I would suggest you invest a few bucks and purchase a box of the product. Samples are too small to get a good idea of what is about unfold. The company photos have plenty of "character". The word "character" is a nice way of saying "not uniform". That means there will be PLENTY of movement with knots, mineral streaks and colour variations. That all adds up to "busy".

As for other people's room photos, remember that lighting is EVERYTHING. With natural pics (non-professional photos without a photo studio/studio lighting) you will see how a product really looks in certain settings....but you must be fully aware of the direction of the room (north facing? vs. southern exposure?), the wall colour, the amount of natural light from windows, time of day, amount of artificial light, tint of the bulb, furniture colours, etc, etc. etc. Way too many things to calculate the "real" appearance of the floors in YOUR space.

Only one thing will tell you how "dark" these floors will appear in your space = bringing a box of product home and laying it in your space. Then view the space through all 5 lighting situations in a day (yep...there are 5 different forms of light...so it is best to view it through all of them).

The uniformity - or lack there of - already seems to concern you. Which tells me this "character" product is probably not a thing for you.

You can get the same COLOUR range (but without all the movement) if you look at something that advertises as "European Oak". Or a visual with a lime finish. The knots and the "character" of the plank (colour variations, heavy mineral streaks) are offering a strong visual. If you want "more uniform" then you will have to look at something that is missing all of the above.

Steven, was wondering if you made a choice? I'm considering Dry Cork, Tanin, or Dockside Sand! If you installed your floors, could you share a photo?