When comparing Android-x86 vs BlueStacks, the Slant community recommends Android-x86 for most people. In the question“What are the best ways to run/emulate Android on a PC?” Android-x86 is ranked 6th while BlueStacks is ranked 7th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro It's a complete port of Android to x86
Pro Has Bluetooth & WiFi support
Pro Stable device support
Runs on more devices than any other available Android on a PC product presently available, KitKat, Lollipop, all open source.
Pro Actively developed
Since 2009 the pet project of running Android on a PC by a highly respected developer, has gathered many developer contributions from the open source community...and in 2015 they are still going strong and delivering. Contributors are welcomed and needed for ongoing development work, any donations are accepted.
Pro Open source
Using Open Source Mesa for GPU / Video and presently up to Linux Kernel 4.0.6, with some Kernel 4.1 test builds available from contributors....
Pro Easy to use and set up
For end users who are not developers, Bluestacks is perfect for the simple reason that it is just one click install, one just need to download the package and install it on windows or Mac to start accessing games and apps. It is just simple!
Pro Designed with gaming in mind
Pro Creates shortcuts for Android apps
A folder on the desktop with shortcuts to apps will be created. Opening a shortcut will start up BlueStacks and run the selected app.
Pro Decent performance
Pro No need to register in order to download and install
Only a Google account is needed, which is the same as setting up an Android phone.
Pro Can install apps from Stores and from APK files
Installing apps from APK files is important for developing purposes.
Pro Can run multiple instances
Now, running multiple instances of BlueStacks is possible even with different Google Accounts.
Pro Can transfer files between BlueStacks and Windows host
There are shared folders for this purpose.
Pro Built-in search allows quickly looking up and installing apps
Pro You can use BlueStack tweaker (portable), then you can access root and easily transfer files
You can not only transfer from Windows to Android storage (from BlueStack tweaker), but you can also delete or rename a file from it and also access themes and other options.
Cons
Con Slow performance
Runs very slow which is not efficient.
Con Short list of supported devices
Currently it's tested on only the following devices:
- ASUS Eee PCs/Laptops
- Viewsonic Viewpad 10
- Dell Inspiron Mini Duo
- Samsung Q1U
- Viliv S5
- Lenovo ThinkPad x61 Tablet
Check them out, download a build and try it for yourself, read their forums and see what is presently happening, from the SurfacePRO 3 work in progress to the older Asus T100 ongoing work and many other PC's, Laptop, 2-in-1's, the older Surface 2, Dell XPS 12, Dell Venue 8, HP Stream, Sony Viao and many others. AOSP KitKat is their present released product, Lollipop version 5.1.1 is their present development cycle. There are builds available for either.
Con Does not run on Linux
Only for Windows and Mac OSX.
Con Default home screen can not be customized and lags a lot
Con Default launcher hides almost all normal Android functionality
The default launcher acts like a portal to launch games and not much else. If you're looking for a stock setup without much tweaking, look elsewhere.
Con Has bloatware and popup ads on free plan
You have to pay to remove both bloatware and popup ads.