I think there are test that show they do affect restriction, they put them on all sorts of different vehicles these days, I think there are some videos posted online. I mean it is more filtering material on top of a paper one. It has to cause more restriction.
That being said, my concern is it's meant to be lifetime and non-replaceable. But charcoal isn't lifetime, it gets filled up and no longer functions. Then there is the fear it will break apart with age and get ingested in the engine. The materials doesn't look long life to me, I wouldn't trust it for too long.
I rather just remove it entirely to remove that possibility.