10 Best Android Emulator for PCs in 2023

There are many situations when you want to run Android on your Windows PC. Android app developers might want to test their applications on the desktop. Gamers can play Android games on the bigger screen and so on.

If you are also looking for a way to run Android on your PC, you need to download the best Android emulator for your PC. Using the Android emulator, you can easily create an Android environment on your Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, or even older versions.

Our team has reviewed the best Android emulators in this guide and selected the perfect 10 emulators to use. So, let’s get started.

10 Best Android Emulators for PC in 2023

While selecting the top 10 Android emulators, we have considered three primary uses of emulators – easy gameplay, Android app testing, and providing better productivity. Based on these pointers, the following 10 Android emulators for PC have come out as a winner.

1. Bluestacks

Software Rating: 4.9/5

Compatible Windows OS: Windows 11 and 10

Popularity: High

Price: Free

Bluestacks is one of the best and free Android emulators for PC. It is a perfect tool to play Android games on your computer. The platform has developed a lot over the years, and the latest Bluestacks is based on the cloud. Bluestacks X is the world’s first cloud-based gaming platform. The most popular features of Bluestacks include the Keymapping Tool, Instance Manager, Eco Mode, and more.

Key Features

• It is the safest Android emulator with GDPR compliance.
• Bluestacks is a community of over 500 million games.
• It helps to improve your mouse control and reaction time with the keyboard.
• Allows gamers to play multiple games together using multi-instance.
• Users can replay actions with a single keypress.

Pros

• Supports MOBA mode.
• Provide an inbuilt App Store.
• Highly compatible.

Cons

• Consume lots of resources.

2. NoxPlayer

Software Rating: 4.9/5

Compatible Windows OS: Windows 11 and 10

Popularity: High

Price: Free

This is another free Android emulator for Windows to play Android mobile games on the big screen. The software supports multiple languages that allow users to play games in their native languages. Although, the platform is sufficient enough to test Android applications. With this emulator, you can receive the same gaming experience as the console games and many other features.

Key Features

• Allows gamers to run multiple instances simultaneously.
• Keyboard mapping is available with a click.
• You can easily record your gameplays and complex operations using a Macro recorder.
• Seamlessly play Android mobile games on your desktop.
• The platform provides support for script recording, gamepad, keyboard, and more.

Pros

• Free emulator.
• Various customization options.
• Supports multiple Android versions.
• It has inbuilt Root support.

Cons

• It can install bloatware on your computer.
• Security is poor.

3. Genymotion

Software Rating: 4.8/5

Compatible Windows OS: Windows 11 and 10

Popularity: High

Price: Free with the basic features. The full desktop support for $412 per year.

Genymotion is the best Android emulator for Android developers to test out Android applications in a Windows environment. The platform can run offline and on the cloud to provide full flexibility to app developers. Additionally, it supports all the latest Android versions, allows users to install Google Play Store on Windows, and more. However, you can’t download games like COD or PUBG with Genymotion. Besides that, it is a great Android emulator that you can integrate with Android Studio.

Key Features

• Genymotion Virtual Devices are loaded with numerous widgets and sensors to simulate any real-life situation like location, baseband, networks, and more.
• It is available for all Android versions above 4.4, allowing developers to customize the screen size and resolution to emulate any type of Android phone.
• Using Genymotion cloud, you can run 6 virtual devices for 10 minutes for the price of one device.

Pros

• Good emulator for Android developers.
• Supports the latest Android versions.
• Allows you to select the GApps package.

Cons

• The free version has basic features.
• Not ideal for gaming.

4. MEmuPlay

Software Rating: 4.6/5

Compatible Windows OS: Windows 10, 8 and 7

Popularity: High

Price: Free

MEmuPlay is a fantastic Android emulator to perform complex operations with a single click. This platform is packed with many great features, like it supports both AMD and Intel CPUs. It is an astonishing feature that you will not find in many Android emulators. Besides this, the emulator has the power to run multiple instances of Android versions and applications at once. For general-purpose, MEmuPlay is a great Android emulator for PC. 

Key Features

• Allows you to run multiple accounts for the same or multiple games simultaneously.
• Provides support to millions of free apps and games.
• The platform offers basic gaming options like a keypad, mouse control, and gamepad.
• Ability to share files between the Android and Windows devices.

Pros

• Compatible with multiple Android versions.
• Great performance for gaming.
• Custom key mapping.

Cons

• Not compatible with low-level PCs.

5. Android Studio

Software Rating: 4.5/5

Compatible Windows OS: Windows 10 and 8

Popularity: High

Price: Free

Are you looking for a free and powerful Android emulator to test applications? Then, you will not get a better tool than Android Studio. Google’s official Android emulator comes packed with the Android SDK that can be launched within the Android Studio. However, it is not the fastest or compatible with low-end PCs out there. But the Android Studio supports all the latest Android versions to test different applications.

Key Features

• You will get a series of features to test your applications, such as simulating gestures, gyroscope, accelerometer, and more.
• It is powered by Gradle to customize your applications to generate multiple variants.
• Offers real-time statistics on various app development factors.
• Supports APK analyzer and boosts the gaming experience with texture format targeting.

Pros

• Official Android emulator.
• Compatible with the latest Android versions.
• Excellent for testing apps.

Cons

• Works slow on low-end PCs.
• Not good for gaming purposes.

6. Gameloop

Software Rating: 4.4/5

Compatible Windows OS: Windows 10, 8.1, 8 and 7

Popularity: Moderate

Price: Free

Do you want to play games like Call of Duty or PUBG on your PC? Then, Gameloop can make it possible. It is a dedicated platform to play Android games on your computer. Apart from the powerful Android games, Gameloop can get the Google Play Store on the PC. You can easily download the Android games from the Play Store and play them with mouse and key mapping support.

Key Features

• Allows to easily use the touch-orientation user interface of games with a mouse and keyboard.
• There you will get support for numerous games, including action, strategy, role-playing, racing, sports, and more.
• Gameloop offers FPS, MOBA, SLG, RPG, and many other gameplay modes.
• It can support dedicated Android games like PUBG, Pokémon, Call of Duty, and others.

Pros

• Great for gaming.
• It can be optimized for many graphical standards.
• Supports the latest Android versions.

Cons

• Only for gaming purposes.

7. LDPlayer

Software Rating: 4.3/5

Compatible Windows OS: Windows 10, 8.1, 8 and 7

Popularity: Moderate

Price: Free

LDPlayer is the best Android emulator to optimize the gaming experience for you. It is relatively a new Android emulator compared to Bluestacks or Noxplayer. But it has gained huge popularity in the short span due to its great performance. It can run both AMD and Intel-powered computer systems flawlessly. There is also a dedicated store to download games and run them on LDPlayer. In addition, leveraging Virtualisation Technology, you can enhance game performance dramatically.

Key Features

• Custom controls with easy mouse and keyboard actions.
• Multiple instances to run multiple games and apps simultaneously.
• Using multiple instance syncs, you can control and regulate games faster.
• With Macro scripting, you can automate your gaming experience.
• High FPS and graphics will allow you to relish the dynamic Android gaming interface on Windows.

Pros

• Compatible with both Intel and AMD PCs.
• Less bloated. 
• Fast and lightweight.
• Free.

Cons

• Not as powerful as Bluestacks.

8. PrimeOS

Software Rating: 4.2/5

Compatible Windows OS: Windows 10, 8 and 7

Popularity: Moderate

Price: Free

PrimeOS is not a standard Android emulator. Instead, it is a virtual device that leverages the power of GPU and CPU to provide dynamic gameplay. It directly runs on the hardware without binary translation. With this platform, you can use keyboard mapping to play games. Also, PrimeOS gets Google Play Store, so you can smoothly download and play Android games on Windows. It has a special DecaPro Gaming Center to elevate the gaming experience in the PC environment. 

Key Features

• Multi-windows support for any app with minimize, close, maximize, and more.
• Supports basic keyboard shortcuts like Alt + Tab, Window + D, etc.
• Taskbar with the ability to show notifications, system icons, and more. 
• Allows you to pre-map popular games like Subway Surf, PUBG, etc.
• OTA support with EXT4 RW partition.
• Ability to provide feedback for applications.

Pros

• Runs as a separate operating system.
• Dynamic gaming center.
• Dual-boot with Windows 10.

Cons

• Complicated to install.
• Hard to understand.

9. ARChon

Software Rating: 4.1/5

Compatible Windows OS: Windows 10, 8.1, 8 and 7

Popularity: Low

Price: Free

ARChon is also not a standard Android emulator. It is basically a Chrome app that runs in Chrome extension or app. Once you install ARChon on your Windows computer, you can run Android APKs directly with this app. Apart from Windows, this program can run on Linux, macOS, and Chrome OS. On the top, it is an open-source application that’s 100% free and can be customized to make it more suitable to meet your requirements.

Key Features

• It is a simple Android emulator that can run basic Android applications on Windows for free.
• Extremely lightweight as it is integrated with Google Chrome.
• Supports all the leading operating systems and Android systems.
• It can be used to play games and test Android applications.

Pros

• Lightweight and fast.
• Open-source.
• Highly customizable.

Cons

• Not a complete Android emulator.

10. Bliss OS

Software Rating: 4/5

Compatible Windows OS: Windows 10, 8.1, 8 and 7

Popularity: Low

Price: Free

If you use Android emulators a lot, using the dual-booting Android emulator – Bliss OS can be great for you. This Android emulator has all the features you probably require in an emulator. It has Widevine L3 DRM that can easily stream Netflix on PCs. For gamers, it has features like a gamepad, key mapping, and profiles. In addition, you can smoothly play your favorite games with mouse and keyboard support.

Key Features

• Allows you to customize settings for big and small screens alike that helps to set up an app for different devices.
• Provides speed and stability to assist in complicated processes.
• It helps to tune battery consumption to the best level.
• Added security features to offer a safe and secure interface.
• It is compatible with all the latest Android versions.

Pros

• Complete Android emulator for PC.
• Supports smooth gameplays
• Supports Widevine L3 license for streaming.

Cons

• Doesn’t support Widevine L1.

Let’s Get an Android Emulator

Whether you want to play Android games on a big screen or test your Android applications, an Android emulator can help you in many situations. Many great Android emulators for PC are available, but the best of the best 10 are disclosed above.

Based on your Android emulator requirements and budget, you can easily choose the best Android emulator and create an Android environment on your Windows computer. However, we recommend you first thoroughly check out all 10 tools before selecting the suitable one.

That’s it for now! But for more top 10 software guides, follow us on social networks and learn about new tools.