Xiaomi’s toy tablet turns itself into a Transformers robot

The Transformer’s Special Edition Mi Pad 2 is a toy made by the company to commemorate its birthday as it turns six years old on April 6, primarily made for Xiaomi fans in China

The Transformer’s Special Edition Mi Pad 2 is a toy made the company to commemorate its birthday as it turns six years old on April 6, primarily made for Xiaomi fans in China (Xiaomi)

Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi in collaboration with Hasbro's Transformers has crowd-funded a project to create a robotic model called Soundwave.

It basically looks like the Mi Pad 2 that turns itself into a Transformer- like bot. This special edition Mi Pad 2 is a toy made by the company to commemorate its birthday as it turns six years old on April 6, primarily made for Xiaomi fans in China.

"R&D worked really hard to ensure that the colour, details and feel are exactly the same as Mi Pad 2. They were challenged at turning such a slim 7mm tablet into a 3D robot, but they managed to do so with a 30-step folding assembly, said Xiaomi's Hugo Barra on his Facebook page.

Xiaomi has teased its Soundwave Mi Pad 2 that essentially turns itself into a Transformer- like bot. (Facebook)

Xiaomi has teased its Soundwave Mi Pad 2 that essentially turns itself into a Transformer- like bot. (Facebook)

The Mi Pad 2 Transformers edition will only be available in China and starts shipping on May 13 only if the crowd funding goal is achieved. Users be reminded that it's not a standard working tablet.

The original Mi Pad 2 comes with a 7.9-inch display with a 2048 x 1536 resolution, a 2.24GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor bundled with 2 GB of RAM. The device packs a 6190 mAh battery which the company claims offers 649 hours of standby time and comes with support for fast-charging technology.

In terms of cameras, the tablet sports an 8-megapixel rear camera along with a 5-megapixel front facing camera. Connectivity options on the Mi Pad 2 include a When it Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the latest USB Type C connectivity. However, there is no support for 4G LTE or GPS.