Pleated filters like that are considerably more restrictive to air flow than the original washable foam filter.
It is good that you checked air flow but even a slight restriction under the correct conditions may result in the A/C cools to freeze up into a solid block of ice much faster than they would otherwise.
I use those filters on my wood burner fan box to reduce wood ash from getting blown through the house. I modified the fan box to use two filters in fact side by side and even that causes a noticeable change in air flow.
I won't even consider them on my home furnace, causes the furnace to trip the overtemp limits once and a while..
