Without a doubt, the most popular smart phone of the holiday season is Apple's iPhone X.
It also happens to be the most expensive on the market as well.
While the facial recognition technology and other related features may prove to be trail-blazing with time, we've heard of predictable challenges/glitches that come with any new consumer technology.
Aside from the technology's growing pains, Consumer Reports simply thinks there are (slightly) better alternatives and I agree.
CR grades on a scale of 0-100 and there's a two-way tie at the top:
The iPhone 8 & 8 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S8 & S8+ tied with an 81
Just behind them were the iPhone X and the Galaxy Note 8 with an 80... So, it's not as though there's a big drop-off with the X should you choose to go in that direction but unless you're passionate about the new technology you'll potentially have a slightly superior experience with a slightly less expensive phone.
This is exactly what I found to be the case myself.
My wife Ashley and I were both looking to upgrade our phones over the past month and we both opted for the 8 over the X. We both agree that it's the best experience to date on an iPhone. Nothing's revolutionary compared to prior iPhone models (yes the back of the phone is glass rather than aluminum but it's not even really a noticeable change - especially with a case on the phone) but everything just works a bit better. The camera is meaningfully improved and the OS is noticeably faster.
After a day you get used to the feel of the new home button & it's just a generally great experience.