Which one is better for Android lovers?

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With the sudden emergence of x86_64 emulators, running smartphone apps on Windows may seem like old news. However, Android emulators are still doing well, and we've even seen new faces popping up recently like the Google Play Games Emulator. There's also BlueStacks, MeMU Play, and a handful of old veterans that have helped countless PC users emulate their favorite Android applications over the years.



If you're wondering whether the Californian giant's proprietary emulator can outperform reigning champion BlueStacks, you've come to the right place. In this article, we will compare both emulators on multiple fronts to find out which one comes out on top!

For simplicity, we'll only cover BlueStacks 5 (with some references to BlueStacks 4), as both versions allow you to run games on your local hardware rather than moving the processing aspect to the cloud. To level the playing field even further, we have loaded additional apps into the developer version of the Google Play Games Emulator.


Prices and advertisements

Winner: Google Play Games Emulator (by a small margin)

Browse games with Google Play Games Emulator


On the surface, both BlueStacks 5 and the Google Play Games Emulator are available for free, and you can use every feature without paying a dime to either company. However, BlueStacks tends to display some advertisements in the middle of your gaming sessions. However, the silver lining here is that the company gives you the option to disable ads in your Android container's settings. Still, Google Play's emulator wins this round with its ad-free nature.

Operating system compatibility and easy setup

Winner: BlueStacks

Run Shadow Fight 3 on BlueStacks


As of this writing, the latest versions of BlueStacks and Google Play Emulator are only available for Windows systems, but the former will also be available for macOS in the future. If you don't want to wait months for BlueStacks 5 to appear on Apple's flagship desktop operating system, you can install BlueStacks 4 on your macOS computer.

Speaking of installation, BlueStacks has a pretty simple setup process. The same goes for installing games and sideloading apps, and you can easily change the performance settings of your BlueStacks container. Although Google's emulator isn't very complex to configure, you'll have to deal with ADB commands to sideload apps and games onto it.


App catalog

Winner: By far BlueStacks

BlueStacks has a huge library of apps and games, with each container allowing you to install a majority of popular titles directly from the Play Store. From graphically demanding titles to productivity apps, BlueStacks 5 has a solid suite of applications – and that's even before you factor in the other app stores you can add to your BlueStacks containers.


On the other hand, the Google Play Games Emulator is very lacking in apps. While you can access the built-in Play Store utility, it's a neutered version of Google's actual App Store that only supports a handful of light games. For non-gaming applications, your best bet is to sideload some APKs and pray to the gods of emulation that they work on the emulator without too much trouble.

Controller and KB+M support

Winner: Draw, although BlueStacks has a slight advantage…

Razer Wolverine V3 Pro Controller on the desk next to the white Xbox controller


After running multiple apps and games on both emulators using my keyboard and mouse combo, I can confirm that they are equivalent in terms of support for non-touchscreen input devices. While controller support varied by game, I didn't experience too many issues using my GameSir Tarantula Pro and Manbas One Series gamepads with BlueStacks and the Google Play Emulator.

However, BlueStacks is slightly better as it supports customizable screen controls for most games. Even though 95% of emulator users would never use it, the on-screen controller could be worth it for gamers trying to emulate their favorite titles on a touchscreen system.

Performance

Winner: BlueStacks, unsurprisingly


In addition to its excellent app collection, BlueStacks also offers top-notch performance when emulating Android titles on your PC. On my Ryzen 5 5600X based system, I was able to download several games including Shadow Fight 2 (And 3), Genshin Impact, Dead Effect 2And Real Race 3runs at 4K60FPS. If you're wondering about resolution and frame rates, BlueStacks lets you customize the display, CPU, and other performance-oriented settings for each container.


In contrast, I was unable to sideload a single demanding game onto Google's new emulator. So there was no way to install the graphics-intensive titles, let alone create a few FPS charts. For some strange reason, the emulator couldn't even display the Antutu benchmark results. Although Google Play's low-power games work fine, the emulator doesn't let you adjust display settings, which is another downer for someone using it on a high-resolution monitor. While there are ADB scripts that can change the resolution of the container window, executing them results in a complete mess with the display.

BlueStacks vs Google Play Games Emulator: It's not even a competition

Run Shadow Fight 3 on BlueStacks


While I appreciate the ad-free nature of the Google Play Games Emulator, there is no denying that it is seriously lacking in terms of performance. In its current state, it is impossible for the Google Play Emulator to surpass BlueStacks 5 in terms of software compatibility and performance.

However, if you are a developer who is well versed with terminal commands, it is a good idea to use Google's official Android emulator as a testing environment. It's also a good option for anyone who needs a lightweight alternative to the Windows subsystem for Android when the service is discontinued in 2025.

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