Two grills in Weber’s Spirit line print the same specification sheet. The E-325 and the EX-325 share a burner count, an output figure and a cooking area. Down to the square inch.
One of them has a radio in it. The Spirit EX-325 Smart Gas Grill is model 1501843. It adds a Wi-Fi thermometer, a digital readout and one wired food probe. Weber asks $50 more for it.
So this review has a single job. That fifty dollars buys no extra fire and no extra steel. It buys information. The question is whether that is worth paying for on a grill you stand beside anyway.
31,000 BTUTotal output, three burners
450 sq inTotal cooking area
$50What the smart layer adds over the E-325
1 probeWired food probes in the box
First Impressions of the Weber Spirit EX-325
The control panel is where the two Spirits stop matching. Three knobs sit across it, and two wear red collars for the Sear Zone. Above them is a small digital readout that no plain Spirit carries.
Set up, it is a wide black cabinet on two all-weather wheels. Its footprint runs 48.3 inches wide by 26.6 deep. The closed lid tops out at 46.3 inches. The left side table folds, which is this grill’s one gesture toward a small patio.
Weber will sell you the build if you would rather skip it. A flat $99 books an Angi visit on any qualifying grill over $399. Delivery is free from Weber above $99, and this clears that line on its own.
The first cook makes the argument about instruments rather than fire. Snap-Jet lights each burner from its own knob, one hand, no fumbling. Then the probe goes into the meat. The phone buzzes in your pocket, and the guessing stops.
Key Features of the Weber Spirit EX-325
Everything below the grates is standard current Spirit. What Weber added sits on top, in the panel and on your phone. Separating the two is worth doing.
- Wi-Fi thermometer, built in: The readout shows grill and probe temps at the grill itself. It is part of the panel rather than a gadget you clip on. Nothing has to be paired before you can read it.
- One wired food probe: A single probe ships in the carton, and it is wired rather than wireless. It tracks internal food temps through the cook. Weber does not publish whether the thermometer will take a second one.
- Weber Connect on your phone: Pair the grill, and the app says when it is hot and when to flip. Weber’s own list runs to guided cooks, doneness reminders, countdowns, live graphing and 800+ recipes. It needs iOS 12.1 or later, or Android 7.0 or later.
- Two Boost Burners: Turning the red knobs to Boost unleashes 40% more power in the Sear Zone. Weber calls that zone the largest in its class. The plain E-325 has exactly the same arrangement.
- Cast-iron cooking grates: They are porcelain-enameled cast iron, so they hold heat rather than shed it. Bar marks come easier on cast iron than on thin steel. Chip that porcelain and the iron underneath is on its own.
- Stainless steel where the fire is: Three stainless burners sit under stainless Flavorizer bars. Weber’s own copy credits those bars with boosting grilled flavor. Both parts carry warranty terms of their own.
- A cabinet that hides the cylinder: The door closes over your propane tank, which Weber sells separately at 20 lb. Four tool hooks hang off the sides. Two side tables take Weber Works accessories, drop-in on the right and snap-on along the rails.
- Rotisserie and griddle insert: A rust-resistant griddle insert drops into the grates, and a rotisserie fits the same grill. Both are sold separately. They are the two ways this Spirit stops being only a Spirit.
Start with what is not new, because it is most of the grill. Three stainless burners deliver 31,000 BTU into 360 square inches of primary space. A warming rack adds 90 more above them, for 450 in total. Weber puts that at 14 burgers.
Two of those burners take red Boost knobs. In Boost the Sear Zone runs 40% harder. Boost is hardware, and it has nothing to do with the radio. The plain E-325 carries the identical bullet.
Nothing on the EX-325 burns hotter than the E-325. It only knows more. The badge is about instruments, not about fire.
What the thermometer changes is not the fire but the waiting. Searing is a short job you watch anyway. A pork shoulder is a long job you cannot watch.
That is where a probe earns its place. Weber’s own alerts are honest about the range: preheated, and ready to flip.
That framing matters when you compare this to a bare grill. The connected layer is a measuring instrument, not a cooking one. It will not fix an uneven cook box. On the evidence Weber publishes, there is nothing here to fix.
Build, handling and durability
The bones are the familiar current-generation Spirit, and they are good ones. A cast-aluminum cook box takes the heat. Stainless Flavorizer bars take the drippings, and porcelain-enameled cast iron takes the food. The warranty follows that hierarchy honestly.
Weber’s decade of coverage lands on the metalwork: cook box, lid, burner tubes. Grates and Flavorizer bars are held to five years. Everything else sits in a two-year bucket, and that is where the electronics sit. The part you are paying the premium for has the shortest cover of all.
One oddity belongs on the record rather than in an explanation. Weber’s EX-325 page publishes 83 pounds. Its E-325 page publishes 98, and neither page accounts for the gap. Treat any moving plan as loose until it is on the wheels.
Two all-weather wheels and a folding left table cover the small-space case. There is no cord to route, since the electronics run on 2 AAA cells. That is a quiet advantage over connected grills that need an outlet on the patio.
Running costs, upkeep and value
Weber lists the EX-325 at $599 and is currently selling it for $549. The plain E-325 lists at $549 and is currently $499. The gap holds at $50 whichever pair you use. Weber is running the same discount on both.
Fifty dollars buys a Wi-Fi thermometer, a panel readout and a probe. That is under a tenth of the grill and a fair asking price. Whether it is good value turns on what you cook. A weeknight burger cook will never open the app twice.
Running costs are the usual gas-grill ones with two small additions. Your own 20 pound cylinder goes in the cabinet, since Weber does not supply it. Batteries are the other line item. Weber names the cells and never says how long they last.
The connected half asks for a small amount of extra care. Cast iron wants oiling and a hot brush. The removable grease tray wants emptying.
A probe and a display now want keeping dry. None of that is heavy work. It is simply more than a plain grill asks of you.
Possible Weber Spirit EX-325 Complaints
- One probe means one answer: A single wired probe ships with it. The app can therefore follow exactly one piece of food. Put chicken thighs beside a brisket and half the cook goes unwatched. Weber says nothing about adding a second probe, so assume one is the limit.
- The two halves of this grill age at different speeds: The metal is warranted for a decade. The radio and readout fall under two years with the rest. Software adds its own clock, since the app names a minimum iOS and Android version. A cook box outlives a phone platform, and this grill has both.
