Just my experience-
I tried them for a couple of water only soil runs in the past. For my application, and my time, they weren’t worth it and not what I needed. YMMV
I still Had to water often, more often than I wanted to. And they got dirty quick, to include the wicking ropes.
As I’ve mentioned in a couple of previous posts, I’m a huge believer in butt chugging. After copious amounts of reading I settled on Octopots.
This system for me solved the watering issues (as in watering non stop). With the 6 gallon reservoir I could go 3-6 days without watering, depending on the plants timeline.
I didnt have a huge reservoir hooked to the individual Octopots as, for me, any potential leak can be a major problem. So I just settled on the 6 gallons. Not only does this save time, it produced some of the healthiest and largest yields from Autos I ever had.
I see Autopots are similar in this regard.
Again YMMV but Autopots/Octopots would be worth looking into.
So all this to say yes I’ve tried them and wasn’t a fan.
Just my opinion. Good luck and may your buds be plentiful, resinous and tasty!