Mantis is a firearms training tool manufacturer, the Illinois company manufactures a variety of differing products all designed to help gun owners improve their skills. Today we are taking a look at one of those products, the Mantis Titan X. Like other Mantis products, the Titan X uses both technology and props to help you sharpen your practice. By adding some technology to dry firing and some structure to training, Mantis offers a great value in practice and savings in ammunition. 

Mantis Background

The Titan X is a polymer training pistol that can be had in various copies of popular pistols like the Glock 19 used here today. The pistol has onboard electronics to monitor the movements and trigger manipulation by the user. This and other data is sent by bluetooth to your phone, where the Mantis app analyzes and gives you feedback on every aspect of your draw, presentation, and trigger pulls. The whole idea is to perfect dry-fire training, and improve your handling. 

This is the trend with Mantis products; using their technology to give excruciating detail of firearms handling. Giving you the ability to watch your own movements and replay every trigger pull. Additionally, the Titan X has an adjustable laser that fires when the trigger breaks, illuminating the “impact” of your shot. This alone is extremely helpful in dry fire practice.

Mantis TitanX Features

The Titan X comes in a padded soft-case, with the instructions, charging cable and two magazines for reloading drills. As a copy of the Glock, it can accept your favorite weapon lights and lasers. And it has an optics cut to accept RMR and RMSc red dots on top of its immovable slide. 

The weighted magazines offer a realistic feel and fit to the whole ensemble. It really feels just like a Glock in your hand, and sure to fit in your holsters just like your live fire pistol. 

The Mantis App was free to download, and very simple to connect to the Titan X. Charging the Titan X pistol is done using a micro USB cable that plugs in where the chamber would be (if it had one). There is a single button on top of the chamber used for syncing the pistol and other operations. 

The Titan’s internal sensor can tell exactly what direction the pistol is pointed. It can tell where the gun is aimed and any movement between shots, as well as trigger inputs. This is all recorded and can be replayed in real time or slow motion so you can see your overtravel on the target, as well as the movements you put in while pulling the trigger. You can even watch live as you shoot with the gun to see all the right and wrong inputs you are doing. Or have a partner watch on your phone and give you coaching. 

Mantis TitanX Features

1 Padded Soft-Case

Comes with the instructions and charging cable

2 Two Magazines

Ideal for reloading drills

3 Lights and Lasers

Able to accept your favorite weapon

4 Red Dots

Has an optics cut to accept RMR and RMSc red dots on top of its immovable slide

5 Internal sensor

Internal sensor can tell exactly what direction the pistol is pointed

Other Mantis Products

Other products from Mantis are in a similar style of training but offer different use cases. The Mantis X system is a phone based app training module that uses a sensor attached to your firearm. It gives feedback on handling and aiming while using your actual firearm. The X2 version of the product is designed for use as dry fire practice only. Adding live fire to the training is done with the X3 version, which allows the same drills and skill practice while running live ammunition on the range.

The Mantis 10X version combines all features of the X series products, and maximizes your ability to train both on the range and at home. And not just handguns either, it can be used with long-guns and even archery tackle. 

The Mantis Laser Academy is another training module, again using your phone and other props in addition to a laser cartridge chambered in your gun to practice shooting. Its quick and easy setup allows you time on the trigger of your favorite gun without leaving home and saving ammunition costs along the way. 

The Mantis Blackbeard system is a product you install on your AR15 rifle, it allows you to dry fire the rifle without having to recharge the rifle every shot. The Blackbeard resets the trigger for you, and its optional laser also gives you a witness of the impact from each trigger pull. This helps build handling skill and again saves ammo costs. There is another model called the BlackbeardX that combines the Blackbeard system with the MantisX technology giving you the best of both.

Mantis Titan X Review

I dry fire a LOT, ask anyone who knows or works with me. I am always practicing my draw from holsters, and presentation of whatever gun I happen to be carrying that day. Up until now, the only feedback I could give myself was based on the sights location when the trigger breaks. Watching to see where my red dot is on my point of aim as the striker snaps, as I’d imagine many of you do as well. 

The Titan X is perfect for this practice as it adds something you can’t do with a real firearm, at least not safely. The laser impact on your aimpoint serves the same purpose as a bullet when you shoot. After all; shooting is simply a process of aligning sights, cleanly breaking the trigger, seeing the impact and adjusting accordingly for the next shot. The Titan X allows you to do all those things without ear protection, without leaving home, and most importantly without blowing through your ammo stash. 

With the Titan X you can practice with the pistol, complete with your favorite accessories such as red dots, weapon lights, holsters and such. And execute the same training by drawing, aligning the sights, and breaking the trigger. Seeing the laser as the impact gives you the exact same ability to analyze your sight alignment, trigger pull and more. The only thing missing is the recoil and noise. Add to that the data record captured by the Mantis app, that allows you to analyze every aspect of your shooting and trigger pull. Additionally, the laser is far more consistent than even quality ammo can be. That translates to better training because your gun is literally a laser beam, and the “hits” will be more valuable because you are removing the anomaly of variations in ammunition. Sim guns, rubber bullet guns, and even airsoft can offer some of the same training aspects, but some of those are semi-destructive to your home decor. And none of them are as accurate as the laser. 

Operation

Shooting the pistol right out of the box I found it immediately useful. Seeing the laser “impact” right where the sights lined up gives you that immediate feedback much like a bullet does. I had no reason to adjust the laser out of the box as it lined up great with the sights. 

But because I usually shoot with a red dot it wasn’t long before I decided to install one. For that purpose I went with an easy choice, the Gideon Optics Alpha red dot, it has an RMR footprint which would make it easy to attach. At that point you could either adjust the red dot to match the laser impact, or vice versa adjusting the laser with an Allen wrench to match the red dot. 

With the sight mounted and everything lined up, I got busy shooting the Titan X. The very best part of this product is you can train at home in your pj’s if thats what you desire. I found a spot in the house with roughly 8-10 yards from a wall, and got to work making my way through the various drills included in the Mantis app. 

Following the training regimen in the Mantis app, I found a variety of drills that were both fun and educational. Drawing from both CCW holsters and OBW holsters gave good insight to my draw and first shots after. The realistic weight and feel of the Titan made it very natural. It should have come as no surprise to me how much better you can focus on your trigger control when it isn’t covered up by noise and recoil. And if you add to that the impressive after analysis with the app you can really quickly find what you need to improve on. The Titan gives you the ability to really shoot without burning up ammunition, giving you much better insight on what happens before the bullet leaves the muzzle. 

It only gives you analysis after the fact, so don’t expect the Mantis Titan to make any corrections to your execution (it’s not a training wheels). You will still have to do everything but load magazines. So don’t count on the Titan to correct your finger placement or grip angle, you will still need to know the fundamentals. What it will do is show you if your finger placement is causing you to pull one direction or another. 

The more I used the Titan, the more holes I found in my shooting. And if nothing else, the Titan did an excellent job showing me what I’m doing wrong. So I know what to work on. Much like an honest friend, the Mantis Titan will tell you what you suck at. No sugar coating here, just the straight truth of how your handling flows. And the Mantis app keeps a history of your training, so you can go back and see how you’ve improved over time. 

Obviously there is never any danger with the Titan, as it cannot be loaded. This also makes it very useful for training. Whether you are at home, in the office, or elsewhere you don’t have to worry about office pops. Which is a concern with dry firing your regular pistol. The bright red color also gives the impression of a training pistol, though I doubt it would keep an unlearned cop from turning you into a deadly training story.

The Mantis X App

Not only does the app come with a list of various popular drills, but additionally several courses of training. They are set up in progressive sections, finishing one with a high enough score opens the next. You can create a profile, and the app will track your progress and scores. 

Much like a video game you can configure the drills depending on skill level. With difficulty levels of beginner, intermediate, advanced, and even a custom setting. 

The drills have a shot timer built in that signals you to fire just like at the range. And you can adjust the delay to your liking as well. 

The app helps you analyze your own handling of the pistol. Giving you times from the holster to breaking the trigger, and your time between shots etc. You can watch every draw and watch the muzzle tracking as you do, and every trigger pull is also shown allowing you to see what needs work. What it doesn’t do is give you a target, anything you choose can be an aimpoint. The Titan tracks the aimpoint based on where you shoot. You could quite literally set up targets in your house and run drills on them. There is really a lot more to the app than I can go over here, but I found it to be very helpful in analyzing my shooting. 

Mantis TitanX Pros and Cons 

There is very little I can judge against the Titan based on its purpose. It does what I expected it to do, even better than I thought it would. I didn’t really think I would like a training pistol this much, the immediate feedback of my shooting really blew my mind. I suppose if I had to say something I’d like improved on the pistol it might be this; I would like it if the slide was operational, even though it’s not really necessary. I’d like it for the reloading drills, so you could actually operate the slide lock and such. The adjustment screws for the laser were slightly janky, I never did figure out exactly which size allen wrench I used to adjust it, but I made it work. The battery life lasts longer than expected which means you can get a lot of trigger time on the gun.

As it is there are a few different pistol models of the Titan, but Mantis is taking what appears to be suggestions on their website. I expect they are looking to see what the next most popular model is that should be produced. 

Accessories for the Mantis

I used several accessories together with the Mantis Titan X, for starters a Gideon Optics Alpha red dot. I also used my Surefire X300 weapon light because I wanted to run the gun from my Safariland holsters. And the Titan X fits perfectly with the holster and light combo. 

It’s nice that the Titan X uses the popular RMR and RMSc footprint, and since the gun doesn’t recoil you needn’t worry about it shifting on the base plate. And using the Titan together with my holsters that I use every day make drawing practice more valuable. And reloads can be performed using the mag-caddy’s on my gun-belt. 

TitanX Accessories

1. Gideon Optics Alpha		See price
2. Surefire X300		See Best Price

Mantis Titan X FAQ’s

How realistic is the trigger?

I found the trigger to feel very comparable to the Glock and Glock clone pistols that the Titan is designed to mimic. The take up and snap of the trigger feels close enough that if blindfolded I would likely not distinguish it from any other random Glock copy.

Does the slide move on the Titan?

The slide of the Titan is fixed, and not meant to move as far as I can tell. There is no need to operate the pistol slide anyways, as all operations are done without it. 

Is it compatible with standard holsters?

In my experience, the Titan fit perfectly in my various collection of Glock 19/17 holsters. Several different Safariland ALS holsters, as well as the IncogX and Gravity holsters. 

How do the smart magazines work?

The Titan senses the magazine when seated, which is used during various reloading drills. I also found that standard Glock magazines will fit in the Titan as well for additional training.

Final Thoughts

For the asking price of $199 I think the Mantis Titan X is a great deal. Sure you can argue that you can get something like a PSA Dagger for just $50 more, but the Titan X will save you far more in ammunition and practice. That is where the value comes in, the Titan X costs only a bit more than a case of ammo for training, and you can certainly argue that you’ll get more training out of the Titan. It gives you all the ability of safe dry fire and nearly live fire practice, with exceptional analysis of your practice with the Mantis app. I was a bit skeptical of this kind of product when I first saw it, but it only took a few moments to see what a great asset it can become. 

Suggested resources for you and your Mantis TitanX.

• User Manual: Check it out Here