Pavlok Teardown

Welcome to the new teardown series on my channel, where I take apart gadgets and share what I find inside. First up is the Pavlok, a shocking wearable designed to help you break bad habits.

The Pavlok comes with the main device itself, as well as two silicone wristbands.

The Pavlok pairs over bluetooth with your phone to control the settings through an app, which is also designed to keep you motivated to use the device in the most effective way possible. You can deliver an electric shock to yourself via the app or by pressing the top of the device. It also can supposedly detect when you move your hand to your mouth, say during smoking or nail biting, which are two of the habits its designed to help break.

To take it apart, I started cutting the plastic around the little metal nubs. The tricky thing about taking this thing apart, at least before the battery’s died, is that it is easy to shock yourself while holding it in place. It’s so small that one of the only flat surfaces by which to grip it is also the activation button. So I had to use the phone to make sure it was on a low setting, and try to avoid pinching it while cracking open the plastic.

The electrodes are also the case, which makes for a straightforward three-piece case. I was also able to put it back together again, which is a rare occurrence in one of my teardowns.

My friend David Cranor, an electrical engineer, came over to help examine the circuit and research the parts we could identify.

Here’s a list of tools we used:

Read on to discover the components we found…

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Text printed on componentAppearance /packageTypeManufacturer
1N52832 QFAAEO 1922QP48-pin QFN with neighboring crystal oscillator (silver can)N52832
Multiprotocol Bluetooth SoC
ARM® Cortex™-M4 CPU
Nordic Semiconductor
2(none)six round contacts with three non-plated through-holesTag-Connect programming interfaceN/A (part of board)
3(none)white with red rectangle and surrounding ground plane cutoutchip antenna(unknown)
4263
8451
KTG
16-pin QFNMMA8451Q
3-axis digital accelerometer
Freescale Semiconductor
5263
F2102
KEXC
24-pin QFNFXAS21002C
3-axis digital gyroscope
Freescale Semiconductor
6(none)silver rectangle with round black button in the centertactile switch(unknown)
7(none)amberLEDs(unknown)
8A33
HHS
8 legsbattery management
/power conditioning?
(unknown)
9AAL
515
2R
8 legsbattery management
/power conditioning?
(unknown)
10(none)surface-mount tan toffeesbig capacitors(unknown)
11(none)silver springscontacts to enclosure(unknown)
12063A
0131
.830
10 legs with neighboring crystal oscillator (silver can)PCF85063A
Real-time clock
NXP Semiconductors
135Ablack rectangle with two contactsdiodes(unknown)
144H843 0G3326black rectangle(unknown)(unknown)
20(none)black square with dimplebuzzer(unknown)
Text printed on componentAppearance /packageTypeManufacturer
15752Struncated square with white labelLPR6235-752S
Coupled inductor
(step-up/flyback transformer)
Coilcraft
16-401622
+3.7V 90mAh
foil and tape rectangular pancake with black and red wires90mAh lipoly battery(unknown)
17K95T7Silver can with eccentric rotating weightvibrating motor(unknown)
18(none)trapezoidal portmicro USB port(unknown)

What gadget should I take apart next? Let me know in the comments.


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4 thoughts on “Pavlok Teardown

  1. Hey Becky, thank you for the teardown! You’ve not identified component 14, and I couldn’t either, but it is definitely some kind of peizoelectric buzzer for sure. That is the only function of the device not mentioned in your break down!

  2. Hi Becky, that was an entertaining read, thanks for brightening my day! Two points:
    The JTAG programming points might have a part number of sorts, as a standard footprint, if they’re the intended target for these:
    https://www.tag-connect.com/info
    -we’ve been mulling standardizing on those, at work, but procrastination is still winning.

    It looks like you have two items marked as #4. Or I need new glasses 😉

    Cheers,
    M

    1. You’re right! One is the accelerometer and the other is the buzzer– I’ll fix it soon, thanks for pointing that out, and for the nice comment!

  3. Hi Becky

    Did you happen to put a meter on the electrodes to see how much of a shock it is delivering by chance?

    Thanks

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