Well... mine have arrived a few moments ago (delivered via FedEx) and so far so good
It took longer to open the shipping case & the AirPods box than it did in setting up and pairing them with my iPhone. I'm liking the technology behind the W1 chip for this reason, as well as them being paired with all of my other devices that are associated with my iCloud account.
As far as the sound of them goes, imo they have a nice, clean sound. Decent bass, with clear mids and highs. They're definitely not sound isolating, as I have the TV on and can hear the audio from the TV, as well as the music that I'm listening to on the AirPods. Although, I just changed the type of music that I'm listening to: rock music now, versus ambient instrumental, and the TV's audio is much less noticeable. So, the amount of background noise you might hear will depend on the environment you're in and what kind of music you're listening to, as well as the volume you have them at.
Good luck to all who are awaiting delivery of them soon. Fyi, my original delivery date was 12/21, then that was moved up to 12/20, and then they arrived this morning