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.