Mobile games like PUBG, Call of Duty Mobile, Among Us, and Genshin Impact have become quite popular, in some cases rivaling the popularity of desktop games.
Unfortunately, some people don’t have powerful enough smartphones to play demanding games. Others want to experience mobile games on a larger screen. Whatever the reason, you can enjoy mobile games on your PC using Android emulators.
Since there are a lot of Android emulators, we've focused this one on the best choices for gaming.
System Requirements for Android Emulator Gaming
Before we begin, it's important to know the requirements to use these emulators. The minimum system requirements to run these Android emulators are as follows:
- OS: Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Windows 8.1 / Windows 10
- Processor: Any Intel or AMD dual-core processor
- Memory: 2GB RAM
- Storage: 8GB of hard disk space
- Video: OpenGL 2.0
Related: How Do Emulators Work? The Difference Between Emulator and Simulator
To play some graphically demanding games like PUBG Mobile or Genshin Impact, you need a more capable PC. Here are the recommended system requirements for that:
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Any Intel or AMD multi-core processor that supports Intel VT-x or AMD-V virtualization technology
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Storage: 16GB of hard disk space
- Video: OpenGL 4.5 or higher
While we don't focus on Mac here, some of these emulators are available for Mac as well. If you are a Mac user, make sure you are using macOS High Sierra or later.
Out of the several emulators we tested, we have selected the best and ranked them based on performance and stability. Let's take a look.
1. MEmu
MEmu is one of the most powerful emulators on this list, which makes it a good choice for playing Android games on a PC. The emulator has achieved over 100 million downloads from over 200 countries.
In Geekbench 4 benchmarks, MEmu scores higher than any other Android emulator. This means it will give you the best performance for high-graphic games. You can even install games and apps from outside the Play Store by just dragging and dropping APK files.
MEmu supports key mapping, which is pretty useful for playing touchscreen games on a PC. In simple terms, you can map the actions you’re supposed to perform in a game to your keyboard, mouse, or gamepad keys. For example, you can use the WASD keys for movement, left mouse click to fire a weapon, and so on.
Download: MEmu for Windows (Free, subscription available)
2. NoxPlayer
NoxPlayer is another popular Android emulator, with over 150 million users in around 150 countries. It is available for Windows and macOS, which makes it a top-notch choice for Mac users.
The emulator is optimized to provide stable and smooth gameplay, even while playing graphically-intensive games. NoxPlayer also supports keyboard mapping, along with script recording. If you're not aware, script recording allows you to assign a string of actions to a single keypress.
NoxPlayer runs on Android 7 Nougat. Other features include optional root access, installation of apps via dragging and dropping APK files, and an option to limit CPU and memory usage.
Download: NoxPlayer for Windows | Mac (Free)
3. BlueStacks
BlueStacks is the oldest and one of the most popular emulators on this list. It has been available for around 10 years now, boasting over 400 million users from across the world.
The tool is available for Windows and macOS, making it another great option for Mac users. It supports keyboard mapping with preset controls for some popular games. While playing, you can take screenshots and record your gameplay.
Because BlueStacks has partnered with Samsung, it comes with the Samsung Galaxy Store pre-installed. You can download and install over a million apps and games from the store. Another interesting feature of BlueStacks is that it can translate the content of any app or game to your local language.
Download: BlueStacks for Windows | Mac (Free, subscription available)
4. LDPlayer
LDPlayer was launched in 2016, making it one of the newest Android emulators. Yet in a relatively short time, LDPlayer has crossed 100 million downloads from across 200 countries.
Like some other Android emulators on this list, LDPlayer supports keymapping, script recording, and optional root access. The emulator is optimized for many popular graphically demanding games, in order to provide high FPS while playing.
LDPlayer shows some ads, but you can buy a premium membership to remove them.
Download: LDPlayer for Windows (Free, subscription available)
5. GameLoop
GameLoop is a popular gaming emulator developed by Tencent. With over 500 million downloads, the company claims it as the most downloaded Android emulator. While it was originally known as Tencent Gaming Buddy, the company later renamed it to GameLoop.
If you want to play games developed by Tencent, such as PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile, GameLoop is the best emulator for you. It is optimized for around 200 popular games, including games from some other developers, to ensure better performance with high FPS.
GameLoop doesn't come with the Google Play Store preinstalled, but you can install it manually.
Download: GameLoop for Windows (Free)
6. MuMu Player
MuMu Player is one of the lesser-known emulators for the task. NetEase, the company behind many popular smartphone and PC games, has developed this emulator. If you want to play titles developed by NetEase, you should definitely give this emulator a try.
Like GameLoop, MuMu Player doesn’t have many games in its store. Thankfully, though, it comes with the Google Play Store pre-installed.
Download: MuMu Player for Windows (Free)
7. Phoenix OS
Phoenix OS is not just an emulator, but a complete operating system based on Android. This lends an advantage to it, as Phoenix OS provides much better performance than any Android emulator.
Being a lightweight operating system, you can install it on some low-end PCs too. Though you’ll get good performance, we don’t recommend using it as your primary operating system, as it has a few bugs.
However, you can dual-boot it on your PC with your regular OS. You just need to reserve some storage space for it. If you’re low on space, you can install Phoenix OS on an external USB drive too.
Read more: Dual Boot vs. Virtual Machine: Which One Is Right for You?
At the time of writing, visiting the Phoenix OS site in Chrome shows a warning about unwanted software. However, the site is safe to visit in our testing.
Download: Phoenix OS (Free)
Play Your Favorite Mobile Games With Android Emulators
There are a lot of Android emulators available. Here, we’ve taken a look at the best Android emulators for gaming in terms of performance, stability, and features. We've also made sure that every emulator supports keyboard mapping, which comes in handy to play many popular Android games.
Meanwhile, now that you have an emulator set up, make sure you know about all the great Android games that are available.
Image Credit: Alexander Kovalev/Pexels
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