I'm standing in a TMobile store watching the salesman offer this guy a used Galaxy S3, totally unable to stop him.

But maybe there's another reason to avoid brick-and-mortar stores altogether.

It's the dawn of a new era for Android smartphones. We have an influx of phones between $200 and $400 that aren't awful to use. But they're also not necessarily available in stores. And that breaks one top suggestions when someone asks "what should I get?" — hold a phone in your hand before opening your wallet. While that hasn't always been possible (and we're talking way back from the online-only Nexus One , if not before that), it's still a good rule of thumb.

That's the same Galaxy S3 that was all the rage ... in 2012. And while you can absolutely find one strolling down the street today, three years in, there's absolutely no reason you should be buying one, even used. And we've had to say this before.

There are too many good unlocked, inexpensive smartphones available today. Here's our up-to-date-list. We can pretty much guarantee that you'll get a better experience from any of those phones in 2015 than you will the GS3. (Which, by the way, is also available used on T-Mobile's website{.nofollow}

Friends don't let friends buy three-year-old smartphones. At least not for that kind of money.

$150 for the Galaxy S3 with a new plan. $200 without. ZenPhone money for ancient unprotected software and comparably pathetic hardware. — Russell Holly (@russellholly) August 11, 2015

$150 for the Galaxy S3 with a new plan. $200 without. ZenPhone money for ancient unprotected software and comparably pathetic hardware. — Russell Holly (@russellholly) August 11, 2015

$244.15 for a Galaxy S3 and whatever TMO's $80 plan is. He's super excited about talking to family in Mexico though. — Russell Holly (@russellholly) August 11, 2015

Asked the guy selling the Galaxy S3 if it had the latest version of Android. He laughed and said no. Asked for Stagefright updates, silence. — Russell Holly (@russellholly) August 11, 2015