Check out our list of the best Android emulators available for Windows PC and Mac in 2020. Android emulators are seemingly becoming more popular as Android’s popularity keeps growing. From developers testing apps to gamers playing on a large screen, users yearn for experiencing Android OS on a Windows PC, complimented with a mouse and keyboard. Some iOS emulators for PC and Mac are also available but Android ones offer a better performance.Maybe you are switching from iPhone to Android, or you merely want to test out a custom ROM, the possibilities with an Android emulator are endless. While BlueStacks has always topped the list of phone emulators for PC and Mac, few others are catching up insanely fast.
There are three main uses for emulators. The main and the most common use for Android Emulator is gaming. Gamers can use emulators on their computers to make some games easier to play. They don’t have to rely on the battery life of their devices and the existence of macros and other tricks help the process. In most cases, these little tricks aren’t illegal (in most games) so nobody really has a problem with it. So lets take a look at the best Android Emulators of 2020 for PC and Mac.
There are many people out there who are willing to bring their Android experience to the PC. From testing new applications on PC to playing Android games on.
With most of such devices being powered by Operating Systems such as Windows and macOS, Android emulators come to the rescue when it is necessary on such non-Android platforms. If you are confused about which is the best Mac and PC Android emulator, the following article would serve as a guide.
List of Best Android Emulators in 2020:
- The 7 best Android emulators for Mac in 2021 Typically, those who own a MacBook tend to choose to buy an iPhone with its iOS offering great advantages in having compatible apps shared across devices. In this case, it is difficult to access any application available exclusively on devices running Google’s operating system.
- Android emulator is software that allows you to install Android Apps on your Windows PC. Get a list of 20 Free & best Android Emulators here.
Here is the list of our picks for the best Android emulators available for Windows PC, Mac and Linux platforms. PC support for emulators is more common than Mac and Linux. However, we have covered the best ones you can download right away. We have also included a few standalone Android builds that you can install on your computer.
- Nox Player
- BlueStacks
- LDPlayer
- MEmu
- Ko Player
- Genymotion
- Droid4X
- Android Studio Emulator
- Remix OS
- ARChon
- Bliss OS
- Phoenix OS
To know more about these best Android emulators, continue reading ahead:
1. Nox Player
Nox Player especially targets Android gamers. Although the emulator works perfectly fine for other Android apps and enjoying the whole Android experience, it is best suited for playing massive games like PUBG or Justice League. The best part of Nox Emulator is that it’s absolutely free with no sponsored ads at all.
The Nox Player allows you to map keys of keyboard, mouse, and gamepad. You can even assign keyboard keys for gestures, for instance, mapping shortcut for swiping right.Also, you can specify the CPU and RAM usage in the settings option to get the best gaming results. If rooting Android is your focus, Nox Player makes it easy to root the virtual device under one minute.
The only problem with Nox is that it puts a lot of load on the system. Thus, you can’t use tons of other apps. Another thing is it is based on Android 5 Lollipop which might be a concern for you. For a complete setup and install guide, read: How to Install Nox Player 6
Best Mac Android Emulator Free
Compatibility: Windows and Mac
2. BlueStacks
BlueStacks is probably the most known Android emulator among Android users. The emulator is preferred for gaming and is ridiculously easy to set up. Other than Play Store, you have the option of downloading BlueStacks optimized apps from its own app store. Although, BlueStacks supports keyboard mapping but does not go well with gestures.
A major drawback of BlueStacks emulator is that it gets sluggish in productivity apps. Other than that, the sponsored ads make the emulator lose behind other best free Android emulators for Windows. Talking specifically about BlueStacks 4, it brings an excellent gaming performance, thanks to low CPU and memory usage. It also claims to be 6x faster than Samsung Galaxy S9+. For a complete setup and install guide, read: How to Install Bluestacks 4
Compatibility: Windows and Mac
3. LDPlayer
LDPlayer is a free Android emulator for Windows PC users to play Android games easily on computer. This emulator is built with gaming in behind with all the features targeted for optimization of Android games. LDPlayer is based on Android 5.1.1 and Android 7.1.2 Nougat and provides the best compatibility with games like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile and Free Fire.
The team claims this emulator performs much better than playing Android games on a real phone. You can install games directly from APK + OBB data and you can also download Android games from the Google Play Store.
Compatibility: Windows PC only
4. MEmu
MEmu is relatively a new app player in comparison to the others. Launched in 2015, the MeMu Play, again, is focused on gaming. Regarding the speed, this Android emulator gives similar results as Nox and BlueStacks.One of the most important features of MeMu Android emulator is its support for both AMD and Nvidia chips. It also supports different Android versions like Android Jelly Bean, Kit Kat, and Lollipop. While MeMu advocates for high-performance gaming, the graphics performance is relatively poor. I saw textures and smoothness missing in comparison to other app players.
MEmu is currently based on Android Lollipop and works top of the class with productivity apps. And if you are looking forward to playing games like Ingress or Pokémon Go, this should be your choice.
Compatibility: Windows PC only
5. Ko Player
Best Mac Android Emulator 2020
Just like other Android gaming emulators out there, Ko Player focuses on delivering lag-free gaming experience with a lightweight software.As Ko Player is free of cost yet you might see few ads here and there. The app player is easy to install and navigate through the apps. It also supports keyboard mapping and gamepad emulation.The downside of this Android emulator is that it sometimes freezes out of the blue. Also, the player is a little buggy and makes it difficult for the user to uninstall the Android emulator.
Compatibility: Windows and Mac
6. Genymotion
Genymotion is not your casual Android emulator; it is only targeted at developers. The Android simulator lets you test apps on a variety of virtual devices with different versions of Android. The emulator is compatible with Android SDK and Android Studio. It even works macOS and Linux.Since Genymotion is inclined towards developers, it is equipped with lots of developer-friendly features. And it might not be the right choice for people looking for Android gaming experience.
Compatibility: Windows, Mac and Linux
7. Droid4X
Droid4x is an Android virtual machine/simulator that runs as a guest operating system on your PC or your Mac. It is a full, working Android operating system with networking (wi-fi), Google Play Store, and functional apps. You can play games, install apps, configure settings, test your apps, navigate the system, and anything else you can do with an Android device. Droid4x works on Windows and on Mac OS X. Android version 4.2.2 is the current version running on Droid4x.
Compatibility: Windows and Mac
8. Android Studio Emulator
Android Studio is a development IDE (Integrated development environment) from Google itself and especially caters to developers. It basically comes with a bunch of tools and plugins to help developers build and test their apps.Android Studio has a built-in emulator but packs fewer features in comparison to Genymotion. The emulator is unquestionably not for general usage and playing heavy games. Android Studio is tough to set up but simultaneously favorite of many developers.
For a complete setup and installation instructions, we would recommend you read through the following tutorials:
- First, download and install the latest Android Studio.
- Second, install and setup Android 10 emulator.
Compatibility: Windows and Mac
9. Remix OS
Well, Remix OS is nothing like other Android emulators out there. It is an entire Android OS which you can boot into. Unlike the other emulators that can easily on top of the Window, Remix OS needs to be installed on a separate partition.Remix OS is a Jide Technology product, a company formed by Google’s former employees. You can put Remix OS on a USB device and boot from there to any computer on the planet. The Android emulator is good for productivity apps but does not support heavy gaming.Although Jide technology has killed its support, you can still download the last Android Marshmallow version. Meanwhile, a similar project known as Phoenix OS is being well-liked among the Remix OS fans. And recently, the project was updated to Android 7 Nougat.
Compatibility: Windows PC only
10. ARChon
ARChon is not some big shot Android emulator, nor it has a huge fan following, it’s more of a fix to run Android apps on Chrome OS.It started out when Google brought support for two or three Android apps on Chrome Web Browser. Following which, a GitHub developer took it a little notch further and released ARChon to run all Android apps on Chrome.The ARChon Android emulator is not suited for hardcore gaming, but it is excellent for using productivity app due to its easy access
Compatibility: Windows and Mac
11. Bliss OS
Bliss OS is a little different from the above emulators. Where ‘Android Emulators’ emulate Android on your Windows PC, Bliss OS, on the other hand, is Android itself and needs to be installed as a separate OS. As for its installation, you could use a Virtual Box or you can create a bootable USB drive and install the Bliss OS ROM on the external storage.Now, installing Bliss OS or any other Android x86 based projects is always better if you are looking for the exact Android experience on your PC. Not to mention the fact is Bliss OS is open source and don’t encompass ads or any Android emulator clutter.
Compatibility: Windows PC only
12. Phoenix OS
Phoenix OS is a big-screen Android operating system that can run on bigger display screens like a computer monitor. This OS is designed with Android at the backend, but is customized to run like a full desktop platform. And most importantly, it has been optimized to run Android games on PC. Phoenix OS also support keymapping for all popular games like PUBG Mobile, Fortnite and other FPS / MOBA games. You can download and install Phoenix in a virtual environment on any laptop or MacBook easily. This emulator is available in two variants. One is based on Android 7.1 Nougat and one is based on Android 5.1 Lollipop.
Compatibility: Windows PC, Mac, Linux
This was a detailed look at different Android emulators available for computers — Mac, Windows and Linux systems. Do you think we missed any? Let us know in the comments!
Last update: January 2020
BEST ANDROID EMULATORS for PC 2020 – 2020 (Windows, Mac and linux): Android emulators have always been a hot topic in the community, as it is still in its early stages. But most of them are ready for use, the next set of emulator show that. Also have look at our previous collection of 3Ds emulators 2020.
Some are better for an all app usage, while others are designed for play your favourite android games like Clash of clans. it’s up to you to see which one you prefer the most. Without further ado, let’s get to the post. Schwinn s350 electric scooter owners manual.
Contents
- Best Android Emulators for windows, mac & linux
Best Android Emulators for windows, mac & linux
1. Bluestacks [Best Android emulator Windows]
Let’s start with the most famous of all. Bluestacks is an outstanding Android emulator for PC that for many years has been the go-to choice for Android emulation. It has a large user base of more than 130 million people worldwide. And it keeps improving their compatibility with Android games and apps.
The software brings lots of freedom, the startup is pretty easy. It asks for an email associated with an Android device, it will then start downloading all of its apps and synchronizing what it has to. If you have never had an Android device then it’s not a problem, you can still use Bluestacks like a regular emulator. To download the apps we have 3 options:
1. Using the app store provided by Bluestacks
2. Entering Google Play Store directly from the virtualized browser
3. Downloading an APK and running it with the emulator.
Control is pretty intuitive; you can use the mouse cursor to perform tactical gestures or your keyboard to map certain actions, if you’re using a touch-enabled device, you can always use your hands to control the emulator, or even a gamepad while gaming.
One negative point about this emulator (or maybe all emulators) is that it requires a lot of resources to work and even more to run fluently. We are tested this android emulator on Windows 10 i5 laptop its performance are nice.
Best android emulator for windows 10.
BlueStacks features:
- 96% of applications and games are compatible.
- Testing support for developers.
- Multi-touch input
- Keyboard and mouse integration.
- Ability to synchronize with the desktop.
- Native Windows graphic support.
- The sensors and camera are integrated for a complete Android experience.
- Android-TV support.
- Available Root Version
Download:Bluestacks.
2. ARChon – Emulator with Chrome
ARChon is a Google Chrome extension developed to run Android apps on ChromeOS, ARMm and Intel x86 machines. You just need to download the extension, convert the APK you want to run with a tool they offer, and that’s it! Chrome 37+ required. This android emulator is recommended for low-end pcs.
3. Remix OS Player
Remix OS takes the place of new level Android emulator. It’s not a program you run on your computer. it’s a fully-fledged operating system! Based on the Android-x86 project. Remix OS is able to run as an operating system using Android apps and taking advantage of the Google ecosystem.
Its interface offers a multitasking desktop with support for several overlapping windows, as well as a taskbar very similar to the one we can find in Windows 10 and a revision of the notifications tab. It even allows to right click on the items to open context menus, in addition to associate by default the most special accesses of our physical keyboard, all this without leaving aside the features and configuration elements that come with the Android system itself, alongside its integration with our Gmail account. The operating system can be installed from a USB drive that also allows to run as a LiveCD externally. Likewise, it can coexist in the same drive with other operating systems, enabling a boot menu during the start of the machine.
The movement of Android OSs on x86 (Intel’s architecture) has more than Remix OS behind its back, Phoenix OS, a competitor of the former has taken giant steps towards its compatibility with apps, and Google’s ChromeOS Android compatibility, although in beta, is looking like an exciting project that May become the standard of the industry.
Download:Remix OS
4. WindowsAndroid
WindowsAndroid is an Android emulator for Windows 8, 7 and 10 that will allow us to run a virtual machine with the Android OS so that we can use our computer as an Android tablet.
The controls of this software are just as Bluestacks’. You can use your mouse cursor as the main control input, as well as touch input if your PC has that enabled. The installation of WindowsAndroid is really easy, too. Just download and run the .exe and it’ll start running the software.
Once you’re on the virtual machine, you can access your usual Android settings and set some of them.
This alternative is more than capable to run any application, it’s different from Bluestacks because you’re not emulating an app, you’re running an OS from a virtual machine, which should greatly increase performance. And it also doesn’t suffer from storage issues, as long as your hard drive isn’t full.
WindowsAndroid is one of the best tools to emulate Android that currently exist. Not only does it work well and it allows to download any application of this operating system to use in Windows, but it gives us the possibility to do it of a simple and fast way. No complex configurations or BIOS installation. Just double click on the executable and we will be inside.
Download:WindowsAndroid
5. VirtualBox Emulator
VirtualBox is an open source software that installs different operating systems as a guest operating system. You can get the ISO image from the official android blog.
Once you have downloaded and installed the ISO file, you can install Android-x86 and start using APKs with it.
Features of using Android in VirtualBox:
- Full control of components.
- You can perform all actions like in the aforementioned Android emulators.
- You can allocate RAM for your Android operating system according to your needs.
- Every time you feel bored, you can play and test new applications.
- It is easy to remove/uninstall the Android operating system in VirtualBox.
Download:VirtualBox.
6. Andy ( for Windows & Mac)
Andy is an Android emulator that will allow us to download, install and use hundreds of thousands of exclusive Android applications on our PC with Windows operating system, all without the need to create a virtual machine or perform any complex configuration: you just need to install and start.
Andy is really intuitive: You use your mouse to emulate touch functionalities, and you can even use your mouse wheel to emulate the slide down gesture, if you have a touchscreen then you’re in luck, as it’s also really intuitive with touch inputs.Compatibility-wise it’s flawless. You can run Android’s most famous apps and games, but the most interesting app we will be able to run is Whatsapp, we only need to download it, install it and authenticate our phone number with a text message we’ll receive to our phone!
Download:Andy.
7. Nox – Best Emulator Whatsapp, Instagram …
Nox App player is a lightweight alternative for running Android apps, it has compatibility with a wide array of games (both light and heavy) as well as a handful of settings and controls for the emulator.
The apps can be downloaded from the Google Play Store so their installation is natural and easy.
Download:Nox.
8. Genymotion for mac
Genymotion is an alternative to Bluestacks. Especialized in the testing of Android apps it has an excellent build quality and lots of developer features. You can even use your PC camera to have video chats. android emulators for mac 2020
- It is compatible with all OS: Windows, Mac and Linux.
- Windows of variable size.
- Java API supported.
- Equipped with screencasts.
- One click with the customizable button: IMEI, MEID, Android ID.
- Drag and drop applications.
- OpenGL acceleration.
- CPU virtualization.
Download:Genymotion.
9. Memu
MEMu is an emulator like Bluestacks, it also comes with root access and a ton of functions that can be adjusted from a sidebar located to the right of the program. It gets the job done (as well as Bluestacks, it requires a lot of resources to work).
Download:Memu
10. KoPlayer
Our last item on the list is a new competitor on the emulator sub category. KoPlayer is an emulator like Bluestacks or MeMU, just that it’s a bit more focused on gaming. You can use the keyboard settings to emulate a game controller. Players will also be able to record the game. The installation process is quite easy. Like most emulators (especially this one as it is so new) it’s quite buggy, however, it is a free option that is worth a try.
Download:KoPlayer.
And this is the end of our android emulators 2020 – 2020 list, Android apps have become a necessity for today’s users and the emulation of Android apps on other devices is definitely a noble cause that should be supported. If you feel like this list should have another emulator, leave it in the comment box below!
I couldn’t get Virtualbox to work. Bluestacks on the other hand was very easy to set up.