Chad Wallace

April 4, 2020

MantisX, Review

Mantis X10 Elite

Chad Wallace

April 4, 2020

MantisX, Review

Mantis has brought out their top of the line training system, the Mantis X10 Elite. The X10 does all the things the original Mantis X did, and lots more. I reviewed the original Mantis X about one and a half years ago. I was impressed with it. When they offered to send me the X10 for review, I immediately said yes. The new X10 is even more impressive and smaller.

X10 mounted on a rifle handguard. solid green light means X10 is connected and on.

As most of us know, dry fire training works extremely well to improve shooting skills. The Mantis X10 Elite makes it easy and fun. No more just aiming at a light switch and practicing trigger pull. The X10 will help you understand what you are doing wrong. In my case, the score tells me how much I suck. But touch the red part of the score, and the X10 will tell you what you did wrong, and more importantly, how to fix it! The higher the score, the better you are doing. Or the errors you have are not as noticeable. Part of the fun from the X10 comes with competing against your friends, family, or in groups of people.

The Mantis X10 Elite has a plethora of training options and choices. It will work on pistols, rifles, shotguns, and even bows. I’m going to leave out talking about archery, because it is not in my wheelhouse. In all of these firearms, you get all the training options in the app. All of the training drills of the original X have been included. These include: Open Training, Shot timer, Benchmarks, Surprise Break, Primary and Support hand, Reload drills, Cadence drills, plus a new one, Hostage drills. The rifle section even has Slow fire and Rapid fire training at different ranges and positions. Yes, that is a lot and I won’t go over them all. One of my new dry fire favorites is the Hostage taker drill. In this drill, at the buzzer, you draw and then fire at a post-it note (or something). To complete this, you must score an 85 or higher. My other favorite is the Standard open training. Once you “start”, you just dry fire as normal and it scores you and tells you what you are doing wrong. Once you press “stop” it gives you an average score, along with other analysis stuff.

From my standpoint, the new features on the Mantix X10 are what make it shine. New are Holster draw and Recoilmeter. Of course, holster draw isn’t for the rifle. I use an adapter for the magazine baseplate, this allows me to mount the X10 on the base of a magazine instead of on the handguns rail. Mantis sells adapters for pistols without forward mounted rails also. The draw analysis gives the user plenty of data. The data points it uses are: Grip, Pull, Horizontal, Target, and Shot. See picture marked “Draw Data” for explanations. There is also a movement chart, that shows those different data points in their respective colors. It also overlays all the movement charts, in each session, so you can compare them. The new Recoilmeter is perfect for someone like me. It literally gives me useful data for reviews. It can also work very well if you are tuning a muzzle brake to your specific ammunition or finding which ammunition has the least amount of muzzle rise for your rifle. As one can guess, the Recoilmeter only works with live fire. The data points received from the X10 are: Recovery time, Muzzle rise, Recoil width, and recoil angle. See picture marked “Recoil Data” for explanations. I did have some trouble with this portion of the app. When rapid firing, the X10 wouldn’t read all of the shots. Somewhere between 30-50% of them wouldn’t record. But on a good note, when I shot slower, all of the data was recorded. For me, the Recoilmeter allows comparisons of different muzzle devices, or lack thereof. Thus giving the readers actual data on muzzle device reviews. These new options for the X10 can really aid in dry and live fire drills.

Options for all types of training and firearms are included in the X10 and corresponding app. In the settings, one can choose dry fir, live fire, or CO2 fire. The CO2 option is so that an airsoft or similar training firearm can be used. This then gives the user a better simulation of recoil. Allowing for even better training when sitting at home in your favorite chair. Live fire training with the X10 can help refine what was learned in all the dry fire practice. The X10 can be mounted just about anywhere on a firearm and still work just fine. This is kind of nice, especially if you use it on multiple firearms.

Just a quick note about the Mantis X10. It’s small. It uses a little flip thing to attach it to a picatinny rail. It has a Micro-USB charging port, comes with a cable, but no light to see when it is charged or charging. But since the charge lasts 20 hours, it doesn’t really matter that much. There is an estimated battery life, with percent, in the app, but it is hard to find in the settings tab.

What can the Mantis X10 Elite do for you? It can definitely make you a better shooter. It can give you the dry fire training everyone probably needs, and it can be fun. The X10 is really a great training tool for anyone, from the novice to the expert. The new recoil and holster draw components make it shine above the original Mantis X. Go give Mantis a look, I have been extremely happy with their products.

Firearms Insider Reviews - 8 Key Points

Claim to Fame:

Training aid for Rifles, Shotguns, and Pistols

Target Market:

Those wanting to improve their skills

FNBs (Features & Benefits of this product):

Dry Fire

Live Fire
Handgun analysis
Rifle analysis
Shotgun analysis
Archery analysis - requires separate app
Training modes/drills
Courses
Coaching tips
History Tracking
Groups and Messaging
Muzzle trace tracking
Trigger control analysis
Shot timer
Smoothness analytics
Consistency comparisons
Recoil analysis
Holster draw analysis
Lever Quick Disconnect
Weight - 14 grams
Battery Life - 20 hours

What other aesthetic options or finishes are available?

Mantis X2, X3, X7

What others are saying?:

Mad_Dog on Amazon 4 out of 5 stars

Great training system

This is a must have for the serious self defender and the person worried about trigger control.

The dry fire setting is wonderful. You can practice your dry fire and holster draw with dry fire.

Has other drills in the app (both Apple and Android) too.

Training feedback is through the smartphone. I have a headset that I use at the shooting range that has Bluetooth built in so there is no problem hearing the feedback after each shot.

This system works with dry fire, live fire and CO2. Yes, this system does cost as much as some firearms, but is well worth the money.

Our Rating:

Pros:

Recoil analysis
Holster draw analysis
Small and lightweight
Fits almost any firearm (comes with shotgun barrel adapters)
Great Training aid
Free app updates

Cons:

Slow to pick up recoil
No charging light
Price

Score: 8.50 Great

Favorite Link: Gun And Gear Cult

Chad Wallace

December 26, 2018

Review, MantisX

MantisX

Chad Wallace

December 26, 2018

Review, MantisX

If you haven’t heard about the MantisX shooting system, you are missing out. If you are interested in improving your shooting, MantisX could be the help you need. This is the easiest training system I have used. Mantis did send this out for review, and I was pleasantly surprised at what it can do. All you need is a smartphone or tablet and the control module to get started.

The MantisX is a novel concept in the shooting world. The smart sensor, which attaches to your rail, is only half of the training system. The other half being the app, which I’ll discuss later. At just under 2” long, 1.375” wide, and 1” tall, it doesn’t add much size to the firearm. It also only weighs 1 ounce. So you really don’t even notice it’s on the firearm. The smart sensor comes with a charging cord and a nice little carrying case. I just use my phone’s charger and cord and it works fine. I never use the carrying case since I seem to always have it mounted on a firearm. On the bottom of the sensor is also an on/off button and led to show when it’s on. The smart sensor basically senses tiny amounts of movement in the firearm. Then it relays that, via bluetooth, to the MantixX app. Then all the magic happens.

I said the app was half of the system, it is probably more like 90%. The MantisX app does so much, that I will likely forget something about it. First up, it has training courses, with the first one being an introduction. The intro course basically take you through how the app works along with some training shots. The other courses are Basic marksmanship and a FBI Qualification course. The FBI course has to be done with live fire, but the others can be done with dry fire.

The other part of the app is the “train” section. In this Train section it has: Open training, Shot timer, MantixX Benchmark, Timed Benchmark, Surprise Break, Reload in Battery, Reload out of Battery, Reload Tactical, Primary hand only, Support hand only, and Cadence of 0.5, 1.0, & 2.0 seconds. Once you have used these, there is a history tab that keeps track of them. I like the history tab because it lets me see how I am doing over time. It also tracks how many shots you have completed on each “train” tab. The History tab at the bottom of the app will also show total number of shots fired. A really nice bonus to keep track of how many rounds have been fired through a particular gun.

If you are into competing with your friends, or even people you don’t know, the MantisX has a “groups” tab. In the groups, you can enter a friends name to compete or compare with. The tab also has groups that you can add. All of this helps you to compare how you are doing with others. It can help you improve your skills by making you accountable. But you don’t have to use this feature if you don’t want to.

Last up is the “settings” tab. It is not all that one would think. In it, it has rifle or pistol selection. Right or Left hand. Live fire, Dry fire, and CO2. I don’t have a CO2 pistol to try it on, but I have used Mantis’ at a shooting event, using the CO2, and it worked fine. There is also a sensor mounting direction and location. I actually mount the sensor on the bottom and backwards on my pistol. With it mounted backwards, I have access to the charging port without having to remove the sensor. When you select rifle or pistol, it has a very long list of manufacturers to choose from. I usually use mine on a Polymer80, so I chose the Glock 19 and it works great. If your firearm doesn’t have a mounting rail, Mantis offers adapters for certain pistols. Of course there are also the normal app settings along with an instruction guide.

I’ve been using the Mantisx since I received it. Mostly with dry fire practice, but some live fire. I even mounted it to a rifle for testing. Within the sections, for instance in the “Open Training,” The app gives you a list of scores, time between shots, etc. If you swipe left, a round chart comes up with an average score. Around the center circle are red areas. When you touch one of the red areas, it brings up what was possibly wrong during that shot and then how to correct the issue. If you swipe left again, it brings up a graph with trigger press movement and stability. Swipe left again and see an actual movement display for each shot.

Now that I went through a lot of the functions, here are my thoughts. The MantisX is a really useful training tool. If nothing else, it gets you to dry fire more. I even got my family to try it out. Once in awhile during dry practice, the MantisX didn’t seem to want to pick up every shot. What I thought was weird about it, was that the phone was only a foot away. I just reconnected the sensor and it worked fine. I did notice that during range time, if I was too far away from my phone, it wouldn’t register shots either, so just keep your phone in your pocket and it will work fine. The sensor worked good no matter where, or how, it was mounted. I mounted it at the end of a 15” handguard, as well as right up on the receiver, without any problems. I really like all the charts, graphs, etc in the app. You will need a holster for a light if you want to do draw and fire practice. I really liked how the app accesses what you did wrong. This was especially helpful during live fire when recoil can offer up more challenges.

If you’re in the market for some sort of training app, I would go check out the MantisX. If nothing else, it is fun to see what is going on with your shooting. At a price of $150, it won’t break the bank either.

Firearms Insider Reviews - 8 Key Points

Claim to Fame:

App based firearms training system

Target Market:

Anyone wanting to improve their shooting skills

FNBs (Features & Benefits of this product):

Rail mounted sensor
USB charging
Bluetooth connectivity
Small and lightweight
Carrying case

What other aesthetic options or finishes are available?

Adapters for magazines and other firearms without a rail to mount the Mantis X on

What others are saying?:

R.King on Amazon 4/5 stars

It works as advertised - a must have tool for both students and instructors

I think this tool is great for both instructors and students of marksmanship. Not only does it save you plenty of money on ammo, it lets you see exactly how you are pulling the trigger visually. This has helped me alone better understand how my trigger pull has been affecting my shots. I already knew this. However being able to SEE it made a nice difference.

I have yet to try it at the range. I have been dry firing daily trying to improve my trigger control. I will be going this week likely and see how much I have improved.

Pros: Works great, many settings to choose from, visually appealing, visually educational. I plan on using this tool with my students if they are having trouble with trigger control.

Cons: This is a very very small con, as MantisX explains, they are continually updating the software. However, there are times when it does not detect dry fires. However it is NOT a deal breaker at all. Just shoot again. Where it becomes a problem though is when you are doing timed shots. Other than that, I really have nothing bad to say about this product. Also, mine didn't come with a "pelican case." It was just a zipper case. Still good quality.

Suggestion: It would be very helpful if it came with a quick release rail mount or something. It is a little pain in the ass to have to remove it every time I want to carry or holster. Granted, it isn't difficult to remove, more of an inconvenience. However, if you already have a holster cut for tac light or something, this might not be a problem for you.