Sure. Occasionally I'll swap tires and tubes the same day, same bike, and ride the same route, just for a reasonably fair impression of both.
In fact, I did that yesterday. Got a new-to-me wheelset for my old steel road bike. I've been borrowing a wheelset for a friend and need to return them soon. The borrowed set has 700x25 Continental Grand Prix Classic skinwalls with latex tubes -- subjectively the nicest riding combo I've tried on chipeal and rough roads. Been riding 'em for almost two months.
The new/used wheelset is nearly identical -- semi-aero Araya rims, comparable loose bearing cup & cone hubs -- so the hardware shouldn't make much difference. Instead of swapping over the Conti GP Classics and latex tubes, I put on a set of 700x23 Conti Ultra Sport II and fairly lightweight Bontrager tubes.
Yup, riding the familiar route confirmed my impression. The somewhat bigger Conti tires and latex tubes really help.
But the cheaper, skinnier Conti tires and butyl tubes really weren't bad. Just a bit harsher on some pavement. No real difference in grip, overall handling. Mostly just a comfort thing.
Which reminded me why the cheap Conti Ultra Sport II are such a great value at around $15-$20 each. But the GP Classics look nicer and ride just a tiny bit better on chipseal and rough stuff.
A couple of weeks ago I did the same thing with my favorite hybrid. I usually use Continental Speed Rides (nominally 700x42, actually closer to 700x38). Great inexpensive tires. But I had a puncture and slow leak overnight (first in two years on that bike), so I figured it'd be a good opportunity to try a pair of Conti Sport Contact II in 700x32 I got a year or so ago to fit a set of Bluemel fenders that were too narrow for the SpeedRides. I rode the Sport Contact II briefly when I first got them and seemed to recall that I didn't like them. But this time they seem fine. The difference might be the wheelsets. I replaced an older set of wheels with wider rims around 622x19 or so with narrower 622x14. The Conti SpeedRides are really too wide for such narrow rims and lose some handling on fast curves and bumpy roads -- they feel a bit jouncy and squishy, kinda imprecise. But the narrower, firmer Sport Contact II felt fine on the narrower rims.