An Android emulator is software that imitates an Android phone on a desktop computer. Developers use emulators to test apps, and some people use them to run mobile apps on a bigger screen.
Strengths and limits
- Strengths: free or low cost, quick to set up, good for testing.
- Limits: each instance uses your computer’s memory and CPU; they stop when the computer sleeps; some apps behave differently on emulated hardware.
Emulator or cloud phone?
For a couple of accounts or app testing, an emulator is often enough. When you need many devices running at once, shared with a team and available around the clock, cloud phones scale more easily.