Soundwave tablet

In 2015, Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi partnered with Hasbro to release a transforming version of their MIPAD 2 tablet, which took the name of Soundwave. The result is a marvel of engineering.

Soundwave Tablet is available at Gearbest.com

The toy comes in a rather nice box which is just a bit larger than the tablet itself. The fit of the lid is vacuum tight.

Inside, the tablet is covered in a thin sleeve. The sleeve is clear on the front, but champagne gold colored on the back, with the color fading down to a mechanical pattern.

Behind the tablet is a manual which is die-cut in the shape of the Decepticon logo.

From the front, if you squint your eyes a little, it looks like a tablet. It’s sort of hard to hide all the seam lines from the tablet face, but it looks like a tablet from the front.

The shiny black finish attracts fingerprints like crazy.

From the back, not so much.

It’s close to the size of an Apple iPad Mini. By close, I mean, the exact same size.

The power port and headphone jack are in the exact same place.

Transformation is 30 steps long, and while it seems daunting at first, it’s actually pretty easy. Watch the video.

Robot mode is great. The engineers did a great job of an almost impossible task, making a tablet into a fully articulated robot.

And yes, it is very articulated. It’s missing a neck and waist joint but still manages to pull off some great poses.

The face is reminiscent of movie-style Soundwave, which makes sense. I think Movie designs are more popular n China.

Soundwave’s guns are stored at the bottom of the tablet.

The guns can be wielded individually, or combined into one large gun.

With a little work, you can wield the gun with both hands.

During the transformation, the bottom of the tablet gets removed and put aside. This bit transforms into a robotic falcon which I assume is Lazerbeak.

Lazerbeak also attaches to the back and gives Soundwave a set of additional “wings”.

One of the black panels from the tablet face becomes a shield that attaches to the shoulder. The connection is not great, and poseability is limited when attached.

With all the weapons attached it looks awesome, and it’s hard to believe this was a flat tablet. They really did a remarkable job of engineering this.

This toy is going to be re-released as a Hasbro San Diego Comic-Con exclusive for 2016 in a silver and black color scheme. However, if you don’t feel like waiting in line, you can order one NOW from Gearbest.com