exfat’s reliability “issues” are by design— it’s not journaled, to simplify implementation (and reduce resource use) on embedded devices and reduce wear on flash media.

It’s not a replacement for NTFS in applications where it’s already being used (large disks, anything where important data is being stored). Rather, it’s a modernized replacement for FAT32 for things like camera memory cards, eliminating some of FAT32’s limitations (like the file size limit) while remaining similarly lightweight.