The Value Mazda filter has louvers and a coil spring, wonder who makes that. The Thai filter looks as though they want flow directly to the pleats as much as possible. The holes seem too large and the base plate metal not enough. I would say that base plate would be be weak and prone to flex. Hard to tell how thick it is.
Positive Displacement Oil Pump ... same flow. Slightly more flow resistance after the pump just means the pump output runs at a little higher pressure.
Re: Inlet holes. As long as the flow area is large enough (greater than mount spud inlet area), increasing it more isn't going to make much difference at all in delta-p across the base plate. Same goes with the center tube flow area (holes vs louvers vs eCore cage).
Re: Base flex ... if designed correctly, the base plate thickness will have to increase as the flow area of the holes in the base plate increases.