I don't know about useless.
My hand and brain tells me the P01 feels different (and better) than the CZ75 Compact. Every time I pick up one of the P01s I notice it. I like it (why I bought a second P01 Omega a few years back).
I've got some CZ75 Compacts, customized, pretty, machined for red dots, but the P01 I'd choose over any of those because it feels good in my hand.
Does it help with recoil more than a smooth frame? I don't know. The 9MM pistols don't seem to kick enough to feel a need to deal with it or improve it.
Then again, I've got the soft rubber CZ grips on all my metal framed CZs (except the TS .40) and I know those help my hand hold on to the pistol, too. We put skateboard tape on the frame of the satin nickel Compact till I got some rubber grips for it. No need of the skateboard tape after that.
I think they "cut" checkering on pistol frames with files. That aluminum the P01's use in the frame would mess up a file pretty quick. Not sure how hard it would be to remove the stuck aluminum from the steel file.