When comparing Android-x86 vs ARC Welder, the Slant community recommends ARC Welder for most people. In the question“What are the best ways to run/emulate Android on a PC?” ARC Welder is ranked 5th while Android-x86 is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose ARC Welder is:
Even though it's a developer preview, it's likely to evolve quickly as Google is developing it. Since Google is also behind Android, it makes sense to use a more official way of running APK. If they don't work, you may check with the developer so it may eventually work.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro It's a complete port of Android to x86
Pro Has Bluetooth & WiFi support
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 Stable device support
Runs on more devices than any other available Android on a PC product presently available, KitKat, Lollipop, all open source.
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 Developed by Google
Even though it's a developer preview, it's likely to evolve quickly as Google is developing it. Since Google is also behind Android, it makes sense to use a more official way of running APK. If they don't work, you may check with the developer so it may eventually work.
Pro Cross-platform
Works on Chrome 41+ on Windows, Mac, Chrome OS and Linux.
Pro Allows running apps in a Chrome web browser
It installs as a Chrome App and runs on most operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS), even thought x86 support will be put in maintenance mode soon.
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 Discontinued
Discontinued after December 2020.
Con Not all Google Play services are yet supported
ARC Welder supports OAuth2, Google Cloud Messaging , Google+ sign-in, Maps, Location, and Ads APIs from Google Play services.

Con Only supports "arm" apk files
"x86" apk files don't work as of 20150422.
Con Keyboard input is spotty
Con No accelerometer emulation
Con Orientation mode has to be selected before running the app
Con A single app can be loaded at a time
