Go lighter, not darker; it's a kitchen, not a tomb.

Subway (elongated) is cool, and you can either lay offset or straight (more modern). That hex/subway is pretty cool.

I definitely do not like pure hex as a backsplash or on walls in general.

Thanks for your input! I am going dark as I just ripped out white subway tile.

I’d love to help. Can you please post images of your space, and tell me what your counter material is? Also, what is your tile budget in $/sf?

I would prefer the small hex tiles as they have more color variation.

While I love matte, matte DARK colors will show a lot of grease and fingerprints...depending on what type of lighting your kitchen gets.