I saw somewhere that'albeit' comes from 'all be it' but its meaning (and use) is not quite the same. I don't come across 'albeit' often at all.

I can't remember using 'albeit' in my writing. I use 'though' or 'but' or 'even if' instead. For example "The evening was nice though/but it was cold."

From Plain and Simple English (PSE) stand, we would use words that are common and easy to understand even where we have to change the whole sentence or passage. ;-) Extreme?