I've a got a couple pairs, one as in the thicker "my first training pants" thickness and one in the "almost a big kid" thickness. I mostly don't wet them, instead just wearing them in place of regular underwear a couple days each weak. They're very soft and feel great. The thicker ones will also give you a noticeable feeling of thickness between the legs, which is fun.
I've worn them over diapers when I want something thicker at night sometimes and I've also wet them directly a few times in the evening when I felt kinda naughty. Just little accidents though, because otherwise you'll have pee all over the place, since they don't hold anything in without plastic pants.
I haven't had any issues with smell, myself. One thing I've always done after wetting underwear or training pants is that soak them when I'm through right away. Even if I'm not doing laundry that night, I'll still make sure to run them under water and soak them through, as well as maybe wringing them out a couple times and resoaking, as that gets most of the pee out. I'd also recommend trying the stripping method that Cottontail suggests, as that's very likely to fix the problem if they do smell.