Android emulator is a program that allows the user to run the android application on your windows or mac pc. It provides a virtual environment. Here comes 16 Best Android Emulators that lets you run Android on your PC/Mac! Get the best one and run games smoothly on your PC or Macbook.
Android Emulators are one of the most amazing things for Windows PC and Mac users. Your computer becomes a dynamic device which can run other apps and software which are only compatible with another operating system like Android.
People, who never use an android emulator in a windows 10, 8 or 7 PC will always have this question in their mind that why would you need to download emulator if you have an Android smartphone which can simply run android apps and games without any other external tool? Well, it could be any reason for someone to run Android apps on a Windows/Mac PC. A developer who wants to test his apps before releasing the app to the public would use an Android emulator of their choice to test the app. Another reason could be that the person wants bigger real screen estate when playing android games with the use of physical keywords and mouse.
Using an Android Emulator will give a whole new experience with the little bit of a usual Android smartphone experience since the UI of the emulators (except some emulators) will be similar to an ordinary Android smartphone.
So today we are going to look at the 17 best android emulators for Windows PC and Mac. Particularly the Android emulators given in this guide are compatible with Windows 7/ 8/ 10 & Mac. This is a complete guide on, How to download and setup best Android emulator on PC? This article will give you a brief description of the android phone emulator and how and where you can download them.
These Emulators are available for free and are available for both Windows PC and Mac. So you don’t need to spend a penny to install and experience any of the Android emulator’s mentions in this guide.
Note that installing any of the Android studio emulators would require some kind of basic knowledge about Android, Windows PC, and Mac which almost everyone will have so I don’t think there should be any problem with this guide. This guide is very precise and if you read this article carefully and you won’t face any issue or whatsoever.
So here are 10 best Android emulators for Windows PC and Mac.
Contents
- 1 Android Emulator for Windows and MAC
Andy Emulator
Andy Emulator is completely free of cost, and you can download it from lots of third-party websites. You must be thinking that why I didn’t put Bluestack as the number one Android emulator for Windows PC and Windows. This emulator had few issues when it was first released, but with the few updates released by the developers, it has become a serious competition with the Bluestack. In my opinion, it is even better than the Bluestack Emulator. If you are using Windows 10 or Mac, then you should definitely try this emulator. The emulator is also available for Windows 10, 7 & 8.
Andy can run all the free android apps including games, launchers, productive apps, entertaining and education. You can even get root access with this emulator which makes this emulator very productive especially for the developers. However, it is not a perfect emulator, in fact, there is no perfect android emulator. All the emulators have at least one flaw which can be a deal breaker for someone. Andy Emulator will run Android 5.0 lollipop which is not up to date since the Android smartphones have to reach android 8.0 Oreo. Maybe in future updates, these emulators will get new OS version.
Bluestacks
BlueStacks Emulator is another great emulator, and it has been in the android emulator department for a while now. This is a very trusted android emulator for both Windows PC and Mac. The developers especially prefer this emulator over any other Emulator because of its dynamic ability. Although the emulator is still running on KitKat and you can download and install all the free android games as well.
Nintendo Emulators are one of the biggest reason why people use the android emulator on their computer because you can play all those legendary Nintendo Gameboy games on your computer with the help of Android Emulators like BlueStack.
BlueStacks is the oldest as well as the first private android emulator. So people who are using BlueStacks since the beginning does not even bother looking at other options.
Nox App Player
If you are a minimalist then you will fall for this emulator. Nox App player is an amazing android emulator, and it is the cleanest when it comes to the user interface of the app Nox App Player is preferable for the mobile gamers since this emulator consists of efficient game rendering engine which can run heavy games smoothly.
Nox App player is clean and gives you a stock android like experience. You can directly install games and apps from the google play store which is given in the app drawer. If you have apk installed on your Windows PC and Mac, then you can also install that apk. Make sure that you enable “unknown Source” which you can do from the settings app.
This emulator comes handy for developers as well. They can test their apps and work on them.
Dolphin Emulator
Dolphin Emulator is another great emulator for this list. Dolphin Emulator is one of the newer emulators in the market. It can run Nintendo GameCube and Wii emulator, so this is good news for Nintendo and Wii lovers. With these titles, you can download and play games like Mario, Sonic and street fighters on your PC.
However, Dolphin for Android has some games compatibility which is more limited than the one available on Windows and Mac. Dolphin is also available for Linux. Dolphone has touchscreen controls as well as physical controls like your joystick, keyboard, and mouse.
Although there is a compatibility issue with Dolphin, it allows you to configure the emulator in almost every aspect. You can also enable “dual Core” enhance the performance of the emulator.
Archon Emulator
Archon Emulator is the unique emulator in the emulator department. Archon Emulator is the first ever emulator which runs on Google Chrome OS. If you have one of those Google Chrome OS running devices and you want to run an Android Emulator, then you should definitely try this emulator I mean what another choice you even have.
The anchor can also run in Google Chrome Browser in the form of an extension. Archon cannot be download separately; you will need Chrome Browser and then install Anchor inside chrome to run this app. Google Chrome is available for all the major platforms so Mac users can also run on Archon Emulator.
Archon Emulator uses the default Android runtime package to run Android apps. Google is expected to release a new update which will support Android apps for Chrome browser in the future. Till then we can use Archon emulator to run Android apps and games in Chrome browser.
Archon has a modified apk android app package which the developers implemented so that people can use it for testing purpose only. So as long as you are not doing any fishy thing with this emulator, you are good to go.
KoPlayer Emulator
KoPlayer is not as good as the emulators mentioned above when it comes to the user interface, but it has lots of good features which makes it worthy of trying. This is a Win-only Android emulator. You get Google Play store inbuilt in the emulator, and it is compatible with Windows 7/ 8/ 8.1/ 10. Watching movies and videos from Youtube and Netflix makes this emulator a great entertainment companion since it has an adaptable resolution and you can watch contents in full screen.
Ko Player Emulator for windows PC has other good features like drag and drop for installing apps directly through apk files without downloading them from external sources. You can also navigate through the interface with keyboards and play games with it.
Make sure that you enable discrete graphics solution and virtualization technology in the BIOS settings before running any app.
Ko Player is yet to launch for Mac users so meanwhile, you can check on other android emulators which are compatible with Mac.
Genymotion Emulator
GenyMotion is another great emulator for developers. If you are developers who test a lot of apps on a regular basis, then you should give Genymotion a try. Genymotion is a self-claimed emulator for the developer because of its features. It is compatible with Android SDK tools, Eclipse and Android Studio.
You can sideload plugins for Genymotion to increase the control over the apps that you are testing.Genymotion has Java API which allows the user to automate apps for testing. BY testing with Java API, you can manipulate the sensor value of the app that you are testing. You can change the location and scenarios as well. You can also emulate fake SMS/Calls to check any relatable app you are working on. So basically this emulator is perfect for developers in my opinion, and it has all the geeky stuff which a normal consumer won’t get.
Remix OS
Remix OS is another emulator which is on the newer side. This emulator is easy to use without any errors or whatsoever. While most of the Android Emulators are running on Android KitKat or Lollipop, Remix OS Android Emulator for PC runs on Android Marshmallow. This is a huge advantage over another emulator because you can simply download and run more new apps and games on your MAC or Windows.
Remix OS has a feature called dual booting capability which means that you can easily install this emulator separately in x86 compatible systems.
Side-loading apk files are possible, but Google Play store is installed by default so you can get pretty much all the android apps from google play store. The user interface is simply because of the stock android like interface.
You can configure keyboards for your likings but I believe it can be more refined and also the demanding games needs optimization. However, you can run decent size games and apps simultaneously thanks to the effective resource utilization.
Remix OS is not available for Mac OS, and I don’t think it is coming for Mac OS any time soon.
Android Studio
Android Studio was released back in 2013, and since then it gains a lot of popularity. This emulator is a successor to the Eclipse IDE which is still in use by some old school developers. Android Studio has an emulator built-in so that developers can test their apps. So basically it means that an Emulator is running inside an emulator which is sort of a gimmick but it works.
Android Studio works fine, and it gets the job done. It has all the basic developer tools, but there are other Android emulators out there who are significantly better than this one. You can download Android Studio Emulator for playing games or trying out WhatsApp on your PC.
Xamarin
Xamarin Visual Studio is a successor to Xamarin Android Player. Unfortunately, Xamarin Android studio discontinued, but you can use it as Xamarin Visual studio.
Xamarin Visual Studio is compatible with both Windows PC and Mac OS. It runs perfectly on Windows 7/ 8/ 8.1/ 10.
If you are looking for developing android apps tools, then you might not want to use this app. This emulator is not developer friendly simply because it does not have the required tools.
Xamarin Visual Studio can run all the popular Android titles without any error. Laos if you have a touchscreen feature on your desktop and laptop then this emulator can also work with it.
The user interface is also not as pleasing as another emulator, and then navigating through the interface can be hard. All and all I would say that this emulator is not for the general consumer. You also need to install Visual Studio separately in order to run Xamarin Visual Studio
Virtual Box
Virtual Box is a software for Windows and Mac OS which can run other operating systems as a guest OS. You have to download and install VirtualBox & Android iOS for the initial setup. Speaking of setup, setting up this software and making it able to run other OS can be tedious for some user.
Once you complete the setup, you can have an experience with running Android OS or any other OS as it is running on a physical device that runs such OS. Other emulators are also based on VirtualBOX& VMware software.
Memu
Memu is a light android emulator. It does not take much of your computer space. This emulator is not available for Mac OS. Memu runs few kernels that support jellybean, KitKat and Lollipop. The developers of this emulator claim that this emulator will get marshmallow and Nougat update very soon.
Memu is a free android emulator, and although it not much in size, it has all the necessary features which other emulators also have. It can run on Windows7, 8, 8.1 and 10 with both Intel and AMD system (It can also run with or without any integrated graphic).
Droid4X
Droid4X is an old emulator which is still giving competition to other Android emulators out there. This classic emulator is somehow simple and effective. Runs smoothly on Windows PC and Mac. Droid 4X is concentrated towards gamers, particularly casual gamers who just want to kill time. When it comes to productivity, Droid4X is no slouch, and it can deliver some impressive performance to people who do productive tasks.
Droid 4x has recently faced some issue, and now I’m not sure whether the emulator is available or not. But you can check their website.
Youwave
Youwave is another old emulator but it still working and available for Windows PC and Mac. However, the emulator has not received any updated for years now. Youwave Android emulator is available in two versions, Freemium, and premium. You will get Ads and Ice Cream Sandwich in the freemium version. You must download premium version as it’s much better since it has no ads and runs on a lollipop.
Leapdroid
Leapdroid supports almost all the free android apps and games. You can download and run the apps pretty smoothly. Leapdroid has features like enhance gameplay, seamless apps and games compatibility.
The acquisition of Google has made the emulator vulnerable, and there is no update for this emulator anymore. You can still install this emulator, but you won’t get any security patches.
AMIDuOS
AmiDuos is not an emulator but software which can run Android apps. You won’t get any android like the interface, but that’s not the point here. People install Android emulators to run Android apps, and AMiDUos also delivers that. It runs only on Windows with 32 and a 64-bit system.
Bliss
Bliss is a decent android emulator which runs on x86. It is available for Windows PC. I don’t recommend this emulator to anyone simply because it has lots of compatible issues. Go for any other emulator mentioned above, but I think you should avoid this emulator.
So these are the best Android emulators that you can download and install on your Windows 10 PC and Mac OS. There are some Emulators which are not compatible with Mac OS, but every emulator in the list is compatible with windows.
Android emulators are a great way to experience Android on your Windows or Mac computer. They allow you to have the mobile feel of an android phone without having to buy a new device. Plus, they’re perfect for playing games that aren’t available in the Apple Store!
So you want to run android apps on your PC? Well, it just so happens that there are a ton of android emulators out there. However, not all android emulators are created equal. Some have limited features while others offer the same functionality as Android devices themselves. In this article, we will discuss our top 10 best android emulators for Windows and Mac!
Hopefully, by the end of this post, you’ll be able to find one that suits all your needs!
Best Android Emulator For Macbook
Advantages of Android emulators
Android emulators are great tools for developers and android enthusiasts to test out android apps without having an android device. Moreover, the android emulators enable you to enjoy the same experience as if you were using a phone or tablet – meaning that they can be used with keyboard+mouse or touch screen, depending on what suits your needs best.
The android emulators also offer an opportunity to test out different builds of android without having access to a variety of devices – meaning that they can be pretty handy if you need a place to tinker with new android versions and new builds of android.
Mostly the android emulators are also compatible with a variety of other operating systems, meaning that you can use them on your Windows or Mac machine without the need for any specialized software – just download the emulator like normal and away you go! Android emulators provide an opportunity for people who don’t like owning their own android devices to still be able to use Android apps or games on a computer.
Developers are able to test their app’s compatibility with various versions of Android as well as screen sizes and resolutions without having an actual phone. Android emulation allows developers to test out their apps on various devices without having access to each individual device separately.
Emulation also offers users an opportunity to run android apps that may not be compatible with specific OS’s, meaning that Android can be used on a variety of different computers.
BlueStacks
The number one Android emulator on this list is BlueStacks. This versatile emulator comes with a variety of benefits such as the ability to run pretty much any version of android you want, compatibility with Windows and Mac operating systems (as well as Linux), an intuitive user interface that’s super easy to use and lots more.
BlueStacks comes with an inbuilt app store, meaning that after installation, you can go ahead and download any of your favorite apps without the need for a separate app market.
The emulator also includes integrated Google Play services, making it compatible with all Android games as well! This is one of the safest android emulators on the market for Mac and Windows. This is a great option if you’re looking to avoid downloading any malware.
The emulator also offers the ability to record gameplay on your computer without having any additional software – perfect for gamers who want to show off their gaming skills!
However, one of the most notable features of this software is it, instance manager. With it, you’re able to launch multiple android instances at the same time. This is great if you need more than one emulator for different purposes – such as testing out a new game or working on an app that needs two versions of Android in order to work properly.
BlueStacks is one of the best android emulators out there and will allow you to access pretty much anything that Android has to offer, including all your favorite apps!
Pros:
- Great for beginners.
- Fits on most screens (meaning that you can enjoy Android without having to buy a whole new computer).
- Ability to test out different versions of android and operating systems.
Cons:
- Doesn’t work with all games – especially ones that require an accelerometer or gyroscope.
- Doesn’t work with some apps and games that require Android OS versions lower than Jellybean.
- Requires a powerful computer to run smoothly.
NoxPlayer
NoxPlayer is another one of the best Android emulators for Windows and Mac. It’s not as popular as BlueStacks, but it has a lot to offer – like support for hardware acceleration! As we all know, there are many games that require good graphics card and processor power in order to run smoothly. So if you’re looking for a way to optimize your emulator experience, NoxPlayer might be the best option.
What makes it stand out from other Android emulators? Well, first of all – its performance! It can easily run games with the highest graphics settings without any hiccups or long loading times. Secondly, it’s very user-friendly and easy to use – perfect for beginners!
Lastly, it has a big advantage over most of the other emulators on this list. NoxPlayer is also available as an Android app which means that you can install and run it directly from your phone or tablet if you’re running low on space. That’s pretty neat, right?
Pros
- Easy to use
- Free for personal and commercial purposes.
- High-performance emulation (runs Android apps at near native speeds)
- Completely cross-platform (supports Windows, Mac and Linux)
Cons
- Runs on Android 5, which is too outdated to enjoy new games.
- Comes with some bloatware, i.e., difficult-to-delete software.
- Some antivirus software may detect its files as suspicious.
LDPlayer
LDPlayer is a powerful Android emulator that lets you run your favourite apps on Windows. It has been around for more than five years, and it comes with a user-friendly interface.
LDPlayer includes a built-in web browser, so you can surf the internet right from your desktop computer running Windows or Mac OS X. What’s more, this Android emulator introduces support for multi-touch – it supports up to ten points of input at once!
What’s more, one of the most prominent features in LDPlayer is its compatibility with thousands of Android games and applications. In addition to that, we must mention that even if your computer doesn’t meet the requirements for this emulator; you may still be able to run it.
Pros:
– LDPlayer is compatible with thousands of Android games and applications. It includes a built-in web browser, so you can surf the internet right from your desktop computer running Windows or Mac OS X.
What’s more, it supports up to ten points of input at once!
Cons:
- The emulator is not free.
- It takes a while to set up the emulator and get it running smoothly on your computer, depending on how powerful it is.
- LDPlayer doesn’t come with any keyboard shortcuts by default.
Andy Android Emulator
Andy is one of the best on this list. It has a lot of features and it’s pretty fast, requires just minimum system requirements to install on your computer. With Andy you can experience the same Android as on an actual device but without having to actually own one. This emulator also allows for multiple users accounts which makes great for testing apps or games.
The emulator also supports sync with Dropbox which is very convenient when you want to access your files from any device.
Andy allows you to sync the folders and system settings with a computer, while this may not sound like much it can come in handy at times where all other Android Emulators fail.
Pros:
Great for testing apps and games. Multiple accounts
Cons:
Expensive service, Requires more system resources so it’s not as fast as some other emulators in this list
MEmuPlay
One of the top rated Android emulators on our list is MEmuPlay. It is specifically created for gaming and offers an amazing user interface.
MEmuPlay is a highly customizable Android emulator which is available for Windows and Mac.
It has many features that make it one of the most desirable emulators on our list, including:
– It can be used to play games in high performance with its frame rate limit feature
– Ability to change screen size
– Optimized graphics engine for smoother HD graphics
– The emulator is quite lightweight and can be used on a wide range of PC’s
– It offers the ability to change the orientation of your screen from portrait to landscape while you are playing games. This allows users to play in either position which may come up depending on what they want to do with their device at that moment.
Pros:
– Its frame rate limit feature allows you to play games on a high-performance level. With this, gamers can enjoy smoother HD graphics and never experience lag when playing their favourite game.
You have the ability to customize your resolution which means that MEmuPlay will be perfect for any type of computer.
This emulator is also quite lightweight and can be used on a wide range of PC’s, regardless of the hardware specifications.
Ability to change screen orientation from portrait to landscape.
Cons:
– There is a lack of customization when it comes to the home screen
– The emulator may be difficult to use for gamers who are new to these types of programs.
Android Studio Emulator
The Android Studio is the official development environment created by Google. It has an inbuilt powerful emulator that lets you test and debug your applications without the need for a physical device.
The emulator has been designed to be as close as possible to an actual phone, which allows app developers to detect problems before they are deployed on a real-world system. It also enables the testing of different devices with one single installation of Android Studio.
The inbuilt emulator has been designed with some of the following features to make it as realistic as possible:
- Emulates phone calls and sensors like GPS, accelerometer, etc.
- Supports hardware acceleration
- Includes support for USB devices such as keyboard, gamepad, mouse and other peripherals to make testing apps more realistic.
- Provides an easy way to take screenshots at any time
It also comes pre-installed with Android SDKs so you can start developing right away without having to install it separately in your computer. It also has built-in tools like DDMS (Dalvik Debug Monitor Server) and CPU/Memory profiler, which can be used by developers as well as power users to debug and analyze applications.
The emulator lets developers test their apps on different system architectures (x86 or ARM) as well as different Android versions to ensure that it will work across all devices.
The emulator is versatile and has a lot of features for developers such as creating multiple virtual screens, generating pre-defined screen sizes (Smartphone, TV), adding/removing system overlays like battery level or using Google Play Store to download apps into the device.
Lastly, the Android Studio Emulator is enabled with Google Play Services and it can be accessed by logging into your account.
ARChon
ARChon (also known as ARChon Runtime for Chrome) is a versatile custom extension for Chrome or Chromium browser that can easily run Android apps straight on Windows PC and a wide variety of other supported platforms.
Android Emulator For Pc
ARChon is an open-source, free Android emulator that allows users to emulate the android experience on their PC. Unlike other emulators mentioned above, ARCHON isn’t a traditional emulator, it is installed as a chrome extension. Hence, the extension must be downloaded and installed on Chrome browser. When installed, it gives chrome the ability to run android apps and games.
ARChon works with any operating system that can run an instance of Chrome, including macOS, Linux, Windows, etc.
How to download and install ARChon on Chrome.
- Download the ARChon.zip file and unzip it via Winrar or 7zip.
- Open Google Chrome browser on your windows.
- Click on the 3 dot option key at the top right corner of the browser. Select tools> Extension.
- You can also type chrome://extensions// on the address bar to take you directly to the extension tab.
- Once on the extension tab, enable the “developer mode” option at the top right.
- Select the developer mode and click on “load unpacked extension”. Select the unzipped ARChon folder.
- ARChon should start installing on your chrome browser. You may come across a warning after the installation but just ignore it.
Once you’re done with everything, you can then download any apk file of your choice, unzip it, and follow the same process as you install ARChon.
You should then find the app on your chrome://apps folder.
Beware that note all files are compatible with chrome. So ensure that the one you’re using is compatible and also update your browser to the latest version.
GameLoop
GameLoop is a free Android emulator software which you can play mobile games on your Windows computer.
However, as the name suggests, GameLoop was specifically built for gamers. It was formerly known as TenCent Gaming Buddy, and was developed by TenCent, a company that also created and distributed the Android version of the popular game “PUGB”.
With its help, gaming enthusiasts can discover, download, and play almost all available Android games on their PCs instantly!
Like other Android emulators, GameLoop allow users to install and play mobile games directly from its game store. You can instantly start playing any game you find without additional configuration.
Additionally, whenever a new game is updated or released, you can immediately access it using GameLoop.
While you can’t use the emulator to play all Android games, GameLoop does have a massive library of gaming apps. Once installed, you can use it to play many popular games, the likes of Clash of Clans, Call of Duty Mobile, Candy Crush Saga, and lots more! As soon as these games get emulated on your Windows laptop or desktop, you can start using your mouse or keyboard for control.