A 5gal. bucket with holes drilled into it is the same as those air-pots.The only beef I have I have with my smart pots (5 gal) is that they are a pain in the ass to water the plants if you don't lollipop...and I don't.
Do they offer bigger yields....no...I did several side-by-side comparisons to a 5 gal bucket with holes drilled into it and they came out the same.
other than that, I'm with everyone else that says they're durable and reusable.
root pruning pots like to be elevated(underside gets 02)so the roots prune like they're supposed to.
+ 5 gal buckets hold more volume (closer to 7gal) than a 5 gal. planter pot.
So the smart pots used less soil + produced the same yield. I don't get it...