I've sung the praises of my 8 before, and will continue to do so - best phone I've ever had.
But the Xr is tempting since it's an upgrade from the 8 in every way, except the lack of 3D touch (although another year of 326 ppi should be criminal).
But therein lies the rub - I acknowledge that the Xr is a superior phone to the 8, but the 8 still feels like a flagship phone, even though it technically wasn't; it didn't give anything up over the phone that came before it, like the Xr does with 3D touch. That alone makes the Xr sort of a turn off, but it will be a great phone.
In some sick twisted way I'm almost considering trading my 8 in for...another 8, but in 256 GB and ride it out long term. Or an 8+ but the 8+ seems redundant now to me for some reason.
I think we might be in for a treat next year with the XI, but I kind of think they are going to not update the Xr next year and it'll become a multiyear run with no changes like the SE, which would be sort of a disappointment.