First off, the 'bubbles' are part of the wood. They make up the medullary rays. That's a nice term for nutrition TUBES in the tree. These tubes are hollow because they move the sap (ie. water + nutrients = tree blood) from the roots to the leaves. The ANGLE OF THE CUT causes you to SEE them as bubbles.

Now onto the WEAR layer. The VALUE of the wood floors comes in your ability to refinish them. The THICKNES of the wear layer (the white oak you are paying for) tells you how many times (ie. how valuable) you can refinish them. To achieve a full sand/refinish you need 3mm as a minimum. Anything over 3mm of thickness is a BONUS sand/refinish. A wood floor with 2mm thickness = 'one and done'...and of lower quality. A wood floor with 6mm wear layer = 3 full sand/refinishes = IDENTICAL to SOLID HARDWOOD.

Now onto the FINISH. The TOUGHEST finishes are Aluminium Oxide poly/urethane based or ceramic nanobeads poly/urethane based. That's what you want to see to get TOUGH.

The 'raw look' (super dull looking floors like your samples) OFTEN have HARDWAX OIL finishes or they are called UV Oiled floors. Either way they can be a ROYAL PITA. They take HUGE amounts of maintenance by the HOMEOWNER (yah...twice a year...for 25+ years...not fun).

So the moral of my story is:

1. Pick the floors with the THICKEST wear layer

2. Pick the floor with the TOUGHEST finish

3. Figure out if you are someone who LIKES shiny floors (makes them feel like they've done a great job cleaning)...'cause if you ARE a 'clean-shiny' person (as I call them) then DULL FLOORS are going to make you CRY. And cry. And cry. Nope. Not kidding. We've seen it on Houzz close to 100 times (I've been on here since 2015).

Homeowner KNOW thyself.

I have the same sample from Timeless wood floors that I am considering. Just wondering if you picked it and how you like it?