Numerical relativity (NR) provides the most accurate waveforms for comparable-mass binary black holes but becomes prohibitively expensive for increasingly asymmetric mass ratios. Point-particle black hole perturbation theory (ppBHPT), which expands the Einstein equations in the small-mass-ratio limit, offers a computationally efficient alternative but is expected to break down in the comparable-mass regime because it neglects nonlinear effects. Nonetheless, several recent studies have shown that ppBHPT can model nonspinning binaries with high accuracy when supplemented by simple calibrations or a first postadiabatic (PA) correction. Here we assess the applicability of ppBHPT to quasicircular binaries with a nonprecessing primary and a nonspinning secondary by comparing waveform amplitudes, orbital frequencies, and phases. We find that spin effects in ppBHPT waveforms (without additional spin information beyond adiabatic order) agree surprisingly well with NR (outperforming some post-Newtonian models) over the last $\approx 20$ orbital cycles. This suggests that, after incorporating higher-order nonspinning corrections into ppBHPT—via second-order self-force results or semianalytical fits—only modest spin-dependent adjustments may be required to achieve NR-faithful waveforms. We also show that combining nonspinning NR information with adiabatic ppBHPT yields reasonably accurate inspiral waveforms for spins $\chi \lesssim 0.5$ and mass ratios $q\gtrsim 5$.

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