We pick the Weber Spirit E-325 Gas Grill
Most buyers should take the cheaper E-325; the E-425 is for cooks who keep running out of cool side. Both feed their Sear Zone from exactly two Boost Burners. The E-425's extra burner sits outside that zone for good, adding 4,000 BTU and 68 sq in of grate. That takes the fire from 86 to 82 BTU per square inch, the cart to 51.80 inches, and the weight up 5 pounds. Our reviews give the smaller grill the higher heat score.
What actually differs
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Same sear side, a bigger grate around it
Two red knobs on each, and Weber gives neither model a third Boost Burner. On the E-425 a smaller share of the grate is boosted, so the searing strip does not grow with the model number.
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What the fourth burner is actually for
Holding. Finished food moves left and stays warm while the next batch sears. If you cook in one pass for a family, that burner has nothing to do.
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Three and a half inches of wall
48.30 against 51.80 with the lid down; open, both want 60.50 inches of height. If the grill slot was measured for a three-burner, the E-425 will not go in it.
The scorecard, side by side
Both reviews are scored on the same six weighted categories, each bar on the same 0–10 scale, and every cell carries the reason that review gave. A row is marked won only where the two differ by a tenth or more. How we score →
Two Boost Burners give one grate two real working heats, at close to 86 BTU per square inch over the primary grate.
Same two Boost Burners the E-325 gets, now asked to serve 68 more square inches of primary grate.
Ten years on the cookbox, lid and burner tubes, but only two on everything remaining, paint included.
Four burner tubes carry ten years here, but paint and everything unlisted still fall off cover at two.
Porcelain-enameled cast iron, stainless Flavorizer bars and a closed cabinet, at 98 pounds on two wheels.
Cast iron, stainless bars and a closed cabinet, holding 103 pounds steady across a 51.80 inch frame.
Snap-Jet lights each burner one-handed, which is exactly how a two-heat cook gets set up.
Four Snap-Jet knobs light one at a time, so the red pair sets a sear side in seconds.
Around $549.00 buys the same Sear Zone and cast iron as the EX-325 for $50 less, though Weber Works accessories cost extra.
Stepping from $549.00 to $629.00 adds a burner and grate, but not a third Boost Burner.
The grease tray slides out and empties fast, but chipped enamel on cast iron rusts.
The grease tray slides clear in one motion, yet 428 square inches of enamel all have to stay unchipped.
Published figures that differ
Quoted from each maker's own specifications, as each review records them. Figures the two products publish identically are left out — only the differences are listed.
Which one is for you
You cook for a family in one pass and want the denser fire and the narrower cart.
Check price →You batch-cook in rounds and need a burner that holds finished food beside the sear side.
Check price →More head-to-heads
Every score and figure on this page comes from our own reviews of these two products, linked above. We have not tested them side by side in one place; the comparison is between two full reviews, each built from the maker's published specifications and documentation. Prices move, and the ones quoted are the ones each review checked on its own date.