Wooden chess pieces

Are they that much better than a plastic set? What to expect about feel, weight, and use in public gatherings ...

Great for flexing, but thats it

I have a beautiful wooden chess set from a charity shop (still fairly expensive though), and yes the feel and weight is much better. Absolutely do not get a plastic set if you can find a wooden one. It's not a 'flex', the chessboard is a work of art itself. Ultimately, they are miniature sculptures and can be very aesthetic. There's a reason why artists, such as Man Ray or Duchamp, have obsessed over the game and created their own chessboards.

I've seen some decently looking weighted plastic pieces on silicone boards. So it kind of depends on the quality and what are you comparing them to.

Plastic pieces on the wooden board wouldn't make much sense, for example. Same as quality wooden pieces on a cheap vinyl board. Though if you would take DGT Smartboard (the plastic and not that bad looking one comparing to their "wooden" boards, which are veneer over composite), I would most definitely suggest to get wooden pieces over their cheap looking plastic ones.

You want weighted pieces, they would feel much better.

I totally agree with bufferunderrun. The weight of the pieces is so important. There are quite solid plastic pieces that feel much better than some cheap wooden pieces.

Good quality wooden pieces are ok on foldable vinyl for me, and they are used regularly in tournaments here.

What can you expect? Well, basically nothing or everything. It is not uncommon to have damaged pieces, like rooks with chipped off pars off the top, or mixed sets, where not all pawns are of equal size, or bishops of different shape, etc. This can be annoying at times, but one needs to get comfortable with that.

The figures should not be too light, whether made of wood or plastic. But I think that wooden figures look more valuable and “feel warmer in the hand”.

Hopefully helpful: www.chesshouse.com/pages/chess-sets-guide

this is a way better than plastic, of course

I love wood, but that is a personal aesthetic.

I've got a board and pieces made out of glass. Not the one made for drinking, more one Elsa would put on display in her ice-palace.
The feel is not as cold as I expected. There is no "black" side. Just transparent against some sort of milky. The pieces have the propper grip and weight. It's a bit frail and I put some velvet under every piece, otherwise the sound of glass on glass on every move would send a shiver down my spine.
Impressive game, but not made for the day-to-day operations.