display gesture mode during activity

This must be addressed, for me watch is almost unusable with gestures on, for specific workout, i cant monitor times or zones or anything , the screen turns off so quick i cannot. Seems like it will stay on for 8 seconds given no other input but the motions of running tricks epix to think you put your hand down, and the 8 second timer is overruled by the detected gesture... Here is how it should work:

 - If gesture has been detected it should remain on for x seconds(x is set by user 3/8/15 seconds) regardless of motions.

 - if input is detected(use of buttons or touch if enabled) the timer should be reset.

Is there any particular reason for preferring gesture mode rather than AOD during activities? I tried gesture mode on my first run but the slight delay in firing up the watch face from completely off was too much to be comfortable. I switched to AOD for activities and much prefer it that way. The screen fires up from dim more or less instantly. I assume it must impact battery life, but I can't say I have noticed.

There has been a suggestion that the gesture/AOD mode should be defined per activity and I can see the merit in that for an activity such as hiking or an ultramarathon. 

I would say battery life is the primary reason, I havent compared to much myself but its possible that the difference is minimal, I just like the idea of gestures and if you are including it then i should work properly, as I am sure it will given an update or 2

I suspect you would still find the momentary lag in firing up the screen makes it awkward to use during an activity. I think gesture is more suited to everyday watch use and that is why the option is included. I think it will always be slightly unsatisfactory to use during an activity - even if gesture worked perfectly 100% of the time (it is good but not infallible and occasionally fails to register the wrist movement). I am sure software improvements are possible.

Yes, battery life. I haven't tested but according with Garmin battery life is significantly increased (30 to 42h in GPS only, 24 to 32h all satellite systems and 15 to 20h in multiband). For me, gesture in smartwatch mode works totally fine and I do not get why it is so bad during activities. I just would like to have the option to choose.

I guess we all think of different ways of getting value from these devices and I think I get what you may be doing. I began by using AOD during activities then switched to AOD off, glance on, screen timeout set to 8 seconds and Auto Scroll in my Run Settings set to fast. The screens were charging to quickly so I switched to medium and that has worked for me. It worked because if when I glanced and it was not the screen that I wanted, rather than waiting, which would compromise my flow, I simply looked a few strides later. I would suggest setting AOD on unless you can live with an Auto Scroll setting that suits your pace and comfort. 

That’s a bigger difference than I would have expected.

I've tried Auto Scroll in older devices but not really liked. What I think is happening (at least for me) is that the slightest arm movement is making the screen to go off, hence the buttons don't respond when tried to switch between screens. If I walk and keep my arm completly still everything works perfect, but when running even if I am looking at the screen, the display goes off. For walking, hiking and perhaps for jogging or very easy runs this might work, but no way it will for any other running workout. For me, being able to switch screens with the display off will just fix this issue.

Sounds like you either have a faulty watch or software bug then. Mine does not do this.