MantisX vs Laser Academy

Compare MantisX vs Laser Academy

Practice makes perfect, right?  Well, maybe…but practice is absolutely key to staying sharp as a shooter.  We are glad you’ve found Mantis and our suite of products!  Let’s talk about the MantisX and Laser Academy products and help you decide which product is the best fit for your training needs.

What is MantisX?

MantisX is a product line of units that contain a gyroscope and accelerometer to specifically track movement during the trigger press.  A full comparison for the three units is available on our website.  To use one of the X units requires our free app that is available on Google Play, iOS App Store and available for Amazon Fire.
  • The X2, which is for dry fire practice for pistol and rifle only.
  • The X3, which is for dry fire practice and live fire for pistol and rifle only.
  • The X10 Elite, which is our best seller, is for dry fire practice and live fire for pistol and rifle.  The X10 Elite also can be used on a shotgun, and even on a bow.  There are separate apps for Shotgun and Archery.  In this article we will be speaking to pistols and rifles only.

MantisX Traces every ShotMantisX Coaching ChartInstead of focusing on where shots land on a target, MantisX requires no target.  You choose what to aim at when using it.  The unit is constantly capturing movement data and recognizes when the trigger is pressed, and knows where the muzzle of the firearm was immediately prior to the trigger press vs where it was at the trigger press and what happened after the trigger press (recoil).  The app reads the data from the unit in real time via bluetooth and provides the shooter feedback based on the movement that happened during the shot.  MantisX shows you the exact movement of the shot and provides advice on correcting the movement.

 

What is Laser Academy?

Laser Academy is a Shot Placement SystemLaser Academy is an app, also available via Google Play, iOS App Store and Amazon Fire that captures laser “hits” on targets and displays the targets with the hits on them to the shooter.  It requires either purchasing one of the Laser Academy kits which includes one laser cartridge (choose one from a variety of calibers), targets, accessories and lifetime access code to the Laser Academy app.  If you already have a method of projecting a laser with the trigger press, there is the option to purchase lifetime access to the app, or just to specific drills within the app as well as purchasing or printing out the Laser Academy Smart targets.

Laser Academy does not do diagnostics and will not provide corrections.  What it does is captures and displays the point of impact of your shots.  Many people struggle with dry fire by not seeing physical shots on a target, Laser Academy provides that visual feedback to you.


Which one should I get?

Both MantisX and Laser Academy will help you improve your skills, just in different ways.  MantisX is more like coaching, giving you what the error was and how to correct it.  Laser Academy will show you if your point of aim is making the desired point of impact.  They both will save you time by allowing you to train at home and save you money in ammo costs.  Both apps have a large variety of drills in which you can practice different aspects of shooting proficiency and the apps include lifetime updates (note: Laser Academy requires the kit code or full app purchase for lifetime updates), meaning you will get any new features or drills that are released in the future.

So which one is for me?  The answer really depends on what your personal goals are through training.  Instead of answering that question directly, let’s walk through some scenarios to help you make the best decision for yourself.  Take a moment and think about what your skill level is currently and what your training goals are.


I’m a newer shooter who is still learning the basics.

MantisX

MantisX gives Suggestions on how to Correct ShootingWe all would like to hit what we are aiming at, and when that does not happen, it’s ultimately because of movement of the firearm while pressing the trigger.  The app provides diagnostics to show what movement may have occurred for the shot to deviate in a direction and also provides corrections to the user.  It does not replace working with an instructor, but it is like having an instructor with you each time you practice to give you guidance of what you might try to change and see if it corrects the movement issue.

It can be used in dry fire practice, and if you have the X3 or the X10 Elite, you can also take it to the range and shoot live fire to see if any movement changes with the introduction of the “bang” and recoil.


Laser Academy

Laser Academy Target

Laser Academy is designed to show the user where the shots actually went in dry fire practice.   Can you dry fire without a target giving feedback where your shots went?  Yes, but it takes skill to understand what movement you see in your sights, especially iron sights, when the trigger press occurs.  This technique is called “calling your shots” and if you are a beginner, it’s already a challenge to be aware of the fundamentals to proper shooting!  It involves adding on another layer of watching shot movement.  Laser Academy can remove that layer allowing the user to focus on the fundamentals and getting the point of aim to be the point of impact and having a visual of what the target would look like if they were at the range.  


Laser Academy does not provide any coaching or correction like the MantisX product does, but it does provide a great option for new shooters called “The Journey”.  It walks you through Laser Academy, but more importantly fundamentals and gives specific drills to work on specific skills culminating with a course and a test.  The videos are available at any time to re-watch to allow learning at your own pace.

I’m a casual shooter and enjoy some friendly competition to make practice fun.

MantisX

MantisX Community of ShootersMantisX provides social interaction through groups.  A group can be created or exist for any number of reasons.  There are large groups that exist for firearm manufacturers, for organizations and for ranges.  You can create your own group just for your family or friends.  There’s no requirements to meet to create and engage in a group and groups can be public or private, so you can control who is in your group.  Creating your own group allows for a weekly group goal, and can foster some of that friendly competition to see who can meet or exceed the group goal.  It also allows you to view another group member’s history and sessions and even encourage them with a message on the session.


Laser Academy

Laser Academy DuelLaser Academy provides drills in which users can compete against each other in person using the Duel drills.  There is a single shot drill, a 5 shot duel, a high score duel, and the favorite of many is Duel with the Hunt target, which adds complexity by having the competitors find the specific item and shoot it accurately on the Hunt target.  You can also have a bit of fun using the Bullseye drills and take turns shooting the 5 or 10 shot drills and highest score wins.

 

You know dry fire is important but want some guidance in what to do besides mindlessly pressing the trigger.

MantisX

MantisX has courses built in just for this purpose!  We recommend starting with the MantisX Introduction Course if you are new to the product, then there are 13 (more coming) courses that you can work through that each grouping of courses gets progressively harder.  Start with the Marksmanship courses and work through the Basic, then Advanced and finally Elite.  There are Combat courses and a new set of courses for Concealed Carry.  At the completion of each of the courses past the Introduction course, you can put your address in and Mantis will send you a free patch.  You can work towards collecting all of the patches!

Earn MantisX Patches

You can also mix up your dry fire by running the Daily Challenge drill.  This is a quick drill that changes daily and requires you to practice doing some unconventional things that may apply to real life.  You are then rated against everyone else who has run the Daily Challenge drill for that day to see where you stack up.  If you like the Daily Challenge, you can save your favorite ones to be able to run them on any day!

Laser Academy

In Laser Academy “The Journey” is a guided path to have you work on fundamentals through running specific drills to help improve your fundamentals by experimenting and practicing different aspects of each fundamental.  Laser Academy also has a Pistol Marksmanship Course that you can earn a patch upon completion, and more courses are to come!

Laser Academy Journey

Consider challenging yourself by increasing your distance from the targets or using the smaller 5x7 targets.  Distance scales linearly, so a smaller target is very similar to shooting at a further distance.  For example, use the Bullseye target in open training, you can track your scores and work to improve them at distance or by using the smaller target.

 

I’m a concealed carrier or I participate in competitions, where working on a fast and consistent holster draw is important to me.

MantisX

There are multiple drills that can be configured to a ready position of “holster” and provide an audible beep, a visual screen flash or both as a go signal, depending how the user would like to practice by muting the device and relying on the flash only, or having the sound up, but the screen hidden from view.  A competitor may only want the beep, whereas the conceal carrier may only want a visual indicator.  There is a built in Shot Timer and Par Timer drills to where you can work on your draw to first trigger press within your goal time (par time) or work multiple shot split times (live fire requires X3 or X10 Elite, dry fire requires resetting trigger or double action).


MantisX 10 Holster Draw Analysis ChartThe X10 Elite unit has the ability to capture and analyze holster draws through the Holster Draw Drill.  Instead of the unit looking at the movement of the firearm during the trigger press, it is looking at the firearm’s movement from the go signal (beep or screen flash) to the trigger press.  This is then charted over 5 steps of the draw - grip, pull, horizontal (rotate), target and shot.  The app times each stage allowing a user to know how long they are spending in each step and allows the user to analyze inefficiencies in their drawstroke.  It also shows the general movement of the firearm as it’s being presented to the target.

NOTE: To use MantisX for holster draw, the unit will either need to be mounted on the magazine base plate using the included universal MagRail attachment or a MagRail baseplate replacement - OR - The unit can be mounted to the picatinny rail of the pistol but requires a holster moulded for a pistol mounted light, which would need to be removed and replaced with the MantisX unit.


Laser Academy

Laser Academy has a Holster Draw drill where you can start from the holster, the drill will give an audible and/or visual start signal and record the time from the start signal to the laser hit on the target.  The drill allows you to configure how many repetitions or draws in the session as well as a reset time, which is how long you need to reset the gun and be back in the holster..  The Holster Draw - Par Timed drill allows you to configure a par time (the goal time) and a pass or fail will be associated with each draw whether it made the par time or not.  Both of these drills require all shots to start from the holster.

To practice multiple shots or split times in Laser Academy, the Open Shooting drills would accommodate this if you have a resetting trigger like a double action trigger, DryFireMag with laser, a SIRT pistol or the like.

 

I’m a seasoned shooter and need to be challenged more beyond the basics of how to shoot.

MantisX

MantisX has drills that can add cognitive load (making you think before taking action) to practice.  There are a set of Decision Drills that pose Shoot vs No Shoot scenarios either by color, by shape and color, by analyzing dice to a condition, or by addition of numbers to a condition.  Sounds simple enough, right?  Many users have commented on the challenge they bring and how we are wired to just shoot at a target without recognizing if it poses a threat or not to us.  These Decision Drills help us to take time to see if the situation warrants taking a shot or not and practicing drills with more cognitive load can help translate to better decisions for concealed carriers.

MantisX Cognative Dice Drills MantisX Dice Drills


Shooters are typically driven by either accuracy first or speed first and we tend to practice what we are comfortable with.  Many trainers encourage running at the fastest speed possible to maintain the accuracy needed for the task.  The Compressed Surprise Break drill is excellent to mix speed and accuracy together.  It can be run in a multitude of ways, from trigger mostly depressed aiming at the target to having your firearm in a safe next to your bed and you are in bed.  How fast from the beep can you move to get the firearm and make a high scoring shot?  The included Hostage Rescue Drills lean on a high amount of accuracy, but also with par times to shoot as quickly as possible to make the shot.


Laser Academy

Laser Academy allows for some drills to be run with multiple smart targets allowing you to work on target transitions and engagement.  The targets must be placed so that the QR codes are all visible within the camera window in the app.  Consider using a target with a larger area and a target with a smaller area and work the transition to shoot faster at the target with a larger scoring area, and be more precise with the target with the smaller scoring area.  Push to move as quickly as you can and still hit the scoring areas.

Screenshots of Mantis Laser Academy Training App - Mantis

Laser Academy also features a Hunt target and drill, which brings complexity to just shooting a target by shooting a called out target by the app.  There is an easy, medium and hard mode which each level up gets a bit harder and more specifics on the target to shoot.  You can start from any position, so consider running from the holster on this drill and how quickly you can draw and engage the right target!

 

I’m looking to add to my live fire practice, does either product work in live fire?

MantisX

The X3 and X10 Elite units are rated for live fire and all drills can be set to run in live fire.  If you have the X10 Elite unit, there’s an additional drill included for live fire only called Recoilmeter.  Instead of tracking the movement of the firearm on the target during the trigger press, the unit is tracking the motion of the firearm starting with the trigger press through getting the firearm back on target.  The Recoilmeter drill can measure the muzzle rise (how much did the muzzle flip up), the recoil width (how wide was the recoil deviation side to side) and recoil angle (deviation from straight up and down).

MantisX Recoil Meter

Laser Academy

Laser Academy is a dry fire product only, but if you practice with Laser Academy Smart targets, you can print out additional copies and take the same targets to the range and see how shots pattern on the targets at similar distances to your dry fire and then compare to your history in the app for the same targets you dry fire practiced on.

 

Can I use both MantisX and Laser Academy in tandem?

MantisX and Laser Academy are two wholly separate products, but you can use them together to enhance your dry fire practice.  The best way to accomplish this, is to have two separate devices, one with the MantisX Pistol/Rifle app running and the other with Laser Academy running.  Remember, the devices do not need to be high end, but we would recommend using the device with the best camera for Laser Academy.  Both MantisX and Laser Academy will run on lower priced Android based devices, even a Kindle Fire.  If your device does split screen, where it can run two applications at once, you could run both MantisX and Laser Academy on the same device.

MantisX vs Dry Fire Laser Training Systems

Set up the target(s) you want in Laser Academy and choose Open Shooting with either Single or Multiple targets depending on how many targets you want to have.  Then with the other device, open up and connect your MantisX unit.  You will want to run the actual drills on MantisX to capture the movement data, so start the drill on Laser Academy to capture the laser shots, then start the drill on MantisX.  Once complete with the drill, stop the drill on MantisX first, then stop the drill on Laser Academy.  Consider taking a screen shot of your Laser Academy target and uploading it into MantisX on the notes for the session so that you have the visual target hits and the data all within MantisX.

Wrapping it up

Hopefully this helped inform you of what each product does and how it may help you in your practice.  To put it simply, Laser Academy is like bringing home the range, while MantisX is like bringing home the coach.  Ultimately you need to assess the functionality of both and decide what fits your training needs best.  Mantis offers a 45 day return policy (save your packaging) if you are not happy with the product.  Have additional questions?  Reach out to our support team via Live Chat from www.mantisx.com or email support@mantisx.com or call (630) 551-8171.  We would be happy to answer your questions!