I was skeptical of the benefits. I have an M&P 1.0 5" 9MM PC pistol. Right off the bat, shooting it with the 115 grain hollow points, you can see/feel the reduction in muzzle rise. It's real and very noticeable.
My wife had a Shield 9MM PC with the ported barrel/slide and I really don't notice the difference between the ported Shield (3.1" barrel) and my Shield (standard Shield). I just don't.
I recently bought/assembled a couple M&P 2.0 4" 9MM slides with ported barrels. The barrel extends out past the slide about 1/4" or so and the ports are cut in the barrel. I can't tell, shooting it, that the ports reduce muzzle climb. I can see they vent gas as the end of the slide has powder residue on either side of the front of the slide.
I wonder, if the difference, is were the ports are. Ports farther back in the barrel vent gas and a higher pressure vs. vent out near the end of the barrel. The closer the bullet gets to the end of the barrel, the lower the pressure is.
I've got a couple/three AR15's (and an FAL) that the barrels were shortened on from 20" to 16 to 18". All three of those were unreliable right after the barrel shortening. The closer the ports are (gas port or gas vents) the lower the pressure is going to be at the vent/port because the bullet exits the barrel sooner so the gas pulse time is shorter/lower. On the ARs/FAL I drilled the gas ports out to the next largest size and all three were reliable.
I have no plans to enlarge the holel on any of the pistol barrels
Ports are ports. Size, proximity to the muzzle, caliber/pressure at the port all make a difference.