What is Android Emulator

Before discussing which one is the Lightest Android 7 Emulator, do you know what an Android emulator is? Android Emulator is a program that allows users to run all Android applications on a computer. With an Android emulator, you can run almost all android applications and games on your computer or laptop.

There are many Android emulators available now. Also, various base OS is installed. Some are still using Android Lollipop as its base OS such as GameLoop and SmartGaga. LD Player, NOX and MEmu Play uses Android Marshmallow as its base OS. While Bluestacks 4 already uses Android Nougat as its base OS.

List of Emulators that support Android Nougat

There are dozens of Android Emulators available, but only a few that provide Android Nougat as its base OS. Here is a list of android 7 emulators:

1. NOX App Player

NOX is a lightweight and powerful Android Emulator. Since it first appeared NOX dominating the Android emulator industry. Because of its incompatibility with the latest games. NOX is equipped with various features, especially game features. That’s what makes NOX the Best Android emulator for games.

By default, NOX comes with Android Marshmallow (Android 5.1.1) engine. To activate NOX with the Android 7.1.2 engine we need to add it manually. Here are the steps:

• Run the Multi-Drive NOX default application that is installed with NOX.
• Press the 3-dot button next to the Add Emulator button.
• Select Android 7.
• Wait until the Android 7 engine is complete.
• Now you have Android 7 Emulator on NOX.

2. Bluestacks 4

Unlike other android emulators, Bluestacks 4 comes with Android 7.1.2 installed. We no longer bothered to install the Android Nougat manually on Bluestacks.  Unfortunately, Bluestacks is rather heavy compared to other Android emulators. Bluestacks require a slightly higher PC specification especially RAM.

So if you have a low-end PC it is not recommended to use Bluestacks. You should at least have 4GB of RAM and a Core i3 generation 4 CPU to run Bluestacks smoothly.

3. MEmu App Player

MEmu app player is an Android emulator that is specialized in providing better gaming and application experiences on PC. MEmu is also quite a lightweight Android emulator. It can run smoothly on Mid-end computers. With the specifications of i3 gen 4 and 4GB RAM, you have been able to run quite smoothly.

Just like NOX and Gameloop we have to add it manually if you want to get Android Nougat as your MEmu base OS.  Follow the steps below to get Android 7 on MEmu:

• Run your Multi-MEmu.
• Press the NEW button.
• Select Android 7.1 (beta).
• Wait until the process is complete.
• MEmu Android 7 Emulator is ready to play.

4. SmartGaga

SmartGaga is a newcomer to this industry. Smartgaga Android emulator uses Android 4 as its base OS. By using Android Lollipop SmartGaga becomes lighter. SmartGaga is specifically for users who have low spec computers.

SmartGaga can run on PCs that don’t support Virtualization Technology. This is what makes SmartGaga very lightweight. The boot time is also very fast, less than 10 seconds. Also equipped with auto keymapping for some Battle Royale themed games.

SmartGaga comes in 2 versions, the Android version of Lollipop and the Android version of Nougat. Both are in separate installation files. Unfortunately, the SmartGaga developer stopped this project. Project SmartGaga stopped in version 1.1.646.1.

5. GameLoop

Gameloop is a brand new Android Emulator App from Tencent, formerly it called Tencent Gaming Buddy.  Although GameLoop is a newcomer to the Android Emulator industry, Gameloop is fast becoming a favorite among Android Emulator users.

Many games made by Tencent are only intended for Gameloop. Like PUBG M, Call of Duty Mobile and Auto Chess. The compatibility of GameLoop with these games is very good.

Not like NOX, Gameloop comes with Android Lollipop ( Android 4.2.2 ) as it’s base OS. But to get an Android 7.1.2 emulator, it’s slightly different. For more details, you can read here.

Which is the lightest Android 7 emulator

So which one is the Lightest Android 7 Emulator For Windows 10 among the 5 emulators? Before determining it I have done an experiment using my laptop.

All tests I do on a laptop with specifications
Processor: Intel Core i3 gen 7
RAM: 12GB DDR4
VGA: NVidia GForce MX110
OS: Windows 10 Home Edition 64bit

Test results

From the test results, we can see the SmartGaga score far exceeds other emulators. So the conclusion SmartGaga is Lightest Android 7 Emulator For Windows 10. But please note that SmartGaga is no longer supported by the developer.