You're right on the threshold for my distinction on the use of a top tier filter. It will work out to cheaper or as cheap as doing the cheaper filter offering 2x in the same annual schedule.
You'll accumulate insoluble material over any given OCI based on your cold starts. It will vary with your time to getting out of fuel enrichment. Some will be very small ..like 2um that your filter just won't touch ..period. Many will be filterable.
Shorter mileage on a daily driver? More insolubles per mile are produced.
Longer mileage on a daily driver? The same amount of insolubles are produced, but are distributed over more miles. The miles out of fuel enrichment are mostly invisible to the filter.
Filter life is mostly dictated by this unavoidable insoluble production. If you take something like a taxi, the 3-4k that they get serviced at probably processes nearer double the fuel through the engine and that same fuel would produce 7k+ in a longer distance commuter car. The oil will fatigue with oxidation before the filter will get saturated from cold starts.
Essentially you break it down to $$/mile. Each filter will probably have a similar lifespan in service. While the cheaper filter may have a lower holding capacity, it will also have a less fine filtering efficiency. That's where the refresh rate of the sump comes into play on a time/mileage/fuel usage kinda way.
That's why you've got to be careful when you hear "A pureone will go 10k" because it's just too numb an assertion. Sure, it will even do upwards of 15k for someone in the right service duty. It all depends on how many hollow miles are included in the total miles of usage.
So, if you're someone doing 10k-15k, you can probably take advantage of the added features of a top tier filter if changed very other time. Otherwise, you're probably ditching an expensive filter @ 6month with little or no benefits of it's features.
This is exclusive of annoyances of nitrile ADBV's with some engines.
