This is the manufacturer's recommended retail price. Prices are generally flexible, so shop around.

The yearly running cost is based on using the largest cooking zone on high for one hour per day.

The CHOICE Expert Rating is made up of performance (60%) and ease of use (40%).

Scores are taken from our latest brand reliability survey. It does not add to the overall score. The score refers to the brand, not a particular model. NA or Not available means there weren't enough responses for that brand to get a score.

Scores are taken from our latest brand reliability survey. When rating satisfaction we ask owners to tell us what they thought of the products they own. We use this information to give each brand an owner satisfaction rating so you can see what people who use the brand day in day out think of them. NA or Not available means there weren't enough responses for that brand to get a score.

We assess each cooktop's performance by cooking white sauce and melting chocolate on the simmer element, rice on the medium element and a stir-fry on the large element. The performance score is 60% of the CHOICE Expert Rating.

We assess the position, handling and setting of the controls, and the marking and labelling of the controls and burner areas. We also assess how easy each cooktop is to clean. The ease of use score is 40% of the CHOICE Expert Rating.

We cook white sauce on the simmer burner to rate the low heat setting.

We boil rice on the medium burner to assess the cooktop's turn down capacity.

We melt chocolate on the simmer burner to test the low heat setting.

We cook a beef and vegetable stir fry to assess the high heat setting.

Whether the cooktop uses a traditional knob or dial, or whether it uses touch controls

To reduce the chance of a child operating the controls

An indicator lets you know which elements are still hot after you switch the cooktop off.

For safety the cooktop will turn itself off if certain scenarios. For example if you don't make contact with your pot for a certain amount of time, or if the cooktop is on but there is no pot on the surface.

Initially uses high power to heat up the cooktop quickly before switching to a lower temperature. If you've forgotten to turn down the heat, this feature takes care of it for you.

A dual element with two heat rings. For smaller pots you activate the inner ring, and for larger pots you activate both. Some have triple elements for more versatility.

Allows you to expand the cooking zone area.