Don’t let the fact that Le Mirage looks similar to the Le Zephyr fool you, it’s more related to Le Magister. Le Mirage RTA is the latest creation from the amazing French vape company, Vaponaute.
There is just something about the attys from Vaponaute, they are like nothing else on the market. It could be that Léopold is a jewelry designer by trade, but it has to also be his love for yummy vapor that plays a role. Vaponaute attys aren’t cheap, but are made like a swiss watch, the level of detail and quality makes them worth every penny. 2400 Le Mirage were produced in the first run and were sold out within a day (you may be able to find one at one of their resellers). There is a real industrial flair to the aesthetic, on the exterior looks very simple, the stainless is spotless and the light beige PEEK top cap gives off a real utilitarian feel. But there are details here, the AFC inlets are drilled on a bias and there are two notches on the top cap to help with alignment. It’s a perfect marriage of form and function in our opinion. Vaponaute is always about that vintage airplane aesthetic and this atty like the rest deliver on that vibe, it also reminds of vintage Italian design (think Vespa). We imagine this look is rather polarizing, but we love it.
There was a lot of success with Le Magister and then not so much with Le Zephyr. Le Zephyr had mixed reviews, it had a bit of an identity crisis, was it a MTL or a Direct Lung atty? For the most part it was an MTL, it just didn’t have enough AFC options for direct lung and many vapers had a hard time getting consistent performance from it. We had one, we just didn’t think it deemed a review. It’s important we bring this up, we don’t want anyone to be discouraged from considering Le Mirage. That said this latest creation is a masterpiece!
Le Mirage is the best of all the Vaponaute design heritage. The flavour quality of Le Magister and the capacity and top cap design of Le Zephyr. The flavour is crisp and accurate, all juice subtleties are brought to light. The airflow is dialled in the prefect amount, long glorious restricted lung hits is what its all about.
Vapor production is impressive for a genesis style atty. Vertical coils are the only option here, but the new centre post makes building pretty easy. Sure it’s not for the beginner, but what beginner starts at this caliber of vape? Dual and Single builds are possible and as usual Léopold has suggested builds and a video to show you what’s up. Basically spaced 26awg is pretty perfect, with either a 5 wrap, 2.5mm or a dual 6 wrap, 2.5mm build. The dual is dreamy, coming in at 0.27-0.3 and run at 42-48W. This build produces yummy, warm vapor. Frankly we haven’t played too much, there is no need. High gage claptons (28/38, 26/36, etc…) also perform well and Vaponaute has included a second centre post screw that allows for more torque to get those claptons seated right.
Wicking is very good, no dry hits or complications, just set your coils close to the build deck and wick it up. We have found the best performance is with simple cotton pads done in the Scottish Roll method, they just wick like mad. Placing the wicks is easier than you would think, it’s almost like a cork screw, just twist the cotton into the coil and it pulls it down. Have your wicks just hit the bottom of the juice well.
The 2.8ml juice capacity is surprising good, and filling is easy thanks to a larger gap (more like Le Mirage than the Le Zephyr) between the deck and juice well. We haven’t had a single leaking issue and again there is something so special about the design of Vaponaute attys. It feels and tastes more like an RDA but has the longevity of a tank, a full tank lasts long and the flavour accuracy lets you know when its getting low on juice.
The AFC/Top Cap is brilliant, it’s sort of indirect airflow but not really. The air inlets directly align with your coils, but the inner chamber design promotes a vortex that not only produces thick wonderful flavour, it’s also silky smooth. Ridiculously long hauls are possible and the flavour just continues to build the longer you do. The AFC is very adjustable but we have found wide open works perfectly. Placing the top cap over your build is an easy operation thanks to the alignment notches, we have found the best setting is to place it down and turn it clockwise until it hits the negative screws and then back it off a touch anti-clockwise. This helps stop any chance of whistling or turbulence. The fact that the top cap is almost all PEEK keeps the atty nice and cool to the touch.
Sure Le Mirage is not cheap. But if you are looking for ultimate quality, design, and flavour, the price begins to justify itself. The quality is really unparalleled, even the deck screws are of the highest quality. This is an atty you buy to keep. Vaponaute has successfully made one of the finest flavourchasing attys there is. If you deem yourself a flavour hound, you shouldn’t deny yourself this vape experience. As always we stay a dedicated Vaponaute fan and so should you.
Thanks for another great review. I just got one these today based on your review (yet to do a build). I had a Magister, (could only get a clone) and found the wicking a little troublesome so gave up. You mentioned simple cotton pads in Scottish roll here – so do we take it that is your preference in this case over say Cotton Bacon (with / without Scottish roll). Final question: when you say 26AWG, do you typically use Kanthal or do you use other wire, like Nichrome or Stainless (in general, and for this particular atty).
Thanks very much
Hey Nick,
Thanks for the kind words! As for wire it’s always Kanthal unless otherwise noted. Wicking Le Mirage is about NOT getting it super tight in the coils, you want the cotton to just be enough to stay upright in the coils. Not nearly the same amount you would put in a horizontal build. We find that pads work best and is easiest to get down the coils, cotton bacon may work but you want to be careful that you don’t compact the cotton while getting it down the coils. Have the wick leads just touch the bottom of the tank, no more. You know it’s set up right when you can enjoy long glorious hauls. Enjoy it!
Hi Guys, me again!
So, i just bought an Eden Rose 3 – how could i not, after there review! However, maybe kind of weirdly, i am holding off taking the Rose for a spin until i have nailed the Mirage. And, i am, struggling a little. The build seems straightforward – as per your guidance, i went for dual 2.5mm 6 wraps. You said you go for A1, but i am holding only 316L and N80 at the mo in 26, so i went with the SS (tried power mode and TC). I am struggling with the flavour – is really quite muted. I have tried various wicks and took onboard the comment re going “less is more” and have tried scottish roll on cotton pads and cotton bacon. First thing, I am struggling a bit to get it down there, whether I am very sparing on the wick or a bit more generous: It seems to need a fair bit of twisty compaction to hold form enough to get threaded down there. (Just on that – Leopold seems to have a chunk of wick in his vid – and actually you own pic seems to show a generous amount of wick). The weird thing is that there are not that many variables on this build – its not like the wick on the Magister which had a knock on effect on the chamber size and airflow. So, I’m just wondering where i can be going wrong?? Unless you are going to tell me that the SS316L is my issue, which on some level would be a relief, but also odd, as many flavour chasers seem to rate SS and at a certain Wattage it surely can’t be that different? You may not have any answers, and there is no reason you should – but i’m just wondering, going back to when you first experimented with builds on the Mirage, what where the build factors that had big negative or positive effects on the flavour production? Apologies in advance – you guys surely have enough to do without acting as Agony Aunt on products you have reviewed! I would be really happy to make a donation to the website to show my appreciation – you guys should consider a “donate here” button because your posts are much valued by many i am sure.
Hey Nick,
Thanks for the kind words and your support. You’ve got two great attys to play with. We would love to help you out. Let’s do it over email. We just shot you a note.
Hi Ryan,
I think that your website is only place I could get to as reference for flavor chasing atomizers. I’m about to buy flavor chasing RDA and RTA. Which one would you recommend based on flavor performance regardless of the kind from (Hobo Drifter, O-Atty by Odis when it’s available, La mirage, Kayfun V5 and Rose V3)? I might get two so if you can sort by order that would be really appreciated. By the way the O-Atty has so similar build as NarDA and that what make me interested about it and I think you might want to get your hand on it for a review. Who knows, it might be the next NarDA.
Thank you
Hey Salim,
Thanks for your support and happy you like the site. Glad to hear you are after some flavourchasing attys. Everything you have mentioned are great choices. If you are after an RDA, Drifter for sure (grab the Odis Ultem cap too) and if you want a tank the ROSE3 is where it’s at (we will have a review of the Hobo DrifTANK soon too). As for the O-Atty, the boys over at Odis are friends, just waiting to get our hands on one. It does seem to have similar traits to the NarDA but we’ll have to wait and see.
Thank you for your reply. I’ve made up my mind on getting ROSE3. Just waiting for EDEN website to get back online. Hobo Drifter, Driftank (after your upcoming review) and O-Atty, that would be a good arsenal.
Guys… I fucking love you. I’m quite new to this whole vaping thing, but this atty, man… Thanks for writing about it!
Building took me – as was to be expected for a beginner – like over an hour and I was frustated as hell. But then! The first draw! Wide open! Razor sharp… I mean, I could easily distinguish the flavors, even better than the cheapish RDA I have (Mr Owl). Miles ahead of the tank I got (Melo III).
It’s a bit fiddly and I will have to get used to filling it properly and all, but it really makes me a happy non-smoker. And your article made me take the plunge. On an authentic one. No regrets.
Thanks and keep flavourchasing!
Hey Jen’s,
So happy for you!! Thanks for reading our reviews. Your response is why we do what we do.
Have a great day and vape on!
Next you need an O-Atty 🙂
Ha! Just read the review, looks nice… Especially the BF pin is a huge plus, because I am looking hard at some of those new squonk mods, which mostly seem to come with pretty shitty RDAs…
Would you say the older Vaponaute attys are worth chasing (maybe the clones even) or will I be disappointed because I started with Le Magister? Becoming a little bit of a Vaponaute fanboy…
In the end I think I’ll look around Europe a bit more, given that I live in Germany. Ordering overseas can be a bit of a pain with customs etc. There is so much good stuff here. Even some German juices are pretty cool. And no, not talking bout beer flavored. 😉
Hey Jens,
Yeah the O-Atty is a great choice for squonking. And yes the Le Magister is still a classic, with incredible flavour, although the Le Mirage is very similar, they are both Genesis style attys. We would love to get our hands on some German juice, any companies you think we should try out? I hear you on the Customs thing, we get it pretty bad here in Canada too.
https://stammi-liquids.de/vg-linie
They might not speak English at all and only have German resellers as far as I can tell. Those VG flavours came about on a regular local meet-up where they tested several mixes and then released the most popular ones. Very mellow but interesting compositions. I liked it.
These guys do speak English and judging by the reviews I’ve read they do good stuff, haven’t had the chance to test it yet:
http://www.tomklark.com/en/
http://bareheadeliquids.com/en
Intaste.de do ship overseas and have excellent service and carry those two above if you feel like you need to buy this stuff… I could probably proxy too if you need me to.
Hey Jens,
Thanks for the recos! We are reaching out to them. Intaste.de rocks, great products and fast shipping, we have used them before. We hope to get some of this juice in for review. Talk soon!
I was wondering 24 ga stainless steel will work good in the mirage at high watts since that is my go to wire in my aromamizer (this will be my first flavor atty). Also could you describe or compare more on the airflow of the mirage?
Hey Alley,
24 awg should work just fine in Le Mirage. The Airflow is pretty good, definitely a nice restricted lung hit, not mouth to lung (MTL) for sure. Is there an atty you would like me to compare it too?
Hi
Thanks a lot for your reviews. Been always so accurate in terms of flavor chasing. But i am struggling with Le Mirage . Using A1 28awg … tried single/dual , less wick/more wick , long/short pad/kendo and every other thing that came to mind but unfortunately i am getting almost zero flavor .. way too muted to even call it a vape… have no clue whats going wrong.. any suggestion or tricks/tips would be awesome
Thanks in advance
Hey Dr.Mashruh,
I think you need to try some heavier gauge wire. Try some 26 and get a dual build around 0.4 in there. Unlike Le Zephyr, you want you coil to be close to the deck, you will be the best wicking if your coils are just barely off the deck. Next, you want your cotton lose enough to slip down into the juice well rather easily without too much of a struggle. Finally once your build is in and your top cap is on, turn clockwise till the negative screws stop rotation, then turn back a little less than a quarter turn counter-clockwise. This should do it. 5 wraps spaced with a 2.5 mm ID should do it. Let us know how it goes, next step will be sending us some pics. We will help you. Vape on!
I know it os a bit late but I managed to get hold of the mirage lately and I am experiencing the same problem. I watched Leopolds tutorial countless times but I can get hardly any flavour out of it. Your help would be very much appreciated!
Will a fused clapton wire 28GA*2/32GA work fine with the le mirage? I did 5 wraps and getting .26 ohms. Vaping at 30 watts. But i feel like there’s not a lot of airflow even though it’s the 2 AFCs are aligned.
Hey Lee,
You might want to try a single vs a fused Clapton. Like a 28/36. But really a nice simple 24 or 26awg does the trick quite well.
Thanks Ryan. Yeah, I went with a simple build using Kanthal 26awg and it work perfectly.
Awesome. Happy Vaping!
Definitely this is my home page as a reference before buying any atomizer of excellence; GREAT WORK RYAN!!!
I have the doubt in buying or not this atomizer because I have the fear that it can melt or damage the peek chamber by the heat of the resistances since they are very close to them. Do you have an opinion about this?
Keep going and God Bless you!
Hey Luis Raul,
Thanks for the kind words! Glad you like the site! As for the Le Mirage, the Peek stands up very well. We put builds as low as 0.25 without trouble. You just have to make sure the coils aren’t leaning against the sides of the peek (easy to do, simple twist till it hits the negative screw and then back it off a bit). Buy without any worries, great atty!
Great!. Tomorrow i will order this LE MIRAGE! Thanks for your help!!!!
Hi, I know it’s an RDA with quite deep juice well, I do wonder tho since some sites said it’s an RTA. will the juice stay inside in I put the whole unit, mod and tank filled with juice and put it in my pocket? since it may not stay upright, leaning to one side and maybe upside down.
Hey El,
It should be fine for short periods on its side. Like all attys other than closed tanks, they like to be upright.
Great review. Just ordered one. Nearly ordered the Le Concorde as well. However there are no serious reviews on it. Any chance you’ll be reviewing the Le Concorde by Vaponaute?
Hey Ehab,
Funny you should ask. We will be posting our review this week. Great atty!!
I know it os a bit late but I managed to get hold of the mirage lately and I am experiencing the same problem. I watched Leopolds tutorial countless times but I can get hardly any flavour out of it. Your help would be very much appreciated!