With all the options on gearing now its hard to choose which one is right for you. The pendulum has swung toward 1x setups which are great but are not perfect in all situations. It depends on the trails, your fitness and what you like your cadence to be. I have XX1 with 28 on my enduro/AM bike, 2x10 24/38 on my 29er race bike, and converted 3x9 22/32/bash on an older Nomad. I toyed with the idea of going 1x10 with a 42 ring on my race bike but realized that for the trails that I ride I needed a very low end climbing gear and to get that I have to give up the top end. Sometimes the races or rides in our area include some fire road sections where the 11 would be spun out if using a 30 or 28 front. So thats why I went to 2x10 for my race setup...more range. If top end is of no concern then 1x setup is great and I would go with the lowest gear I could put on. Sooner or later you will use it.
So my experience is that the 1x setups have to be chosen with a little more thought to find the sweet spot between low end and high end gears and only you can determine that. Go and borrow or demo a bike and take it on the steepest hills you think you will ride and figure out what you need.
1x11 is more forgiving in range and is pretty slick but also at what cost. If we complain about the price of XX1 chainrings wait till you have to replace the cassette and derailleur. I crushed my rear derailleur and it was a sobering reminder.
