Does saiyan armour give any defensive boost? How does it work? Why did 530,000 Freeza wear saiyan armour?

[Warmmedown]

The way I think it works is you power it up with your ki, same as how your skin defensively powers up as you get stronger.

The average Saiyan I guess had a PL from 1000 to 3000 and probably the same for most Freeza soldiers. So maybe it's a big enough defensive boost to matter to a 3000PL. So maybe the equivalent of about 300PL? Or do you think it's proportional to your own power level?
Are there implications for estimating characters' power levels? When Raditz is hurt by Gohan's 1307 headbutt, if the armour is boosting him does it mean his offensive power level is lower than the headbutt damage suggests?

King Vegeta's was somewhere 10k to 18k. Cui 18000 and Zarbon/Dodoria 20,000s.
Is it giving a big enough boost to help them in a battle? Or do you think they just wore it out of custom or to identify themselves as Freeza's men?

What about 530,000 Freeza? Why would he wear the armour of the saiyan monkeys, if it's not giving an actual boost? Just to make it clear to the world that his soldiers are his?

 

[SSJ2]

Vegeta said they will withstand most impacts but was pretty vague about it. On Earth, Tenshinhan's Kikoho (~2500) destroyed the shoulder pads on Nappa's armour. Nappa was suppressed at the time, but given that he tanked the attack without taking damage, he should be well above 2500 and the armour still broke.

Then there was Yajirobe slashing through Vegeta's armour. That one is actually quite interesting as the armour might have saved Vegeta from taking real damage there, but it's very difficult to quantify how much the armour made a difference.

 

[Dagon]

I imagine it's the equivalent of a mix between martial arts padding and motocross armor, just scaled up according to power level.

 

[ahill1]

I guess it just gives some little extra charm. The Makankosappo could still pierce through Raditz... And Vegeta wondered if getting lighter without his armor was Freeza's transformation. I think it's just a little cherry on the cake, a very small one.

 

[Spiral-Force]

Besides a bit of a defensive boost, it helps with not looking as rowdy after a hard fought battle like gi wearers. I think characters like Vegeta are a bit more aware of things like that.

It'd also be odd to see someone like Frieza in martial arts clothes IMO.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

It's completely worthless. We see Vegeta fight just fine without it in the Boo arc and Superhero.

 

[The_Authority]

Of course it adds something. Originally, only Freeza and a select few of his men were ridiculously powerful (well, compared to where the series would go very quickly). I'm sure the armor came in very useful to the Saiyana as they were when they would invade other planets. I'm sure the armor did very well for the random little members of the Freeza army. I don't think The armor adds anything significant to Freeza nor the Ginyu Special Forces nor maybe even Zarbon and Dodoria. But, it also serves as a uniform.

 

[Future Warrior]

It does but the story doesn’t account for it.

 

[Boo Brand Milk]

I remember the old geocities and angelfire sites did account for a buff with the Saiyan armor (even claiming Goku and Gohan had a particular boost) but was of course not backed by anything in reality.