November 3, 2017–the most important date in recent Apple history, the day that the iPhone X was released to the eager masses. I was one of the fans (or lunatics) who woke up at 2 a.m. the week before to pre-order it. The familiar shape is holding a few new hidden gems, but can it really be worth the $1,149.00 price tag?

The simple answer is yes with a “but.” In this age of smartphones, the best question to begin with is simply not “how much does it cost?” but, rather “what can it do for me?” With phones as powerful as the modern breed, it seems that anything from ordering an Uber to calling in an airstrike is possible. These small bricks in our pockets can reach around the globe in seconds. So, what are the best qualities of this latest (now fully glass) brick?

The most obvious and impressive feature is the new screen. It’s an OLED display which means each one of the millions of pixels can be controlled and emit light individually. The result is the richest and most enveloping screen that I’ve seen on a smartphone. Let’s also not forget that the screen is now edge-to-edge; there is not a single millimeter of wasted real estate on this device.

The next knockout component of the phone are the cameras, front and back. The front facing camera is at its peak caliber and has enough 3D monitoring to allow FaceID. This system allows you to unlock the phone with only your face. It’s surprisingly intuitive and makes unlocking the phone just as easy as when there was a home button. Oh, that’s right, there’s NO home button. For the first time since the iPhone 1 (which hipsters are probably hanging up in their houses now) the device is one hundred percent button-free excluding the volume and siri/wake-up switches on the sides. Let’s not forget though, I said there would be a “but.”

The iPhone X is the latest and greatest that Apple (or arguably any technology company) has to offer. However, there is no getting around the device retailing for over eleven hundred bucks. Whether or not any phone is worth that kind of money is in the eyes of the beholder. To me, it is if you rely on your phone for things like running a business or if you’re on it all the time. The initial sticker shock is more manageable if you break it up into monthly payments through your cellular carrier–for me it came out to be roughly $48 a month for eighteen months.

The iPhone X is a top notch machine from any perspective. Unfortunately, price is a real obstacle between it and the rational consumer. If you’re at all considering getting one, I’d urge you to treat yourself and get your hands on one. In my opinion, there’s no hype that it hasn’t lived up to.