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Internet

In typical Microsoft fashion, Internet Explorer is your web browsing option on Windows Phone, and the Store isn't exactly bursting with alternative options (no Chrome, sadly). Luckily, the mobile IE works pretty well as a small-screen browser.

You'll see a small black bar at the bottom of the screen with the URL/search omnibar, a stop/refresh button to the left, and an ellipsis to the right that pulls up numerous other options, such as tabs to swap through, recently visited sites, your customizable list of favorites, sharing options, and the settings.

By and large, Internet Explorer does a good job of rendering the full/classic versions of sites. You'll catch the occasional odd font choice that seems out of place, or an animated script that doesn't blend quite right with the rest of the site, but it's very usable and pretty comfortable on the display.

We're fans in particular of the option to have Internet Explorer default to the desktop version of a site over the mobile version. With this crisp a display, it's really worth taking in the full experience instead of scrolling through a dumbed-down version. The downside is that full versions of sites can take a bit of time to render, so there's a balance to consider.

Verizon's 4G LTE network is thankfully up to the task of zipping you around the web. In our testing (using Microsoft's own Network Speed Test app), we typically saw download speeds that ranged between 14-24Mbps, while upload only weighed in around 2-3Mbps. And in regular use, browsing was a reliably breezy experience wherever we were.