anyone who likes high-heat cooking for woks, searing steaks or boiling large pots of water quickly.
This is not a budget hob. It’s aimed at buyers who are happy to pay extra for design, build and brand, perhaps as part of a wider Smeg or Victoria range kitchen. If you’re upgrading from a very basic hob and want something that feels more substantial and refined – without going up to a larger 75cm or 90cm model – this is a sensible sweet spot.
First-time buyers will appreciate the simple rotary controls and automatic ignition, while more experienced cooks will value the flame failure safety device, LPG compatibility and the stability of cast iron supports for heavier pans.
The standout feature is the ultra-rapid wok burner. With up to 3.3 kW of power, it delivers the intense heat you need for proper stir-frying, fast boiling and high-heat searing, far beyond what standard burners can manage.
Cast iron pan supports give the hob a premium, professional feel and make a real difference in day-to-day cooking. They’re sturdy and stable, so large pots and heavier pans feel secure, and they span the hob so it’s easier to shuffle pans around without snagging.
The layout of four burners with three different sizes offers good flexibility: you can keep a delicate sauce gently ticking over on a smaller burner while the wok burner does the heavy lifting. Automatic ignition and clear front-mounted rotary controls mean lighting and adjusting the flame is quick and intuitive.
Safety is well covered for a gas hob thanks to automatic safety shut-off and a flame failure safety device, which cuts the gas supply if a flame is accidentally blown out – reassuring in busy family kitchens. A solid two-year manufacturer warranty also adds peace of mind.
For a 60cm hob, the price is at the premium end of the scale, so if you simply want basic gas cooking without caring about design or brand, there are cheaper alternatives that will get the job done.
The enamel surface, while attractive in black, will generally show spills and grease more readily than stainless steel or glass, and may need more regular wiping to keep it looking smart. Cast iron supports are robust but typically heavier and can be a bit more awkward to lift off for cleaning compared with lighter wire supports.
There’s no timer or child lock, which some rival models include. Experienced cooks may not miss them, but families with young children or those who rely on timers built into the hob itself might see this as a drawback.
Finally, installation requires both an electrician to connect the power for ignition and a Gas Safe registered engineer for the gas connection, and the gas hose is not included, which adds to the overall cost if you’re upgrading on a tight budget.
Day to day, the Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is straightforward and reassuringly solid. The front-mounted rotary dials are clearly laid out and easy to grip, so adjusting the flame feels natural whether you’re right- or left-handed. Automatic ignition means you simply turn and press the knob – no need for separate ignition buttons or matches.
The four-burner layout on a 59.5 cm wide surface is well balanced. There’s enough space to use three or four pans at once for typical family meals, though like most 60cm hobs, very large pans side by side can feel slightly snug. The cast iron pan supports span the hob and provide a continuous surface, so sliding pans from one burner to another is smooth.
Cleaning is reasonably straightforward: the enamel surface can be wiped with a cloth once it has cooled, and the cast iron supports lift off for more thorough cleaning in the sink. They are on the heavier side, but their weight gives them a planted, high-quality feel. Because there’s no complex electronic interface, there’s little to go wrong or get grubby – a benefit if you prefer simple, mechanical controls.
Thanks to the flame failure safety device and automatic safety shut-off, you can cook with confidence that the gas supply will cut out if the flame goes out unexpectedly, which is especially reassuring in busy households where pans may boil over.
Performance-wise, the Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is strong for a standard 60cm gas hob. The burner power range from 1.05 to 3.3 kW gives you both gentle heat for simmering and high output for rapid cooking. The star of the show is the ultra-rapid wok burner, which makes a noticeable difference when stir-frying or quickly bringing large pans of water to the boil.
With three burner sizes across four zones, it’s easy to match pan size to flame, helping to avoid hot handles and wasted energy up the sides of small pans. The gas flame gives instant responsiveness – twist the dial and you see and feel the change immediately, which is particularly useful when reducing sauces or preventing things from catching.
The enamel surface in black and the robust cast iron pan supports combine to give the hob a classic, slightly retro aesthetic that pairs well with Smeg’s Victoria ovens and other matching appliances. While this doesn’t change how it cooks, it does lift the overall feel of your kitchen compared with more utilitarian models.
In terms of safety and convenience, automatic ignition, the flame failure device and automatic safety shut-off are key. The hob is also LPG compatible and convertible with the included kit, making it suitable if you’re on bottled gas – handy for rural homes or certain renovations. The 3-amp fuse rating and requirement for an electrician to attach a plug or cable reflect the simple electrical needs of the ignition rather than any complex electronics, which should aid long-term reliability.
There are no smart features, touch controls or integrated timers here; instead, this hob focuses on solid, traditional gas cooking with a few well-chosen extras. In a crowded hob market, that back-to-basics but high-quality approach will appeal to buyers who prioritise reliability and feel over flashy add-ons.
At its current price, the Smeg Victoria SR964NGH sits firmly in the premium bracket for a 60cm gas hob. You can certainly find cheaper models with four burners, but they rarely offer the same mix of design, build and high-output wok performance.
What you’re paying for here is the Smeg brand, Italian manufacture, the robust cast iron supports, and the cohesive styling that works particularly well if you’re creating a coordinated kitchen with other Victoria range appliances. The inclusion of LPG conversion parts and a solid two-year warranty also add to the long-term value.
The high user rating of 4.8 out of 5 from multiple reviews suggests that most owners feel they’ve made a good investment, with few complaints about performance or reliability. If budget is tight or you don’t care about looks, a more basic hob will be better value on paper. But if you want a stylish, well-built gas hob with a serious wok burner and you’re happy to pay a bit more for it, the SR964NGH offers convincing overall value.
The Smeg Victoria SR964NGH is a well-executed 60cm gas hob that combines classic styling with genuinely useful performance. The powerful ultra-rapid wok burner, solid cast iron pan supports and straightforward rotary controls make it a pleasure to cook on, while safety features like flame failure protection provide peace of mind.
It’s not the cheapest option, and it doesn’t come with advanced extras like timers, touch controls or child locks. If you’re simply after the lowest-cost way to boil pasta, there are better-value choices. But if you appreciate good design, want a hob that feels sturdy and premium under your pans, and like the idea of fast, high-heat cooking, this model is easy to recommend.
For style-conscious home cooks and families upgrading a dated hob, the Smeg Victoria SR964NGH stands out as a strong, well-reviewed choice that should serve reliably for years.
