Backlight gesture mode issue when running

In general use mode when raising the arm the backlight comes on and when lowering the arm the backlight turns off (or when the timeout expires - 8s default). This is also true for DND if gesture is not deactivated. My opinion is that the behavior above should be consistent in all modes (general and activity).

For activity mode there seems to be an ongoing defect (also found in the 6 series, reported several times and not fixed); raising the arm turns on the backlight BUT when lowering the arm, the gesture is not registered and the backlight stays on until the timeout  expires; if meanwhile another arm raise is registered (accidently or otherwise) the timer is reset, and so on and so on, resulting in an almost constant ON backlight during running. And yes, this is a battery burner. Garmin - Chris does not acknowledge this as a defect (see here forums.garmin.com/.../1391239 ) and not enough users are bothered by it, and so it perpetuates...  

This defect was also found in the 5 series but was fixed early on.

I have the same issue and actually tested this again yesterday. On my watch the backlight doesn’t turn off after the timeout even though I didn’t raise my wrist in the mean time. I have the backlight to 8 secs and I tested this several times

That is in part due to another strange backlight behavior (not clear if it's intended or not). Backlight will not obey timeout or gesture and will stay on as long as GPS signal is not completely acquired or heart rate is not properly detected. You can test this by playing around with the backlight while starting a GPS activity indoor or by trying to take a pulse ox reading while not standing still.

My workaround to this issue is to wait until the backlight times out, AFTER hitting the start button, before starting my run.

Then watch's backlight gestures works as designed during the run, i.e. wrist gesture turns on backlight.

I have an 8 second time out.

I don't think that's the case for me. I never start a workout without GPS lock before I start. And the behaviour was there the entire time during my 1h workout out in the open. I also had normal HR readings the entire time

I'll try that the next time

Or garmin could fix the darn thing, the functionality is already there for general usage (and for other product lines as the OP mentioned), it just has to be properly implemented in the activity context. 

So the light won’t constantly be turn on, when I have gesture mode activated during my run if I:

1. Hit the “start button” (after getting GPS lock)

2. wait until the backlight turns off

3. and then start my run? 

Yes, that's the procedure I followed for the wrist gesture mode to work on my watch while running.

Through trial and error I also found that when you see that your watch’s backlight is constantly on, while running, stop moving and wait until the backlight times out then continue your run. Wrist gestures will then activate the backlight and timeout.

The watch seems to require a backlight timeout after starting a run activity for the backlight’s wrist gesture mode to function as designed. 

Thank you for the tip. 

I tried the procedure, where I waited to run before the backlight turned off. It didn’t work. 

My backlight keeps turning on and off constantly or just keeps being turned on. 

I then tried turning off gesture mode, to see if I could live with touching the screen for information. That was so annoying that I turned on gesture mode again. 

I also tried positioning my arm in different positions. Non of it worked. 

Would be nice with an option to adjust the gesture sensitivity for activities. I think some other product lines have the option. Or just a less sensitive setting as default when running.