When comparing Android-x86 vs Visual Studio Emulator for Android, 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 Visual Studio Emulator for Android is ranked 14th.
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 set up and use
Install devices in two clicks, very intuitive interface for simulations.
Pro Simulates many scenarios
Location/GPS (including live journeying), Camera (using webcam or image file from PC), Accelerometer, Networking (bandwidth and signal strength), etc.
Pro Free
All features are free.
Pro Fast
Runs using Hyper-V, the built-in virtualization technology in Windows, so it's very fast (like a real device).
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 Only runs on Hyper-V capable machines
Has to be Win8+ pro edition or higher. No Mac or Linux support yet.
