Android simulator for Windows 7 PC. The best Android emulators on Windows

Android emulator on PC is software in the form of a shell with a mobile operating system. Follow the link and download one of these applications to your computer.

Download BlueStacks

Popular Android emulator for computer.

The popularity of gaming applications for the Android operating system today is off the charts. And now imagine that you can play your favorite arcade game on your desktop computer, contemplating all the action on the big screen.

Thanks to the popular emulator, you can use software for portable devices directly on your PC or laptop. The utility's interface completely imitates the menu of your smartphone. Moreover, you can log into your Google account and even use the Play Market to install additional programs.

Download Nox App Player

New Android emulator for PC.

One of the most popular applications that allows users to enjoy their favorite Android applications on their computer is undoubtedly. And there's a good reason for that. The emulator is based on version 4 of Android. It was for this that, at one time, most of the most exciting games were written.

Plus, here you can use an existing Google account or easily create a new one. And, if you need root rights, you can get them directly in the program menu.

Download Android Remix OS Player

The emulator is used by millions of users all over the world. After all, this utility has an undeniable advantage. In order to enjoy its full functionality, you do not need to install a separate virtual machine of the same name.

In addition, the program has the ability to launch several Android sessions at once, has its own application store, and even a beginner can handle its simple interface and controls. The distribution weighs about 900 MB and is supported by all versions of Windows OS.

Download MEmu

The free Android emulator is simply created for gamers who are fans of mobile applications. The utility engine is implemented in such a way that you can enjoy games with high system requirements even on a rather weak PC without any problems.

Plus, touch controls can be replaced with a standard keyboard and mouse, special virtual buttons, and even a joystick connected to the PC. Now, certainly no one can stop you from conquering new lands and coping with the hordes of orcs.

Download Droid4X

It is rightfully considered one of the most affordable Android emulators. After all, its distribution weighs only about 9 MB, and you can download the program for free, since it does not have a license and is freely distributed.

But the most important thing is that the functionality of the utility is in no way inferior to its closest competitors. Here you can use your favorite applications by installing them from the Play Market. And, if you are used to the sensor, then at any time you will be able to adjust control using a smartphone connected to the PC.

It would seem, why emulate the Android mobile operating system on a computer if you are not a developer? There are plenty of reasons for this, and one of them is the huge ecosystem of applications and games that are created specifically for Android, but are not present on Windows, Linux or OS X. What to do if you want to continue playing Clash of Clans on your computer or upload a high-quality photo to Instagram from PC? Of course, you should resort to the help of emulators. The best of them are presented in this article.

Bluestacks - all in one

One of the most popular and fast-growing Android emulators for Windows and OS X. With update 2.0, the emulator has literally changed - a fresh, but sometimes overloaded interface has appeared, the developers have begun to position Bluestacks more as an opportunity to play Android games and have added several useful functions for this.

Most programs and games are compatible with Bluestacks - as the developers themselves say, and in general the software library for the emulator is quite extensive. It is worth noting that all games and applications in the Bluestacks internal catalog are specially optimized, that is, they will definitely work on the computer. If you install a third-party APK file, then its correct operation, of course, is not guaranteed. Some programs are completely built into the emulator and work almost out of the box, for example Instagram. All the functions characteristic of an emulator are present: changing the screen orientation, simulating shaking, creating screenshots, GPS emulation, convenient work with files - dragging and dropping from Windows Explorer or Finder OS X into the program, copying / pasting, as well as sound control.

You can easily switch between open applications and games using tabs, just like in a browser. Among other things, games now support gamepads. If Bluestacks has any shortcomings, then they probably include only low performance and sometimes an overly cumbersome interface. You can download Bluestacks for Windows and OS X on Trashbox or on the official website of the emulator.

Nox App Player - convenient and functional

It is a more minimalistic, convenient and functional solution. Compared to the same Bluestacks, Nox does not have any cumbersome menus with recommendations, various synchronizations with your own account, and other functionality that will be superfluous for most users. When you launch Nox App Player, the user will see the familiar Android desktop with a sidebar where there are quick function buttons, as well as the familiar “Home”, “Back” and “Recents”. The developers decided to remove the bottom bar with control buttons to save space.

One distinctive feature is immediately noticeable - when running applications that only work in portrait orientation, the emulator screen and window are adjusted. That is, there will be no situations like in Bluestacks, where portrait programs take up ¼ of the screen and the rest is empty space. By the way, in the settings you can adjust the window size and orientation, as well as performance, allocating processor cores and memory.

Geeks in Nox App Player will be pleased with the function of receiving by switching one toggle switch in the settings. You can also set custom keyboard shortcuts here. Even without rooting, Nox App Player can record screen videos. This might not even be mentioned if the emulator used a fresh version of Android (video recording is available from 5.0), but, unfortunately, the Nox developers are stuck with 4.4.2 KitKat for now.

Nox App Player is not the best for games - many display graphics incorrectly. The emulator is more tailored for applications and working with them. For example, to create videos and beautiful screenshots without upper and lower bars. The emulator is also integrated with the Windows 10 notification system. You can download the Nox App Player emulator for Windows on Trashbox and the official website of the project.

Genymotion - for developers

Genymotion is an emulator designed specifically for Android game and application developers, but it can also be used by ordinary people. Unlike the two previous emulators, Genymotion is present on all three popular desktop platforms - Windows, OS X and Linux.

Since Genymotion is an alternative to the emulator built into the Android SDK, templates for a wide variety of Android devices are available in it - from smartphones and tablets of the Nexus line to some little-known budget devices. The emulator of each device has a set of relevant characteristics: screen size and resolution, processor and video chip, battery, GPS and support for cellular networks, as well as some others. When you launch an application or game in the emulator, you can call up a special panel to control all these device parameters. For example, you can find out how the program behaves when GPS or the Internet is turned off. Also, device parameters can be freely edited.

For ordinary users who would like to play and use mobile applications on a computer, Genymotion is not very suitable, but for geeks it is quite suitable. You can download the Genymotion emulator for Windows, Linux and OS X on the official website of the project.

MEMU - for games

It is another emulator focused mainly on mobile games. There is a special keyboard layout for them and even gamepad emulation. For example, you can bind keyboard keys to on-screen buttons. Such features are often missing from Bluestacks, which is also positioned as a mobile gaming platform for PC. Otherwise, MEmu is a standard emulator with a good set of features.

At the time of writing this article, MEmu does not use the latest version of Android - 4.4.2 KitKat, but Lollipop or even Marshmallow are not particularly needed in emulators, because most software is optimized specifically for KitKat. Among the interesting additional features of MEmu are: sending applications from a computer to a smartphone or tablet for quick installation, convenient change of screen orientation, and a full-screen mode for games. The picture quality in the latter often leaves much to be desired, but still. Surprisingly, most of the “heavy” games in MEmu are emulated well - there are no problems with graphics.

There are many reasons why you might need Android emulators on your PC. Application developers test their products on emulators before releasing them on Google Play. Gamers use emulators to play Android games using a mouse and keyboard. In addition, in emulators you can select the simulated device and specify settings such as Android version, number of CPU cores, RAM, presence of an SD card, etc.

In any case, it’s not so important why you need an Android emulator, you need to know that, firstly, such programs exist and there are many of them, secondly, emulators are largely similar in their filling to each other and, thirdly , the installation and configuration process is not so simple and requires minimal technical literacy, so be patient. Below are the 15 best Android emulators on PC with comments. Choose the one that suits you.

Table of comparative characteristics of the main Android emulators for PC

Android Studio Emulator is an emulator for developers.
Free

Android Studio is an IDE (integrated development environment) for Android recommended by Google. This environment has a large set of development tools specifically for Android. And, of course, the program has a built-in emulator so that you can test the developed application or game.

We can say for sure that this program is unlikely to be suitable for those who want to play games or who need an ordinary “consumer” emulator. However, for developers this is a real godsend, a powerful and at the same time free environment with the ability to test on the fly.

Installing this emulator is quite a headache, but once you install and configure it, and then understand all the features, you most likely will not need anything else.

Bluestacks 3 is the most popular emulator.
There are free and paid ($2/month) versions

Bluestacks is the most popular Android emulation program on your computer. According to the developer, Android applications are launched more than a billion times a month on Bluestacks! And there are several reasons for this. To begin with, we can mention that there are versions for Windows and for Mac. They were the first to make a multi-platform emulator that worked well. Mainly BlueStacks aimed at gamers. Early versions were a bit bloated and complex. The latest version (#3) was released in 2017 and differs from the previous ones in that it is noticeably simpler and faster. At the same time, it allows, for example, to work in multitasking mode and run several applications. You can even run multiple versions of the same game at the same time. In addition, the application supports assigning hotkeys in games. Agree, for many games this can be a very good bonus. Although Bluestacks 3 is noticeably faster than previous versions, it still remains too bloated and overloaded when compared to Andy or Remix.

And yet, those who choose an emulator for games should take a closer look at Bluestacks 3.
If you want something simpler and faster, choose something else. Even though Bluestacks is number 1, there is still a choice.

AMIDuOS is a relatively new emulator.
There is a free trial version and two paid versions ($10 and $15)

AMIDuOS is a relatively new emulator for Windows (Win 7, 8 and 10 are supported). Android version can be: Lollipop and Jelly Bean. Just the version of the program with Jelly Bean costs $10, and the version with Lollipop costs $15. And it seems like this is the only difference. The good news is that these are one-time payments and not monthly payments.

AMIDuOS is tailored to fulfill various needs (not just games). Its main feature is high performance. Therefore, this emulator will be a good choice for office or home needs. For example, for Instagram, Telegram... The emulator does not have any special features for games, but games run relatively well on it. Developers can use AMIDuOS for some simple tests, but it is unlikely to be suitable for more complex use. In general, on the whole, AMIDuOS is a good program and deserves attention.

Do a trial to see if it suits you or not.

Andy is one of the best emulators for games.
Free

Next on our list is a completely free emulator called Andy. It appeared quite a long time ago and at the time of its appearance it was full of bugs and various surprises. However, a lot of time has passed since then, and the developers did not waste it: today there are practically no bugs, and the program itself is an excellent lightweight alternative to such monstrous emulators as Bluestacks. On Andy you can run the entire gamut of Android applications. And although Andy is more focused on non-gaming use, you can play on it just fine. Whatever one may say, the emulator is free and works well.

In addition, Andy has a significant advantage: applications can be launched as root.

Available for Windows and Mac. Below is a video comparing Bluestacks and Andy (in English).

Remix OS Player is a fresh update for gamers.
Free

Remix OS Player (developed by Jide) is one of the newest PC emulators on the list. And this is the only emulator at the moment that works on the Android version of Marshmallow instead of Lollipop or Kit Kat. The installation process is very simple. The program is also quite easy to use. Mostly Remix aimed at gamers. Inside the program there is a convenient sidebar where you can change the emulation settings.

Due to the fact that the program is relatively new and free, the developers continue to catch some bugs. That said, Remix is ​​better than many on our list and performs relatively well. And besides, it's free.

Weak spots: Remix OS Player only works on Windows 64-bit (7 and above) and does not support AMD processors.

ARChon is an emulator add-on for Google Chrome.
Free

You need to install this extension (in developer mode). And then you need to convert the APK of the required application using their utility into a format that will work in Chrome with the ARChon extension enabled. Sounds complicated? Then don't try it. If you want to dig in, it might not be that difficult.

The extension works on Windows, Mac and even Linux. This is perhaps the most difficult emulator to install and configure. But also the most unique of its kind.

Genymotion is a fast emulator for developers.
Free for personal use (with paid options)

This option is more suitable for developers. It allows you to test your application on many different devices without owning them. You can select in the Genymotion parameters the device and version of Android on which you want to launch. For example, you can choose a Nexus One with Android 4.2 installed or a Nexus 6 with Android 6.0 installed. And at the same time, you can switch between devices on the fly.

Genymotion is not the most user-friendly program for consumer needs. But this is a bomb emulator for developers. In addition, the program is shareware for personal use. And only for those who really need it, paid options arise.

Droid4X is a simple emulator for games.
Free

Droid4X has its pros and cons. And for many people and their needs, it is not an ideal emulator.

However, it suits most people due to its ease of installation and simple, uncluttered design. In addition, Droid4X was originally created for gamers. Therefore, the program is focused mainly on emulating games that are not graphically complex. In principle, you can try to run something more heavyweight on it.

But remember that the program is a little outdated. So far, the emulator download page is live, but apparently, the developers stopped updating the program a long time ago.

In general, download at your own risk: the emulator may be buggy. Yes, there seems to be a version for Mac somewhere in nature, but it seems impossible to find it.

KoPlayer is for gamers.
Free

KoPlayer is one of the new products. Perhaps that is why it has not yet enjoyed the popularity it deserves. This emulator is aimed mainly at gamers. The program supports assigning hotkeys in games. In addition, KoPlayer supports a feature such as gameplay recording. So, streamers and game bloggers, take it into account. The installation process is quite simple and the emulator itself seems to work without errors. Although there are bug reports on the forums. But this is again a tribute to novelty.

Overall, KoPlayer is a good choice. And not only for games, but also for everyday use (for example, for Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.). But for now there are bugs in it. There will probably be fewer of them in future versions, unless the developers abandon their creation.

MEmu – supports Intel and AMD.
Free

MEmu is another newcomer in the list of emulators that has just entered the scene. But it has already won the hearts of users. The main feature of MEmu is that it supports not only Intel processors, but also AMD ones. If you think that this is not that rare, then it is not. So if you have AMD, feel free to download MEmu.

MEmu emulates several versions of Android: Jelly Bean, Kit Kat and Lollipop. Additionally, multitasking is supported and you can run multiple applications at the same time. In fact, there aren't many emulators that offer Lollipop multitasking.

MEmu supports most games and applications. However, I recommend using it not for gaming.

NoxPlayer (bignox) – a bomb emulator for gamers (in Russian).
Free

NoxPlayer is an emulator created specifically for gamers. It contains utilities and settings to improve your experience with the game. For example, in addition to the keyboard, the use of gamepads is supported. And it supports various native gestures (such as “swipe right”), which can be assigned to buttons on the keyboard or joystick. In general, this is cool and, apparently, it works like a charm.

The program is free. There is a version for Windows and for Mac. Supports gaming at 60 fps.
If you are looking for a powerful Android emulator for games, download Nox, you won’t regret it!

YouWave is a dinosaur.
There are free and paid ($29.99) versions

Overall, the emulator works well and without any glitches. Installation is also easy.

And although YouWave does not have any special options for gamers (for example, assigning hot keys or native gestures), you can still play on it. Perhaps this emulator will appeal to developers, especially beginners.

There is a version of YouWave for Mac.

VirtualBox Party Generally speaking, this is not just an Android emulator, it is an emulator of any operating systems. Like all DIY on this list, installation and setup requires technical skills. Therefore, if they are not there, then look at emulators “out of the box”.

Ok, that's how it works. You need to download the VirtualBox file for your OS (Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris) from the link above. Then you need to download the Android image from the Android-x86.org website. And then you need to install the Android OS image into the virtual machine. Get ready for the fact that the likelihood that it will work out right away is not so great. If this doesn’t work, then you need to “smoke” specialized forums and search the Internet for step-by-step guides. Write in the comments if such a guide should be made. If we have to, we'll do it.

To summarize, this emulation option is suitable for geeks and old-school programmers.
What advantages does it have then, you ask? In fact, there are a lot, and the main one is that you can install absolutely any version of Android and configure absolutely everything. Full customization.

Xamarin is an IDE (integrated development environment) that is similar to Android Studio in many ways. The difference is that Xamarin can connect to a monstrous development environment like Microsoft Visual Studio.

Just like Android Studio, Xamarin has a built-in emulator for developers.

Xamarin is a tool for developers. Although theoretically it may be suitable for you for personal use if you want to customize the entire Android infrastructure for yourself. Xamarin is not as powerful as Genymotion, but it can handle all applications at once.

Xamarin runs on Windows. It is free for personal use.
Development teams and companies can choose different pricing plans.

Windroy Windroy is a classic. This is one of the oldest emulators in history. Due to this, it is difficult to recommend it to anyone.

Use it only if you have completely lost hope and newfangled programs cannot solve your problems.

There is an opinion that Windroy works better on older versions of Windows (for example, XP).

Windroy is more about non-game applications, such as office ones. Games on it can only be played by those as ancient as itself. And that's a stretch.

On the other hand, the emulator is free. And it installs quite easily.

If you (suddenly) have Win XP, install Windroy.

As a conclusion

Above are all the best Android emulators for PC currently available online. By and large, they are all good in their own way and it is up to you to decide on the choice. Compare the stated features and choose the one that best suits your needs. You need to understand that there is no one program that is ideal for everyone. One is good for a developer, the other is good for a gamer, and the third is good for a Telegram channel admin. But I can definitely recommend not to rush into buying paid versions of programs. Install the trial, play with the settings and only then switch to the premium version.

WindowsAndroid is an emulator program that allows you to simulate the operation of the Android OS on Windows computers, which in turn allows you to work on a computer under the same conditions and principles as on a smartphone with an Android operating system installed.

The unique feature and advantage of this PC emulator over analogues is its simple and at the same time intuitive use. It would seem that this is an elementary condition for the popularity of an application, however, oddly enough, it does not occur and is fulfilled as often as we would like. The main requirement from you when working with an emulator program for Android WindowsAndroid is to install the file. At this point, your work stops; the application will independently make the necessary settings for the system to operate.

The difference in use between a smartphone and a personal computer will be only that, in the first case, you use your fingers on the touchpad, and in the second, you use the mouse. To unlock the device, you will need to drag a specific item to its designated location.

The interface is no different from the one you are used to seeing on the screen of your smartphone. All functions of the device become available, as well as manipulations that are available by default on any gadget with the Android system.

Another important detail is the opening possibility of using Google Play for your computer. You can download and install all the games and programs available and available there on your PC just as you do on a smartphone.

A couple of years ago, I didn’t even think about downloading an Android emulator for my usual Windows computer. But the popularity of Google’s brainchild cannot but surprise; of course, this has affected the entire information technology industry - there are simply an unrealistic number of different applications and games that have come out that work exclusively on Android and can be downloaded from, which I wrote about quite recently. This is actually why it was decided to write this guide on choosing the best emulator - it won’t work in a nutshell, there’s plenty to choose from.

In fact, there are really many reasons why there is a need to run an Android Emulator on your personal computer or laptop. For example, application developers can test their programs before publishing it in the App Store on various configurations. Fans of a wide variety of games can use their favorite mice and keyboard over the years as controls in games - and this is really necessary (however, I don’t think they will replace gyroscope control). In any case, emulating Android applications in Windows is possible, and my task is to tell you about the best in this niche.

Two years ago I had the imprudence to install the game Hay Day on my tablet, and ended up stuck there for several days. The habit has done its job - playing on a computer is more familiar and convenient for me, but the online version does not exist in nature and it was decided to install the Bluestacks emulator. At that time, probably the only adequate option for running Android games on a PC running Windows.

Important Note: For some emulators to work, it is necessary to enable support for Intel VT-x or AMD-v hardware virtualization in the BIOS (or UEFI). Usually they are always active, but if you are experiencing problems with some of the emulators on the list, then check these settings. However, that’s not all, I noticed that when installing the Hyper-V component on the system, many of the above emulators simply refused to start - I never found a solution to this problem, so choose what is more important to you. (There are quite a few alternatives to Hyper-V and they do not conflict - this is not meant to offend Microsoft)

Since we are talking about virtualization in general, we should understand that the Android emulator is a rather power-hungry thing and requires a sufficient amount of RAM. You can view its quantity in the system properties (for beginners there is a detailed note on how to determine computer parameters -), if you have less than 4 gigabytes of RAM, then most likely you will not be able to achieve comfortable work.

Don't forget that for correct operation and maximum performance, it is recommended to install the latest versions of drivers for your graphics adapter. I did not include commercial versions in this review, because I understand that most likely it is needed to satisfy interest, and in general, to see how it happens there.

Nox App Player is perhaps the best emulator

To be honest, I only recently became acquainted with this emulator, but nevertheless it deserves the first line in our review. More recently, I thought that Bluestacks was the best for our tasks, but I was very wrong (although it probably was like that before). Now there is healthy competition in this segment and many truly worthy options. Most likely, if you don’t have any problems with NOX App Player, then your acquaintance with Android virtualization will end there - you simply won’t find anything better. Everything works great even on modern Windows 10 and I didn’t find any problems with installation or settings, everything is intuitive and simple.

After installing and launching the program, and it installs quite quickly - literally a couple of minutes - we will see the familiar Android screen in front of us (unfortunately, not the latest version, but only 4.4.2, but this is enough to run a huge number of games and applications). The system already has Google Play Market pre-installed, so there should be no problems choosing what to play. There is a small note: be prepared to confirm your Google account, authorization in NOX App Player causes distrust from the “good corporation”.

Unfortunately, the program is not localized into Russian, but Android itself allows you to switch to Russian - you can do this in the same way as on a phone or tablet. But all the program settings will remain in English, but this is not the biggest problem, set it once and forget it.

Now let's move on to the settings (you can open them by clicking on the gear icon at the top of the program). We are interested in the “Advanced” tab - by default the emulator will launch with a resolution of 1280x720, for some this may be too much, or vice versa - too little, just select the one you need and restart the application. You can also configure your emulated device here, for example, Perfomance Setting - these are performance settings; as it turned out, even in the minimum configuration nothing slowed me down, which indicates good optimization.

For the test, I tried to install the game Need For Speed: No Limits - everything works extremely smoothly and there are no problems with the controls. Of course, racing is not the best example, but as far as I know, this game is quite demanding on resources, but everything works just fine.

I would like to write a few words about the action icons that are located to the right of the emulator window, let's go over some of them:

• It is possible to install applications from APK files from a computer; this function is useful if you have problems with the Google Play Store.
• You can select your location manually and the emulator will think that it is receiving the real coordinates of the GPS receiver, but we set them ourselves.
• Creating screenshots, I think there is nothing special to explain here - the most ordinary picture with the contents of a window at a certain moment.

What can be summarized after the mini description of the Android emulator Nox App Player? If you need to install Prescope, Instagram or similar programs, then this emulator is ideal for these purposes. There are no questions about the speed of operation, even heavy 3D toys work great, but you must understand that a lot depends on the performance of your computer.

UPD: If Nox App Player does not start for you or refuses to install, then most likely the username contains Russian characters. You can create a new user using only English characters or rename an existing one

You can download NOX App Player completely free of charge on the official website http://en.bignox.com/

Andy is my choice

I can’t say why, but I settled on this emulator - it seemed to me the most thoughtful and convenient. Unfortunately, the interface is similar to the previous one - in English, but Android itself is in the familiar Russian language. There were no particular problems with installation and startup; everything went like clockwork.

This Android emulator has a pre-installed application store and for the test I tried installing Township and checking how everything works. To be honest, I got stuck and lost for about an hour - everything works smoothly, doesn’t crash or glitch.

There’s nothing special to configure; I think it’s worth highlighting the emulator’s screen resolution settings if suddenly the window turns out to be too large or small. The settings are called up by clicking on the program icon in the taskbar next to the clock, the menu item is called Set Resolution@DPI, and here the desired resolution is selected. Naturally, after applying the parameters, the program must be restarted for the settings to take effect.

If you are worried that this emulator has few settings, then you are mistaken, it has everything you need. You can also configure the allocated amount of RAM (do not forget that it cannot be more than what is physically installed in your computer) and the number of processor cores. On this I think we can finish the description of this wonderful application.

You can download Andy Emulator Android by going to the official website http://www.andyroid.net/

Bluestacks is a former favorite

Bluestacks is probably the most popular and well-known emulator of the Android operating system for a computer running Windows. The big advantage of this program is the presence of the Russian language, but it is not quite an emulator - rather an environment for running games. This is probably why Bluestacks shows excellent performance in gaming applications; if you don’t need anything else, then you can choose this option.

Unfortunately, after the update, it is no longer completely free - you will be forced to install certain applications every day or will be asked to pay a subscription of $2 per month. However, no one is stopping us from removing unnecessary programs immediately after installation, but as they say, a residue remains...

The test game Hay Day installed and launched without problems and synchronized perfectly with the facebook account. I had no desire to play, but I didn’t have any problems with this emulator before and I don’t think there will be any now.

The main feature of Bluestacks TV is the ability to broadcast games online on Twitch. I think this feature will be especially in demand by streamers and will help make reviews of Android games simpler than ever before.

Complex and demanding games also launch without problems, but it feels slower than the same Andy or Nox App Player, so the choice is yours.

You can download the Bluestacks emulator by going to the official website of the program http://www.bluestacks.com/ru/index.html

Droid4x - Gamers' Choice

I often saw the Droid4X emulator in the comments - so I decided to test it too. As it turned out, it has a lot of problems - this concerns stability; during testing I constantly had problems. However, it has a lot of useful and necessary functions, so let's not discount it.

Of course, I can’t say that my computer is weak. (Core i5 and 24 GB RAM, HD5870 video card), but the configuration is quite old by computer standards, but I didn’t notice any hints of slowdowns in games, everything goes very smoothly. There is a fly in the ointment, I was never able to launch Plants VS Zombie 2 - the game constantly crashed and did not want to start under any circumstances, there were some problems with the keyboard that resolved themselves. The most unpleasant thing is that the emulator simply froze several times literally in half an hour of work, this will probably be very annoying. Maybe I have these problems specifically - it’s quite possible that everything will work stably for you, but, unfortunately, it didn’t work for me.

Of course, he also has a bright side - this concerns management. The fact is that out of the box it is remarkably adapted to the usual keyboard and mouse (scrolling left or right, zoom in or out using the mouse wheel - this is all native and familiar to us for a long time).

Droid4X also allows you to bind computer keyboard buttons to the desired areas of the screen, this can be very useful for games, in my opinion, this emulator was intended for games - there were no problems with the Play Market.

In general, the verdict is a good and productive Android emulator for a computer, but I have problems with it, as you will have - I can’t say, try it.

You can download Droid4X on the official website http://www.droid4x.com/

Genymotion - the best for developers

The Genymotion emulator is very different from all the programs presented on today's list; it allows you to emulate not only Android itself, but a wide range of real-life devices. It works quite quickly and supports hardware graphics acceleration, which is good news. The Russian language is not provided here, so some users may have difficulty mastering it.

The audience for this emulator is not avid gamers, but most likely software developers, and I simply wasn’t able to run many games. To get the program we are looking for, we need to register on the site and the opportunity to download the distribution for personal use will become available to us. I recommend using the version with VirtualBox - it's first on the list. There is no need to launch VirtualBox separately - you launch Genymotion and it does everything without your intervention.

So, as I already wrote, there is the opportunity to select the version of Android and the model of the real device, I don’t think that this is a necessary function for the average user, and developers will certainly be happy with this functionality. Click Next and the emulator will automatically pull up everything from the Internet; all we have to do is fine-tune the application.

In the configuration, we can choose the number of cores and the amount of RAM for the device, and we can also change the resolution - everything is only the most necessary.

Next, we need to select our newly created device in the list and click “Play”; in a couple of minutes, the ready-to-use image of the system we have chosen will launch. The emulator's capabilities are well documented, but again, a language barrier may prevent you from working with the program.

You can download Genymotion as usual, on the official website of the program https://www.genymotion.com/. This emulator also has a paid version with extended functionality, but we are not interested in this, we are looking for the one that is For Personal Use and we are happy.

Test results and my thoughts

Currently, there are a lot of Android emulators, for almost every taste and color. I distributed them based on my subjective opinion and it is not necessarily the only correct one - it is possible that for you, the presence of some functions will be decisive and then the favorite of this review will not be Nox App Player or Andy, but perhaps Bluestacks - it is the only one who can stream to Twitch out of the box , and the price of 2 bucks, in general, is rather symbolic and does not hit the pocket of a modern gamer much.