I know you mentioned not liking the Apple Watch, but if you do have one, FaceID works just fine with masks when you have an Apple Watch paired and the feature enabled.
It works just fine until it doesn't. I went on a trip last week that involved frequent mask wearing. Unlock with Apple Watch worked on the first day, then every unlock after that involved typing in my passcode or pulling down my mask. No amount of restarting/airplane mode cycling got it working again... until I got home.