I started earlier this year in smart pots, though years ago I did a high-school-kid style grow and used plastic at first and switched to smart pots. they're definitely not worse than traditional plastic pots and probably better. Definitely more noob friendly with regards to overwatering,
both because of the excellent drainage and the fact that water seems to get taken by the plants or evaporate a little quicker.
I've noticed a few things though-
Transplanting can be a difficult mess. I've heard people say if you just bury the pot in the new container, the roots grow through the fabric just fine, which does make sense to me, since if the pot sits in a tray, the bottom of the pot is usually speckled with roots poking out, so I know they can pass through the fabric. I tried this on two different plants, both plants did fine and had roots poking out of the bottoms of their 7 gallon pots, so I knew they must have passed through the one gallon pots just fine. However, I felt that I got better results and made the most of my soil on other plants where I actually removed the pot. My starbud was in a one gallon pot, I just buried that one gallon pot in a 7 gallon and it finished to be the best weed I've had in 2015, but the other plants that I removed the one gallon pots from bounced back bigger after the transplant than the starbud did. (starbud still out-yielded errythang).
nutrient salt build up on the sides of the pots happens, and quick. It's lame, though I haven't been able to figure out how detrimental it is to the plants, but haven't really tried, I just spray it off with water once a week or so, but I know that it isn't actually getting rid of it
this other fabric pot brand I've tried (I think it's root pots) seems just in general more cheaply made, they don't hold shape as well as smart pots, and the bottom of smart pots I believe are designed for that capillary contact biznizz, and I'm sure it'll happen in these other ones but probably not as well. that's just my very limited (3 weeks, mostly one gallon pots and one three gallon)
it's just not as sturdy. Handles on pots has only majorly helped me after harvest moving my bag of dirt around, because the container isn't rigid. I don't wanna shake the roots around and rearrange the soil every time I move it, so I lift from the bottom. That's not a problem if you're not moving it though.
This next round my idea is to use smart pots for finishing plants, but I don't wanna mess with transplanting into and out of smart pots any more. I'm gonna use rootmaker pots for veg and use 7 gallon smart pots for flower, I'll probably try big rootmaker pots or air pots during flower as well, at least for the beans and clones that are just germing/rooting right now.