Skip to content

Top 7 Android emulators for Windows

  • by
  • 6 min read

Using Android apps on the bigger screen of PCs and laptops has many advantages, such as more screen, better visuals and even better controls for gaming. Many Android emulators can help you run Android apps on a Windows platform. You can also use emulators to try rooting or run root apps. While most of them are free, if you require additional features, you might need to pay in some cases.

Here is a list of the best Android emulators that will do the job perfectly for you.

BlueStacks

Being the first Android Emulator for Windows, BlueStacks is one of the most popular emulators. It was released to bring the Android gaming experience to a big screen on a Windows platform.Top 7 Android emulators for Windows | Candid.TechnologyBlueStacks emulates Android version 7.1 Nougat and can also support Flash and HTML game titles. It is available for Windows 10, 8 and 7. It uses LayerCake technology to run graphic-intense games smoothly.

BlueStacks also comes with in-built Google Play Store through which you can directly download and install any apps on your PC.  It also allows advanced settings like RAM and CPU allocation to be changed in the Settings menu. It can run on computers having low-memory such as two gigs of RAM.

BlueStacks has two versions. One is the free version which costs nothing but has ads, and other is the premium version of the emulator which is ad-free and gives premium features and support from the company which costs around $24/ year.

You can find BlueStacks here.

Also read: Top 5 custom ROMs for Android

Andy

This emulator puts Android Nougat on your Windows PC. It has support for landscape, portrait mode and fullscreen, which is a huge deal-breaker, as most emulator works a single configuration.Top 7 Android emulators for Windows | Candid.Technology

You can also remap keyboard keys for more personalised controls. Andy also lets you spoof your GPS location, which can be helpful for privacy concern people.

While using Andy, you can use your phone as your controller and play games smoothly. Andy also allows app downloads directly from your browser. It works on multiple platforms such as Windows 10/8/7, Ubuntu 14.04+ and Mac OS X 10.8+.

Andy is free of cost, but developers support, early access to new releases and Play Store support for 3rd party applications, will cost around $12/month or $99/year.

You can find Andy here.

Remix OS Player

Based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Remix OS Player describes itself as a game emulator but can run any Android app with no issue. Installing and using any app is very simple in this emulator.Top 7 Android emulators for Windows | Candid.Technology The emulator is customisable, and lots of settings can be manually set, like the GPS location. The orientation of the emulator can also be changed according to personal usage.

You can find Remix OS Player here.

NoxPlayer

NoxPlayer is an Android emulator that was designed keeping gaming in mind. It has plenty of options that make the gaming experience smooth and lag-free such as to define keys for multiple strikes, record screen, change the FPS rate.Top 7 Android emulators for Windows | Candid.Technology It has built-in Google Play through which you can directly install apps and games. NoxPlayer supports multiple control devices gives you an entire Android on your windows device. It is free and is available on Windows and Mac devices as well.

You can find NoxPlayer here.

Also read: Snapdragon 855 Plus vs Apple A12 Bionic

Droid4x

Droid4x is a popular Android emulator because of regular updates and improvements. It comes with pre-installed apps which provide a similar experience to an Android phone.Top 7 Android emulators for Windows | Candid.TechnologyDroid4x has multiple add-ons, which make it more powerful and are useful for gaming purposes. You can use a keyboard or a PS2 controller or even touchscreen works if your PC or laptop has a touchscreen to play games. It also allows you to configure gamepad and keyboard controls. Droid4x is available for Windows 10/8/7.

You can find Droid4x here.

Phoenix OS

Phoenix OS is less popular as compared to the other emulators in the market. Phoenix emulator has cool features such as no-lag gaming performance, keyboard-mouse-remote control compatibility. It is available in two Android versions, 7.1 and 5.0.

Top 7 Android emulators for Windows | Candid.Technology
Screenshot

Phoenix OS comes with pre-installed Google Play Store that allows the installation of desired apps. Phoenix OS also has an in-built browser which they call StarDust. It also reduces system memory and disk usage by preventing boot startup and self-functioning.

You can find Phoenix OS here.

Genymotion

Genymotion is one of the Android emulators that is meant for developers. It can emulate several Android versions ranging from 8.0 to 4.3 version, and devices according to the requirements.Top 7 Android emulators for Windows | Candid.Technology You can also define a custom phone be inputting specific configurations and screen resolutions. Genymotion emulated the whole Android device. Genymotion supports Windows10/8/7, Mac OS X 10.10 or above and Ubuntu.

It is free for personal use, but for other purposes, it has three paid editions starting from $136/year. Make a user account and activate your account via the link they send to your email, and then select the personal edition download link.

You can find Genymotion here.

Also read: Linux Gaming: Viable or not?

Akshit Kansal

Akshit Kansal

A BTech student whose interest lies in automobiles, tech, music, coding and badminton.

>