Review Android Emulator For Mac
Android has now become a part of everyone’s life. The OS which was released a decade ago now powers more than 95% of the total smartphones. But that’s not the end of it. Android is now installed in almost all the in-car navigation systems and on many smart devices like refrigerators, Smart TVs etc. This brings us to the topic for today which is to try and find the best Android Emulators for Windows and Mac. The list will consist of both Free Android Emulators and Paid Android Emulators. Before moving forward, let’s introduce our test setup for this review.
We have used an HP Pavilion laptop powered by 6th-gen Intel i5 processor, 8 GB RAM, and 1 TB HDD. For those who are wondering why do we need Emulators, head below to understand some of the reasons why you should use Android Emulators. App developers use emulators to test their application before shipping it out. Emulators provide a better gaming experience because of the availability of a mouse and keyboard.
You can configure the hardware specifications on emulators depending on your needs and the emulator capacity. You can configure RAM, OS version, SD Card existence, SD Card size, etc.
Android emulator provides a workaround for people who don’t have an Android phone or high-end Android device. Since you now know where Android Emulators can come handy so without further ado let’s get into different emulators. Bluestack is one of the most popular Android Emulator till date and is my favorite as well. It is also one of the widely used Emulator for PC right now. It comes with Google Play installed so you can easily download any app directly from the Play Store and use it. The emulator also supports rotation and comes with Twitch live stream for gamers and you can use Bluestack TV to steam on Facebook.
The emulator, however, is losing its value due to the intense competition present right now and the extreme amount of ads present in the Emulator. Nevertheless, Bluestack is still one of the best emulators to work with right now and you can download the free version from the link below. Download: (, $3.33/month premium version) Nox Player Nox Player is another very popular emulator for PC.
It has been crafted specifically for gamers and has some amazing features. The UI of the emulator is little different from others but you will get a hang of it once you start using it. Nox also comes with Google Play installed so you don’t need to worry about apps and has a file explorer in case if you want to install any APK file. Apart from this, the emulator also comes with options to simulate touch or gestures and an option to record the screen so that it can be shared or played later. To amaze you further, it comes with a rooted version of Android out-of-the-box. Also, the multiplayer feature lets you run multiple instances of Android at the same time.
Download: Remix OS Player This is the latest addition to the list of emulators currently available. The emulator runs on Marshmallow instead of Lollipop or Kit Kat. It also supports both Mac and Windows and can be used without going through a hassle of installing it. The UI of Remix OS is great and it supports Google Play so you can directly download apps and games. The one thing I really liked about Remix OS is the ability to map keyboard keys for touch-based games so that you don’t have to go through the hassle of using mouse taps to interact with the game or app. The only downside of Remix OS is the inability to run on AMD chipsets as it requires Intel Virtualisation Technology enabled from BIOS. Download: You may also like: Xamarin Xamarin is a relatively new addition to this list.
It is an IDE like Android Studio. The difference is that it can be used with things like Microsoft Visual Studio. Also like the Android Studio, this comes with a built-in emulator for developers. It’s for developers only unless you feel like setting up an entire development environment to use it.
Review Android Emulator For Mac Windows 10
It’s free for personal use. Companies and larger teams may have to negotiate a payment plan. Download: Genymotion Genymotion is another very powerful emulator for Android. It can emulate almost every single Android device available in the market right now.
The emulator restricts the use for free users and one has to buy the premium version to get all the features. Also, the emulator doesn’t come with Google Play integration so that might prove to be a deal-breaker for some users. Nevertheless, it is an amazing Android emulator with advanced features like OpenGL and Hardware Acceleration support. Also, make sure your device supports Intel virtualization technology before buying the full version. Download: ( for non-commercial use only) AMIDuOS AMIDuOS is developed by an American company and if you’re an AMD user then you might consider skipping this since AMIDuOS requires Intel virtualization technology and Microsoft.Net Framework 4.0 and above to work perfectly. Also, it ships with Amazon’s Store instead of Google Play Store which might be another deal-breaker for some users.
Although, you can download and install APK files on the emulator. AMIDuOS is powered by Android 5.1 which is kinda old right now. The emulator supports gamepads and external devices however it misses the option to map keyboard keys.
Also, the emulator has built-in root privilege which is a bonus. Download: (, $15 Full version, $10 Lite version) Conclusion The emulators mentioned above are the best among the best emulators available in the market right now. They all are equally good and the final decision goes into the hands of the person who’s going to use it. Everyone has their own requirements which bring us to the point that you have to basically compare and see which of the emulators suits you the best. That being said, you have to understand that you can’t find everything in a single software and hence you have to get your priorities straight. Also, we don’t recommend using two emulators at a time since they might conflict with each other causing the system to become unstable.
We recommend you to download the trial/free versions of these emulators and test them before going for the premium version. This will give you a hang of whether your PC/Mac will be able to run the emulator smoothly. You can also have a look at.
MEmu is a fairly new Android emulator for PC out on the market created by Microvirt. Its primary audience is geared towards the Android gaming community with the advantage of playing popular mobile games on PC.
MEmu even claims to be better than Bluestacks, which as of Bluestacks 3, is not terribly difficult to do. I’ve been using this emulator for a few months, and while its performance isn’t perfect, it does have many features that makes it a strong contender as one of the best Android emulators available. MEmu has a lot of hardware and software compatibility with most computers. There’s support for Intel and AMD chipsets, dedicated and integrated graphics cards, and runs on Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and older versions. The offline installer is about 340MB to download,. At any rate, let’s dive into this review. Official website: XDA-Developers thread: Interface: Is the MEmu Android Emulator Pretty?
MEmu comes with Android 4.4.4 KitKat by default, a mobile operating system which is about 3 years old. However, you can change this to use 5.1.1 Lollipop. More on that further in this review.
The home screen shows a generic wallpaper, nothing fancy. Navigating around in the emulator is straightforward. The Google Play Store is included, along with the Settings app and ES FIle Explorer to manage your files. Various menu items are displayed on the right side of the interface, such as keyboard mapping, full screen option, one-click installs for APk files, etc. These can all be adjusted in a convenient drag-and-drop Toolbar setting.
Features: Loaded with Goodies MEmu comes packed with a big toolbox of options to configure the emulator, the most important for gaming being keyboard mapping. Simply click an area of the screen with your mouse and input the action key you want to use for the game’s controls.
There are also special mapping options for MOBA and FPS games. As mentioned earlier, the MEmu Android emulator has a button for one-click APK installs, making it easy to install Android apps. Simply navigate to the Android package on your PC you wish to install. Can anyone give me some input on adb for mac pro. It also comes with a set of utilities for gameplay. You can take screenshots and save them onto your computer. A video recording feature with the options of high or low quality. A Operation Record feature, which is basically recording and running macros to grind monotonous tasks.
Surely this will come in handy for some MMO games. MEmu can run multiple instances, or having more than one MEmu app player running at the same time.
What makes this so unique compared with other Android emulators is its ability to use two different versions of the Android operating system at the same time: Android 4.4.4 KitKat and 5.1.1 Lollipop. You can use Lollipop in the instance manager by clicking “Create”. However, you’ll need to download the software separately since it doesn’t come included with MEmu’s installer. When the download is finished though, you can launch another MEmu app player with Lollipop 5.1.1 installed. So now you’ll be able to run Lollipop alongside KitKat.
The website states that there’s support for Android Jelly Bean too, but I don’t see any option to use it, and I haven’t tried finding out how. There’s also a import/export option for each instance of the MEmu Android emulator, so you can make backups. Under the Hood: Plenty to Configure Taking a look at what’s under the hood, MEmu comes with plenty of options for adjusting its performance. You can allocate any amount of memory and CPU cores (providing your PC system can handle it). The Screen resolution can support up to 4k to play games in all their stunning HD glory. The advanced options gives you access to change the device model, IMEI, SIM card, and phone number.
These are useful for developers when app testing. This comes as a pre-rooted Android emulator out-of-the-box, but if you prefer to change that, you can disable it. There are 4 share folders between PC and the MEmu emulator: Music, Videos, Pictures, and Downloads. They can all be found in the respective folders in Windows, but if you prefer them to be elsewhere, you can modify that. Personally, I feel that one shared folder is enough. I only use the Downloads folder to transfer files of any kind, but it’s good to know there are other folders available should I need them.
If you use location-based games or services, the GPS setting will come in handy for you. You can change your virtual location on the map and any app you’re using will use your selected location. Tired of chatting with people in Los Angeles on that local singles app? Switch locations and check out Philadelphia, if that’s your thing.
Performance: MEmu Tries to Bring out the Best in Android Gaming With all the features the MEmu app player provides, it’s time to know how well it performs with actual gameplay. I tried two graphically demanding 3D games for Android: Forsaken World and Critical Ops. I played Critical Ops using the MEmu Android emulator for better keyboard mapping controls over Bluestacks and Nox, but. It’s a fast-pace First Person Shooter game which includes Deathmatch and Defuse Bomb modes like in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. MEmu performed well for me running at 50-60 FPS, but I ran into some graphical issues and occasional frame drops depending on my location.
I fixed the frame drops by adjusting graphics to medium settings, but sometimes high settings was okay. Forsaken World is a MMORPG game I played about a year ago. It’s a 3D open world mobile game with a lot of heavy graphical elements (think giant dragons and large mounts). I found in my play-through that the MEmu Android emulator could render the graphics very well, but I found some stuttering issues while traveling at times. For more performance details,. Conclusion MEmu is fast, responsive, and does what it sets out to do: playing Android apps on PC with a superb performance.
There is still some room for improvement, but if you’re looking for a good gaming Android emulator, this one will satisfy most needs.