Mantis X10 Elite Review

After a year of heavy use, here is our review of the Mantis X10 Elite.

As the Founder of Tactical Hyve, I’m a serious shooter who researches and tests a lot of products, so you don’t have to. And today, I’ve taken an in-depth look at the Mantis X10 Elite Shooting Performance System to help you decide if it’s right for you.

World and National Champion shooter, JJ Racaza, recommended I try the Mantis, so I did. I found the Mantis X10 Elite to be a remarkable training device, both during live-fire and dry fire practice. There is no other product in the market that does what it does at the same price range.

So if you’ve been on the edge about picking one up and just want to know what I think, I highly recommend it and encourage every serious shooter to buy it.

In this Mantis X10 Elite review, we’ll cover its features and benefits, how it works, customer reviews, and potential alternatives.

Let’s get started!

What is the Mantis X10 Elite?

The Mantis X10 Elite is a breakthrough sensor that mounts to standard slotted, Picatinny accessory rails or adaptors. The sensor collects thousands of data points per second, analyzing your shooting in real-time.

X10’s sensor can detect all movements, even those imperceptible to the human eye. To me, this is the greatest benefit and why I think it’s perfect for diagnosing grip and trigger manipulation problems.

The X10 is part of the second generation of Mantis Shooting Performance Systems. Key features of the second generation include:

• 40% smaller
• 50% lighter
• 3X the battery life
• 4X the data rate
• A quick detach system

In addition to everything previous models had, i.e. the X2 and X3, the X10 includes:

• Recoil Analysis
• Holster Draw Analysis
• Support for all shooting sports (i.e. pistol, rifle, shotgun, and archery)

What’s in the Box?

When you receive the Mantis X10 Elite, you’ll get:

• The Mantis X10 Elite sensor
• A barrel mount Picatinny rail for rifles and shotguns
• A universal MagRail adapter that can be used for archery or if your firearm does not have rails
• A USB charging cable
• A Mantis X10 Case with a foam insert
• A quick start guide

In addition to these essential components, a variety of adapters enhance the versatility of the Mantis X systems:

• Magazine Floor Plate Replacement Adapters: Perfect for most magazine-fed handguns, these adapters allow seamless integration with your firearm.
• Barrel Adapters: Suitable for both rifles and shotguns, they ensure a secure fit for optimal performance.
• Bore Rails: Designed exclusively for dry fire practice, they provide a safe and effective training solution.
• Universal Rail: This versatile option can be attached almost anywhere flat using screws or sticky pads, offering flexibility for various setups.

By combining these adapters, you can customize your Mantis X experience to suit a wide range of firearms and training needs.

How Does It Work?

The Mantis X10 Elite system leverages cutting-edge accelerometer technology to enhance firearm training. By incorporating an array of smartphone accelerometer sensors, it can detect the firearm’s orientation and firing moments with precision.

These sensors play a crucial role by continuously monitoring shifts in both position and orientation. This data is captured at very short intervals, resulting in a nearly seamless stream of information.

Moreover, these accelerometers excel at picking up the subtle metallic shock that occurs each time the firearm is discharged, whether it’s during live firing or dry fire practice. This capability allows the system to provide valuable insights into shooting performance, helping users improve accuracy and consistency.

The sensor needs to be attached to a rail on your firearm.

Or you can use their universal MagRail adapter to attach the sensor to the bottom of a magazine.

After attaching the Mantis X10 Elite sensor to your firearm, it provides you with ample data about your shooting performance, whether during a live-fire or dry fire training session.

The sensor measures all of your movements–the good and the bad.

You will learn if you’re moving your muzzle before breaking your shots, while you’re squeezing your trigger, and even after shots are taken.

All of this is extremely valuable information because it allows you to analyze what you’re doing precisely. I find the best benefit is that it shows you movements that you or an instructor wouldn’t be able to detect without the sensor.

You might wonder, “Ok, so the sensor collects the data, where do I get to see all of this information?”

This is where the Mantis mobile app comes into the picture.

Mantis X10 Elite Mobile App

The mobile app, available in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, is where all of the magic happens.

In the app, you can see all of the data collected by the X10 sensor in neatly organized charts and tables. The app is structured around four main menu areas, making navigation intuitive and efficient:

Main Menu Areas

• Train: This is your hub for all training activities. You can select open training to practice freely, choose specific drills to focus on particular skills, engage in one of the shooting courses included in the app, or even participate in daily online drill competitions to keep your training regimen lively and challenging.
• History: Every shot you take is logged here, providing a comprehensive record of all your shooting sessions. This feature offers valuable insights into your progress and areas for improvement over time.
• Groups: Perfect for shared devices, this section allows you to switch between different shooter profiles, ensuring each user’s history is kept distinct and organized.
• Settings: As expected, this is where you configure the app to suit your preferences. It includes options for program settings as well as calibrating the Mantis to specific guns and mounting configurations.

Within the app, there are plenty of courses, drills, and daily challenges you can use to work on different shooting skill sets.

At the time of writing this review, here are the available courses and drills within the app:

Courses

• MantisX Introduction
• Basic Combat
• Advanced Combat
• Basic Marksmanship
• Advanced Marksmanship
• Elite Marksmanship

Drills

• Open Training
• Shot Timer
• MantisX Benchmark
• Timed Benchmark
• Compressed Surprise Break
• Primary Hand Only
• Support Hand Only
• Reload Drills
• Hostage Rescue
• Cadence Drills

As mentioned, each day there is also a new daily challenge.

This comprehensive setup not only tracks your shooting performance but also keeps your training dynamic and tailored to your needs. Whether you’re honing basic skills or advancing to elite levels, the app provides a structured yet flexible environment for growth.

All of its training programs keep things fresh, so you don’t get bored, and they help encourage people to practice.

The app also has a Group feature that allows you to train with other people and share your scores. I haven’t used this feature, but I can see it being of value to those who want accountability and some competition to get them to practice.

Exclusively for the Mantis X10 Elite

If you have the Mantis X10 Elite, you can also take advantage of three additional training programs in the app that let you work on more skill sets.

• Holster Draw Analysis
• Recoilmeter
• Speedtargets

How Does the X10 Measure Your Performance?

Every shot you take is recorded by the sensor and delivers the data to the app. After each session, you can view a summary of your performance and dive deeper into each shot.

But how does this sensor determine where your shots were intended to go and where they actually landed?

The system cleverly relies on sensing movement and detecting the jolt when the firing pin strikes, as it cannot visually perceive the target or the shot itself.

By analyzing the movement data in the 120 milliseconds leading up to the shot, the Mantis X estimates your intended aim point. This incredible feat is achieved through sophisticated algorithms, possibly using AI trained on real shooter data to refine its accuracy.

Session Summary

The first screen will give you a summary of all of your shots with a score from 0 to 100 and times (when applicable). This overview helps you quickly assess your performance and see how close you were to hitting your intended targets.

Shot Chart

When you swipe to the left, you’ll be taken to a shot chart that looks like a bullseye target. In the center, it will give you the average score of all of your shots. This screen also shows you if any of your shots were off target and where they landed with red marks.

On this same screen, the Mantis app will let you know if you did a good job overall or provide you with possible causes for your ‘less than perfect’ performance. You can tap the possible causes, and the Mantis app will provide a short text description of what went wrong and how to fix it, along with images or videos of what is right or wrong.

Going one step further, you can tap on any of the red areas around the bullseye target and the app will give you reasons why your shots (live or dry) landed in those specific spots and how to fix the issue with images or video.

I think this is a great built-in feature, especially for newer shooters who may not really know what they’re doing or how to diagnose their own performance.

One thing to keep in mind is that the diagnosis provided by the app offers possible reasons for your shots being off-target. The app provides some guidance to help correct your shots, but there may be other issues aside from what the app reports that are negatively affecting your performance.

This entire process assumes you’re aiming to keep the gun steady on the target throughout the trigger pull, rather than adjusting your aim during the press. Understanding this can help you better interpret the feedback and improve your shooting skills.

Hold & Trigger Press Movement

From this screen, if you swipe left, you’ll be brought to a screen that shows a chart of your scores for each shot and a chart for the hold movement and trigger press movement before each shot.

“Hold movement” is calculated by looking at the movement before the trigger press, while “trigger press movement” analyzes the movement during the quarter-second before the shot breaks.

Gun Movement

Swipe left again and you’re brought to a screen that measures the movement of your gun.

I use this screen the most to fine-tune my shooting.

Three colored lines will appear:

• Blue Line: The movement while holding your gun before the shot.
• Yellow Line: The movement during your trigger squeeze.
• Red Line: Shows the movement of your gun after the trigger breaks.

A white “X” represents where you actually fired.

You can view all lines at once or press a play button to see the lines appear in chronological order as they happened during your repetition.

I love this diagnostic tool because it records and reports micro-movements that can affect our shots but are too subtle for most shooters to notice.

Understanding the Diagnostic Pistol Target in Relation to Mantis X Analysis

Correlation Between Mantis X Scores and Actual Shot Placement

The Mantis X system provides a score for each shot, indicating its proximity to the intended target center. This score is meant to correlate inversely with the actual distance your shots deviate from the center—higher Mantis scores should mean shots are landing closer to where you aimed. In practical terms, the data reveals a moderate correlation, with the Mantis X explaining about 59% of the variance in shot accuracy. This suggests some reliability in predicting shot placement above random chance.

Evaluating Shot Accuracy Through the Diagnostic Pistol Target

The diagnostic pistol target is a traditional tool used to determine why shots might miss the intended mark. It’s derived from the bullseye pistol discipline, where shooters adopt a specific one-handed stance. This target uses quadrants to diagnose errors based on where shots land, offering advice to correct common mistakes.

Mismatch Between Techniques and Diagnostic Chart

Here’s where the distinction lies: Mantis X’s guidance relies partially on these diagnostic methods. However, the diagnostic chart is tailored for a single-handed bullseye grip, whereas many users of the Mantis X might employ alternative stances like Isosceles, which involve two hands. This variance in shooting stance impacts how accurately the diagnostic target can apply corrective measures. As a result, advice from Mantis X might be misleading if it’s grounded in assumptions meant for a different style of shooting.

How Does It Perform?

From an operational standpoint, it’s easy to get started. Turn on the sensor, open the app, and connect the sensor to your phone (which happens quickly). Once this is done, you’re ready to rock-and-roll.

Pick any of the courses or a drill. Tell the app if you’ll be practicing live-fire or dry fire, if you’re left or right-handed, and if the sensor is oriented forward or backward. Hit the start button and the fun begins. Every shot you take will be recorded and reported in the app as mentioned above.

Performance with Handguns

The Mantis X10 Elite is particularly well-suited for handgun training, which is crucial given the unique challenges handguns present. They require significant practice to achieve proficiency, and this is where the system shines. The app tracks your performance over time, offering scores for each shot that help you identify trends and areas for improvement.

To put the system’s accuracy to the test, I recorded data from multiple shooting sessions. Each shot was analyzed to see how well the system predicted the actual landing spot on the target. The scores provided by the app correlated strongly with my recorded data, suggesting that the system is more than just a random guess at where your shots will land.

From a reliability and speed perspective, the entire Mantis X10 Elite Shooting Performance System has been great. The app has never frozen on me and all screens load quickly with your data.

Insights and Limitations

However, there are some limitations. For instance, I noticed that with the holster draw analysis program, if you have a sub-second draw, sometimes the sensor cannot detect or does not register the “pull,” which is the time from establishing your grip to when you start pulling your gun from your holster. This could be an area for improvement in future updates.

Despite this minor issue, the system excels in providing valuable feedback, especially considering its primary focus on handguns. The app’s diagnostic capabilities often mirror traditional shooting advice, ensuring that the guidance you receive is both relevant and actionable.

Effectiveness with Rifles

The results are mixed when it comes to using the Mantis X with rifles, especially in precision shooting. The unit struggles to differentiate between good and poor trigger pulls when the rifle is supported. This lack of sensitivity means it might not capture the nuances of a precision shot, no matter how violently you manipulate the trigger.

In various scenarios, from shooting supported to the more challenging unsupported NRA smallbore standing position, the device does show some ability to distinguish between intentional good and bad pulls. However, it falls short in accurately indicating where shots land, making it less reliable for pinpoint accuracy assessment.

The subtle movements involved in rifle shooting are difficult for the sensor to detect, particularly since achieving a clean shot often relies on timing with minimal natural wobble.

Other than this, I’ve been very happy with the product and highly recommend it.

This comprehensive look at the Mantis X highlights both its strengths and areas for improvement, making it a valuable tool for shooters looking to refine their skills, albeit with certain limitations in specific shooting contexts.

Is the Mantis X System Better Than Chance at Predicting Shot Placement?

After examining the performance of the Mantis X system in determining shot placement, the evidence suggests that it is indeed better than chance to predict where your shots are likely to land. The system offers a score for each shot, indicating its accuracy relative to the target’s center.

Analyzing the Data

I conducted a straightforward statistical analysis to assess the Mantis X system’s effectiveness. Each shot’s score, ranging up to a maximum of 100, was compared against the distance from the target center. Ideally, there ought to be an inverse correlation: a higher score should correlate with a smaller distance from the center.

Statistical Findings

The data I collected in a recent shooting session showed a meaningful pattern. The correlation coefficient (R²) was calculated at 0.594, which implies that the Mantis scores can explain 59% of the variance in shot placement. This indicates a substantial relationship between the predicted aim and the actual outcome, surpassing mere chance.

Practical Implications

While surpassing chance is a foundational benchmark, it doesn’t guarantee precision excellence. The Mantis X10 is more reliable than random guesses in estimating shot placement, but there’s room for improvement in its predictive accuracy. This variance suggests that although the Mantis X system provides valuable feedback for training, it doesn’t fully replace traditional shooting diagnostics.

Ultimately, while the Mantis X system excels beyond random predictions, it’s still a tool that should complement a broader practice and diagnostic regime for shooters seeking to refine their skills.

Mantis X10 Elite Training Programs

There are three programs in the app unique to the X10. The Holster Draw Analysis, RecoilMeter, and Speed Targets.

Each is unique with a different set of screens from the courses and drills mentioned earlier, and each works on a skill set associated with the program name.

• Holster Draw Analysis = working your draw
• RecoilMeter = working your recoil management
• Speed Targets = working target transitions

All the programs can be used during live fire, but only the Holster Draw Analysis and Speed Targets training programs can be used during dry fire because one cannot experience recoil and muzzle rise while shooting dry.

Holster Draw Analysis

The holster draw analysis is pretty neat. It tracks your total time from your draw to your first shot, but the Mantis X10 Elite also breaks down your performance even further.

It records the time it takes you to grip your gun (“Grip”), pull your gun out of your holster (“Pull”), the time from when your gun is drawn and rotated to horizontal alignment (“Horizontal”), the time from getting the gun horizontal to getting the gun steady on target (“Target”), and the time from steady on target to when a shot is detected (“Shot”).

There is also a second screen that assesses the path and the consistency of your draws.

RecoilMeter

With the RecoilMeter program, the Mantis X10 Elite measures four key components of recoil:

• Muzzle rise: the peak angular rise of the gun after the shot
• Recovery time: time for the gun to return and stabilize to the original point of aim
• Recoil angle: the angle to the left or right that the gun moved as it recoiled upward
• Recoil width: the width of the loop formed by the upward and downward movement of the gun

Clicking on each measure will show summary data for that session: the session average, and a chart showing detailed comparison for all shots for that measure.

Speed Targets

The Speed Targets program has three levels, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.

The program works your target transitions with a shorter par time the more advanced you are.

The app provides a trace that is divided into 3 colors: grey, yellow, and orange.

Grey represents movement coming to a target; yellow is the time spent on target, and orange is time spent on a target greater than the par time.

The goal is to increase your speed by spending the least amount of time on each target. This will reduce the orange portions of the trace.

Mantis X10 Elite Reviews

95% of customers who left reviews love the product. And over 2004 reviews give the Mantis X10 Elite 5 out of 5 stars.

As I mentioned, World and National Shooting Champion, JJ Racaza, recommended the product and many of our subject matter experts and friends, like retired Army Ranger Dave Steinbach and CZ sponsored shooter Rossen Hristov, like and use it, too.

“The Mantis system is a very good training system. The feedback helps correct problems without using expensive ammunition. Use anytime anywhere before going to the range and you will become a better shooter.”

You can read more Mantis X10 Elite Reviews on Mantis’s website.

Like many others who own the Mantis X10, it really has helped my overall marksmanship performance by showing me precisely what I need to work on during my practice session.

I don’t need to wonder where my weakness or gaps are, the X10 tells me by collecting all of the data points from my movement.

This is invaluable for shooters of all skill levels. For very serious shooters who are looking for mastery, the product is an absolute must.

I continue to use the X10 when I feel something is off with my shooting and as a periodic, overall check-up of my marksmanship.

Alternatives

If you’re wondering what other training devices are comparable to the Mantis X10 Elite, good luck because we do not know of any product in the civilian market that comes close.

If the Mantis isn’t for you for whatever reason, be very deliberate and strict about your training by really paying attention to your sights and movements when shooting.

However, it just won’t be the same and you won’t be able to spot all the micro-movements that the X10 will.

There are lower-cost options like the Mantis X2 or Mantis X3 that provide key features that the X10 does, but I would wait and save some money to get the X10 instead.

But if you’ve been eyeing the X2 or X3, check out our MantisX model comparison here.

Watch My Video Review

The Final Verdict

I highly recommend the Mantis X10 Elite for anyone who wants to really improve their shooting and for serious shooters who want to master their craft.

The sensor has performed great and sends data quickly and effortlessly to the mobile app.

Speaking of the mobile app, it includes many courses, drills, and daily challenges to keep you busy while being engaged and even excited about practicing.

It’s an excellent tool that will improve your grip, trigger control, shooting accuracy, and shooting speed.

On another note, if you are a rifle shooter, make sure to check out our review of the Mantis Blackbeard here.

This review demonstrated all the features and benefits. And if you’ve made up your mind about buying the X10, read the next section for a bonus we’ll send you if you buy the Mantis X10 Elite using any of the links on this page.

[Bonus] 28-Day Dry Fire Challenge

If you’re ready to buy the X10 and do so via one of the links on this page, we’ll send you our 28-Day Dry Fire Challenge that sells for $297, completely for free. All you have to do is email your purchase receipt to us at [email protected] and we’ll send you a link to access the challenge.

You’ll get LIFETIME ACCESS to our online training portal where you get a video every day for 28-days that teaches you how to dry fire the right way. I’ll show you exactly what to do and how to do it, following a logical progression that will improve your skills and build your confidence.

You won’t find access to the challenge anywhere else. The only way to get it is to purchase one of our online courses and upgrade your purchase to include the challenge.

You’ll also get two live meeting recordings with retired Navy SEAL Mark “Coch” Cochiolo and retired Army Ranger Dave Steinbach, where we discuss proper dry fire training and answer questions from students.

Just email us your receipt within 14-days of your purchase, and we’ll get back to you within 24 to 72 hours with your access to the 28-Day Dry Fire Challenge.

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