Backlight Settings Not Working

There is a backlight setting in System->Sleep Mode, have you checked that?

Yeah, checked that setting too.  Weirdly enough the backlight is nice and bright during the day, so I know it's not hardware at fault.

OK, so quite a few people have read this post but only one comment, thanks @.ALIENST 

So it would seem that I have managed to buy a defective watch, the backlight once again does not come on when i press the button.  Sad as I really like this watch.

Garmin-Christopher Looped you in Chris as I see you were involved in a similar issue on the Instinct 2 a few days back.  Can you help with this issue?

I'm having the same issue with the backlight not coming on at all, even though all backlight settings are enabled

I think I have found the cause, see my other thread here https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-7-series/286978/fenix-7x-backlight-parameters-setting-on-gcm-watch

We really also need a feature that turns the backlight on and off based on the light in the vicinity, detected by the solar panel, regardless of time or sleep windows. :)

OK, I've started the process for returning the watch as it's certainly defective.......  I can't determine if it's software causing the issue or hardware issues, either way I paid good money for the watch and it's not behaving as expected.

Thanks all, going back to my trusty old Fenix 6X, thankfully not sold yet!

Yes, that was it, wrong bedtimes. I set 23:58 start - 23:59 wake up. This way the gesture will always work.