Weber Summit S 470 Review {2022, Not Worth the Money}

The Weber Summit S 470 is a great grill but there are other Weber models that you need to examine before making a purchase. The highlight of the 470 is the incredible amount of features that are built into this beauty.

There are two things that I believe are true about this grill. If you buy the Summit S 470 then:

You Will Love the Grill
You Will Have Spent Too Much Money

Let’s take a look at what comes with this grill and what are some other choices that you should look at.

Table of Contents

Summit S 470 Specifications

4 Primary Burners with a combined heat output of 48,800 BTU/hr
Sear Station Burner rated at 10,600 BTU/hr
Dedicated rear infrared rotisserie burner rated at 10,600 BTU/hr
Dedicated smoker box burner rated at 6,800 BTU/hr
Side burner rated at 12,000 BTU/hr
Tuck Away rotisserie system
Primary Cooking Area of 468 square inches
Cooking grate made of 9 mm stainless steel rods
Handle Mounted Grill Light
10 Year Warranty on all Components
Available for use with propane or natural gas.

This grill features stainless steel construction for the lid and cabinet but is also available in black porcelain enameled steel as model E-470. There is a built in version of this grill for outdoor kitchens called the Summit S 460.

Below is an excellent video Weber put together that walks you through all of the features on the 470. It is worth watching.

Things I Love About the Summit 470

The 470 is a beautiful grill and that is important to me since I actually spend more time looking at my grills than cooking on them 🙂

I love that the 470 is LOADED with features. The built in rotisserie is awesome, the Sear Station is powerful and the Smoker Box/burner is cool. The side burner has a double fire ring design with gas ports at the top and bottom of the burner to prevent flame outs in windy conditions.

Heck, I even like the handle mounted grill light and the lighted grill knobs!

I absolutely love the cooking grate on this grill. The 9 mm stainless steel rods are the thickest, highest quality grate that Weber makes. The grate will last forever, is easy to clean and gives great grill marks (especially when the Sear Station is cranked up).

Things I Don’t Like About the Summit S 470.

As much as I like the S 470 there are a few things that take it off my list of recommended grills.

Prestige
Price
Missing Feature

Prestige

The most prestigious Weber gas grill is the Summit S 670 while the Summit S 470 comes in second.

If you are in the market for an ultra premium Weber gas grill then get the best that there is, the Weber Summit S 670. The 670 has all of the features of the 470 but is a larger grill with two more primary burners.

I have a hard time wrapping my head around why you would pay out the nose for the Second Best. And speaking of paying out the nose, let’s talk about price!

Price

At this price point I want perfection and that is not what you get over the long term with this grill.

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After a few years of use the steel starts to discolor and the trim on the knobs starts to fade. The igniters will fail after a few years and while they are under warranty I don’t want to have to take the time to file the claim, take the old ones out and install the new. At this price point I want an ignition system that works all of the time without me having to think about it.

This really highlights the fact that the Summit gas grills have not been updated in over a decade.

The newer Genesis Series II grills have the advanced GS4 Grilling System that includes the Infinity Ignition System.

Missing Features

I think Weber missed an opportunity to make the Summit perfect by not including an infrared searing burner. The 470 does have a rear mounted infrared burner for the rotisserie but that is not what I am talking about.

If you want to get a SERIOUS sear on steaks then you need an infrared burner that can hit temperatures in the 800F range. The Sear Station on the Summit is pretty good for searing but at this price point I don’t want pretty good. I want awesome.

Real Customer Reviews for the Weber Summit S 470

I pulled all of the customer reviews from the Weber and Home Depot websites (current July, 2021) and plotted them below.

The results were not encouraging.

When you combine the 5 and 4 Star reviews you see that 84% of owners love this grill.
When you combine the 1 and 2 Star reviews you see that 11% of owners have buyers remorse.

The biggest complaints about the Summit are build quality and reliability. A lot of folks are seeing the frames start to rust way too early which is not what you should expect on a grill that costs over $2,000.

The 84% Customer Satisfaction rating is quite low for Weber products as most of their grills score in the 90-94% range.

The Summit 470 Compared to Other Weber Grills

Here is where things get interesting, In 2019 Weber introduced the Genesis II S 335 and the Genesis II S 435 and these two grills are serious competition for the Summit 470.

Genesis S 435 vs Summit 470

The Genesis S 435 shares many features in common with the Summit 470. The Genesis 435 has four primary burners, a side burner and a Sear Station burner. Both grills are stainless steel, look beautiful and share the same 10 year warranty on all components.

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The Genesis does not have a smoker box or dedicated smoker box burner. The Genesis does not have a built in rotisserie or the rear mounted infrared rotisserie burner. You can purchase the rotisserie kit for the Genesis separately.

The cooking grate on the Genesis S 435 is made from 7 mm stainless steel rods instead of 9 mm on the Summit. The 7 mm stainless great is still amazing.

So while the Genesis does not have all of the features of the Summit it does have two distinct advantages. The Genesis 435 has 38% more grilling space than the Summit 470 (646 vs 468 square inches) and costs about $1,000 less.

We all value things differently but I really like the idea of getting a larger grill for a heck of a lot less money.

Weber Genesis S 335 vs Summit 470

The Genesis S 335 has all of the same features as the Genesis S 435 but has three primary burners instead of four.

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While the three burner version of the Genesis is smaller than the four burner it still has 10% more grilling space than the Summit 470 (513 vs 468 square inches). The Genesis S 335 is also extremely value priced in comparison to the Summit.

So Which Grill Should You Buy?

That is a tough question!

If you are at a point in your life when you simply want the best but don’t need or want a monster sized grill then the Summit S 470 is the right grill for you.

If you want an amazing full sized grill but the price tag of the Summit is making you balk then I promise that you will love the Genesis.

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