8 Best Android Emulators For PCs In 2022 - The QA Lead

2022's Best Android Emulator For Windows 10 · 1. BlueStacks · 2. Nox Player · 3. MEmu · 4. Ko Player (AKA CentOS) · 5. Genymotion · 6. Android Studio. ContactTheQALeadAdvertiseWithQALeadTools·10minread8BestAndroidEmulatorsForPCsIn2022GetAndroidToWorkOnYourWindows10PCJasonBoog·January2,2022·92939viewsShareSoyouwantAndroidtoworkonyourPC?YouneedanAndroidEmulator.They’rebecomingmorepopularasAndroid’spopularitykeepsgrowing.AndasmanyoftheQAfolksinourqualityengineeringcommunityareaware,emulatorscanbeagreatwaytoquicklytestandQAanapp.WhatIsAnAndroidEmulator?Fromdeveloperstestingappstogamersplayingonalargescreen,anAndroidEmulatorallowsyoutouseAndroidOSonaWindowsPC,togetherwithyourkeyboardandmouse–soyoucantestmuchfasterandmoreefficiently.Some iOSemulatorsforPC andMacarealsoavailablebutAndroidonesofferabetterperformance.MaybeyouareswitchingfromiPhonetoAndroid,oryoumerelywanttotestoutaCustomROM,thepossibilitieswithAndroidEmulatorareendless.WhileBlueStackshasalwaystoppedthelistofphoneemulatorsforPC,fewothersarecatchingupinsanelyfast.So,ifyou’retryingtofindthebestAndroidemulatorcheckoutthislistofthetopAndroidEmulatorsforyourWindows10PC.BestAndroidEmulatorsforWindows10in2022ShortlistBlueStacksNoxPlayerMEmuKoPlayer(AKACentOS)GenymotionAndroidStudioARChonBlissOSTheQALeadisreader-supported.Wemayearnacommissionwhenyouclickthroughlinksonoursite—learnmoreabouthowweaimtostaytransparent.2022’sBestAndroidEmulatorForWindows101.BlueStacksBlueStacksispreferredforgamingandiseasytosetupandusewithcommonfunctionalitylikescreenrecordinganddebugging.BlueStacksistheoldestandthemostpopularAndroidemulatorinthemobilegamingmarket.It’seasytoinstall,run,andplaygameson.BlueStackscomeswithalibraryof2million+Androidgamesandapps,fastestboottimes,greatfeatures(keymapping,gamecontrols,Multi-InstanceSync,amongothers),andenhancementsofferedwithlesstonolag.Inaddition,theemulatorkeepsgettingfrequentproductupdatestoaddressanyissuesthatgamersexperience,makingitpopularamongthecommunity.IfwelookspecificallyatBlueStacks5,it’sthefastestandlightestversionoftheappplayeryet.Itclaimstoconsumeupto50%lessRAM,hasintroducedsomenewfeatureslikeperformancemodes&trimmemory(tohelpfurtherreducethememoryusage).ItcurrentlysupportsAndroid9(Pie).TheemulatorrecentlyintroducedBlueStacks10,themobilecloudforAndroidgames.AndroidappscanbestreameddirectlyonyourPC,eliminatingtheneedforexpensivehardware.Price:Free/Premium$24WhyuseBlueStacks?EasytosetupwithnotechnicalknowledgerequiredMultipleaccountssupportLatestAndroidversionVisitWebsite2.NoxPlayerNoxAppPlayer.NoxPlayerespeciallytargetsAndroidgamers.AlthoughtheemulatorworksperfectlyfineforotherAndroidappsandenjoyingthewholeAndroidexperience,itisbestsuitedforplayingmassivegameslikePUBGorJusticeLeague.ThebestpartofNoxEmulatoristhatit’sabsolutelyfreewithnosponsoredadsatall.TheNoxPlayerallowsyoutomapkeysofKeyboard,Mouse,andGamepad.Youcanevenassignkeyboardkeysforgestures,forinstance,mappingshortcutforswipingright.Also,youcanspecifytheCPUandRAMusageinthesettingsoptiontogetthebestgamingresults.IfrootingAndroidisyourfocus,NoxPlayermakesiteasytorootthevirtualdeviceunderoneminute.TheonlyproblemwithNoxisthatitputsalotofloadonthesystem.Thus,youcan’tusetonsofotherapps.AnotherthingisitisbasedonAndroid5Lollipopwhichmightbeaconcernforyou.Price: FreeWhyuseNoxPlayer?MultiplewindowsonthesingledeviceMappingshortcutsoncontrollersEasytorootVisitWebsite3.MEmuMeMuPlay.MEmuisrelativelyanewappplayerincomparisontotheothers.Launchedin2015,theMeMuPlay,again,isfocusedongaming.Regarding thespeed,thisAndroidemulatorgivessimilarresultsasNoxandBlueStacks.OneofthemostimportantfeaturesofMeMuAndroidemulatorisitssupportforbothAMDandNvidiachips.ItalsosupportsdifferentAndroidversionslikeAndroidJellyBean,KitKat,andLollipop.WhileMeMuadvocatesforhigh-performancegaming,thegraphicsperformanceisrelativelypoor.Isawtexturesandsmoothnessmissingincomparisontootherappplayers.MEmuiscurrentlybasedonAndroidLollipopandworkstopoftheclasswithproductivityapps.AndifyouarelookingforwardtoplayinggameslikeIngressorPokémonGo,thisshouldbeyourchoice.Price: FreeWhyuseMEmu?KeyMappingSetyourvirtuallocationonGoogleMapsSupportbothAMDandNVidiaVisitWebsite4.KoPlayer(AKACentOS)KoPlayerJustlikeotherAndroidgamingemulatorsoutthere,KoPlayerfocusesondeliveringlag-freegamingexperiencewithalightweightsoftware.AsKoPlayerisfreeofcostyetyoumightseefewadshereandthere.Theappplayeriseasytoinstallandnavigatethroughtheapps.Italsosupportskeyboardmappingandgamepademulation.ThedownsideofthisAndroidemulatoristhatitsometimesfreezesoutoftheblue.Also,theplayerisalittlebuggyandmakesitdifficultfortheusertouninstalltheAndroidemulator.Price: FreeWhyuseKoPlayer?SimpleUISetupanyAndroiddeviceEasytosetupVisitWebsite5.GenymotionGenymotionGenymotionisnotyourcasualAndroidemulator;itisonlytargetedatdevelopers.TheAndroidsimulatorletsyoutestappsonavarietyofvirtualdeviceswithdifferentversionsofAndroid.TheemulatoriscompatiblewithAndroidSDKandAndroidStudio.ItevenworksmacOSandLinux.SinceGenymotionisinclinedtowardsdevelopers,itisequippedwithlotsofdeveloper-friendlyfeatures.AnditmightnotbetherightchoiceforpeoplelookingforAndroidgamingexperience.Price: Trail/Premium$136peryear.WhyuseGenymotion?SupportsAndroidStudioRunsonMacOsandLinuxRunversionsfromAndroid4.1to8.0VisitWebsite6.AndroidStudioAndroidStudioAndroidStudioisadevelopmentIDE(Integrateddevelopmentenvironment)fromGoogleitselfandespeciallycaterstodevelopers.Itbasicallycomeswithabunchoftoolsandpluginstohelpdevelopersbuildandtesttheirapps.AndroidStudiohasabuilt-inemulatorbutpacksfewerfeaturesincomparisontoGenymotion.Theemulatorisunquestionablynotforgeneralusageandplayingheavygames.AndroidStudioistoughtosetupbutsimultaneouslyfavoriteofmanydevelopers.Price: FreeWhyuseAndroidStudio?Google’sofficialemulatorRegularupdatesVisitWebsite7.ARChonARChonARChonisnotsomebigshotAndroidemulator,norithasahugefanfollowing,it’smoreofafixtorunAndroidappsonChromeOS.ItstartedoutwhenGooglebroughtsupportfortwoorthreeAndroidappsonChromeWebBrowser.Followingwhich,aGitHubdevelopertookitalittlenotchfurtherandreleasedARChontorunallAndroidappsonChrome.TheARChonAndroidemulatorisnotsuitedforhardcoregaming,butitisexcellentforusingaproductivityappduetoitseasyaccess.Price: FreeWhyuseARChons?IntegratedintoChromeNotroublesomeinstallationGoodforproductivityappsVisitWebsite8.BlissOSBlissOSBlissOSisalittledifferentfromtheaboveemulators.Where‘AndroidEmulators’emulateAndroidonyourWindowsPC,BlissOS,ontheotherhand,isAndroiditselfandneedstobeinstalledasaseparateOS.Asforitsinstallation,youcoulduseaVirtualBoxoryoucancreatea bootableUSBdriveandinstalltheBlissOSROMontheexternalstorage.Now,installingBlissOSoranyotherAndroidx86basedprojectsisalwaysbetterifyouarelookingfortheexactAndroidexperienceonyourPC.NottomentionthefactisBlissOSisopensourceanddoesn’tencompassadsoranyAndroidemulatorclutter.Price: FreeWhyuseBlissOS?Open-sourceandad-freeBetaversionrunningonAndroid9PieSupportsSubstratumThemeengineVisitWebsiteNeedexperthelpselectingtherightApplicationTestingSoftware?We’vejoinedupwiththesoftwarecomparisonplatformCrozdesk.comtoassistyouinfindingtherightsoftware.Crozdesk’sApplicationTestingSoftwareadvisorscancreateapersonalizedshortlistofsoftwaresolutionswithunbiasedrecommendationstohelpyouidentifythesolutionsthatbestsuityourbusiness’sneeds.Throughourpartnershipyougetfreeaccesstotheirbespokesoftwareselectionadvice,removingbothtimeandhasslefromtheresearchprocess.Itonlytakesaminutetosubmityourrequirementsandtheywillgiveyouaquickcallatnocostorcommitment.Basedonyourneedsyou’llreceivecustomizedsoftwareshortlistslistingthebest-fittingsolutionsfromtheirteamofsoftwareadvisors(viaphoneoremail).Theycanevenconnectyouwithyourselectedvendorchoicesalongwithcommunitynegotiateddiscounts.Togetstarted,pleasecompletetheformbelow:AndroidEmulatorsthatdidn’tmakethegradeThesearesomeofthebestAndroidemulatorsthatyoucanrunonyourWindows10.Beforeyouinstallanyoftheaboveemulators,itisimportanttonotethattheseemulatorsarenotcompletelybug-freeandmaylagfromtimetotime.Also,theperformanceoftheseappplayerswouldbebasedonthespecificationofyourPC.Andherearefewoftheemulatorswhoarenolongersupportedorhavebeenshutdown:AMIDuOSRemixOSLeapdroidWhichAndroidEmulatordoyouandyourteamprefer?Letusknowinthecommentsbelow,andmakesuretosubscribetoournewslettertostayuptodateonallthelatestintheQAworld. 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