I'd agree. I think the biggest thing for me is that I had to think about what was being expressed on the left hand side while the right hand side seems more explicit and straight forward. Provided that and the fact that only a handful of lines were actually saved, I don't see much advantage.
I can't say that I find it less readable... but it is only marginally better for me. I'd rather just use a decent editor which takes care of the braces for me.