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I'm on Windows 7 with i7 processor and I'm trying to use Android SDK Emulator. However, when I set pixel density to 320 and turn GPU emulation on it starts to lag and freeze and its browser is almost not usable (it's like 1 frame or less per second).

So far with the below settings it's much, much better and I would qualify it as 5 to 10FPS which is usable but it's not 30FPS (smooth usage).

Abstracted LCD Density - 120
GPU Emulation - NO
Keyboard Support - YES

Can anything else be done to make it work smooth except moving to Linux? I noticed that GPU emulation impacted the performance the most.

Atadj
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  • Are you using Run As, or Debug As to start your application on emulator? Also, have you looked through all suggestions here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2975469/speed-up-android-emulator?rq=1 ? – nikib3ro Mar 10 '13 at 10:58
  • @kape123 Yes, I've seen many questions so far but none listed optimal settings. Answers were pointing out only single settings. I'm using "Run As". – Atadj Mar 10 '13 at 10:59
  • Asking for "best" is rarely a good idea on SO. There might not be such a thing as optimal settings. Ask about how to resolve specific problems. – millimoose Mar 10 '13 at 12:48
  • @Paul I now see that you mention how you have an iPhone - if you are comparing iOS emulator to Android emulator know that you'll be disappointed - Android emulator is inherently really, really slow. On other hand, iOS emulator is in some cases faster and even better choice for development than actual iDevice. – nikib3ro Mar 11 '13 at 00:57
  • @kape123 Yup, I use XCode Emulator as well. I like the way it's polished - all minor bugs are not present while on Android Emulator I often notice strange website rendering so speed is not the only difference. Hopefully Android will catch up soon. It's very close to be very good already :) – Atadj Mar 11 '13 at 11:36

5 Answers5

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The most important setting is your architecture, make sure you are using an Intel emulator. The speedup is tremendous!

A how-to is posted here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/10772162/1741111

Community
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RobinDeCroon
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  • I just installed it but it didn't change anything. It's still like 10FPS (which is okay but could be better). – Atadj Mar 10 '13 at 12:52
  • This should arguably be a comment or close vote, not an answer. – millimoose Mar 10 '13 at 12:59
  • And you are that you also used an intel image/rom? For me the ARM images are as slow as you described, but the intel rom is very fluid (I also assigned 768 mb ram and enabled host GPU). – RobinDeCroon Mar 10 '13 at 12:59
  • @millimoose I'm sorry, I wanted to comment, but I don't have enough reputation. I can delete my answer if necessary. – RobinDeCroon Mar 10 '13 at 13:04
  • @Robin Probably not, it's better to have the content in some form, and voting can take care of this should a more complete answer come up. (A mod might eventually migrate the answer to a comment as well.) – millimoose Mar 10 '13 at 13:11
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If you are trying to achieve that 30FPS mark, forget Android emulator and switch to Genymotion.

I was working on Android emulators for 6 or more months before i discovered Genymotion emulator and what difference that has made to the speed of development.

If you are still developing on Android emulator - go and give Genymotion a try. You will thank me for that. Its a huge difference.

There is a free version for individual developers.

Even though this is an old post. I think this needs a mention here.

bhaskarc
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The best emulator is to buy a simple Android Smartphone and debug/run your apps on this device. I'm doing this and it works wonderfully with no laggs

Kelvin
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  • I bought iPhone so why spend another $400 on up to date Android evey year. I don't want to buy 4 devices: Windows Phone, Opera Phone, iOS Phone and Android Phone to develop websites... – Atadj Mar 10 '13 at 12:28
  • "simple phone" = Old Android device for 100€ For my Simulations I use my Android Device, an iPhone (iOS) Simulator on my Mac and online emulators and the multi-screen view in Dreamwaver – Kelvin Mar 10 '13 at 12:31
  • @Paul Do you make a living developing these websites? If so, the phone is a business investment. If you don't, I'd just not care very much if the rendering is slightly busted on a personal website. – millimoose Mar 10 '13 at 12:52
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You don't need to buy a phone. The emulator is a great tool, however very slow. You can enable hardware acceleration to make it run smoothly. Follow the steps on the developers page and you'll notice a remarkable difference in the speed. AFAIK the settings you mentioned do no have that great influence on the speed.

caiocpricci2
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I have wrote a short blog post on speeding up the emulator and adding Google map support:

the first part will be relevant to you. try the Hardware acceleration and tell us what you think:

here is the post:

Speeding Up the Emulator

Emil Adz
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  • Answers that are just links don't "count" on SO. If your blog post has specific advice on how to resolve the SO's problem, include or at least summarize it in your answer. (Feel free to link yo your blog post as reference, but your answer should stand on its own.) – millimoose Mar 10 '13 at 12:49
  • I wrote that the emulator can be accelerated and referenced a page in my blog that describe how to do that and what is the differences. if you look at the other answers on this question they do exactly the same, reference to some sort of link. – Emil Adz Mar 10 '13 at 12:55
  • Those answers are equally bad. (Or rather insufficient.) – millimoose Mar 10 '13 at 12:59