Comparison of Android Emulator tools

The following table compares the tasks you can perform using the emulator UI, AVD Manager, commonly used command-line startup options, and the Emulator Console. In the AVD Manager, you can set hardware profile and AVD properties.

The table compares features that are similar, but not necessarily with identical functionality, between different emulator tools.

Although not listed in the table, the adb utility also supports commands for interacting with virtual devices, as described in Android Debug Bridge. For example, you can install an app on a virtual device by using Android Studio, the emulator UI, or adb. You can copy a file to a virtual device using the emulator UI or adb, and copy a file from a virtual device using adb.

Remember that to use certain features of the emulator with your apps, you need to enable them through various <uses-feature> elements and manifest permission constants, just as you would if you ran them on a hardware device.

Table 4. Comparison of Android Emulator tools

User interface control	Hardware profile property	AVD property	Command-line startup option	Console command
Device hardware
	Device type: Phone/Tablet, Wear OS, Android TV
Back, Home, Overview, Menu	Input: Has Hardware Buttons (Back/Home/Menu)
Settings: Send keyboard shortcuts to	Input: Has Hardware Keyboard	Keyboard Input
Directional Pad	Navigation Style: None, D-pad, Trackball, Wheel
Zoom Mode
Battery				`power` command
Phone				`gsm` and `sms send` commands
Rotate	Supported Device States	Startup: Orientation		`rotate` command
	Camera	Camera (can choose webcam)	`-camera-back` `-camera-front` `-webcam-list`
Take Screenshot Settings: Screenshot save location
Orientation Location Virtual sensors	Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyroscope, GPS, Proximity Sensor			`geo` command
Fingerprint				`finger` command
Volume			`-noaudio` `-no-audio`
				`event` command
Disk Images and Memory
		Memory and Storage: SD Card	`-sdcard`
		Memory and Storage: Internal Storage
	RAM	Memory and Storage: RAM	`-memory`
		Memory and Storage: VM Heap		`vm` command
	In the Your Virtual Devices page of the AVD Manager, right-click an AVD and select Wipe Data.		`-wipe-data`
Network
				`network status` command
			`-dns-server`
			`-http-proxy`
		Network: Latency	`-netdelay`	`network delay` command
			`-netfast`
Cellular: Network Type		Network: Speed	`-netspeed`	`network speed` command
Voice status Data status				`gsm` command
Signal strength
Settings: Use detected ADB location			`-port` `-ports`
				`redir` command
			`-tcpdump`	`network capture start` and `network capture stop` commands
System
	In the System Image page of the AVD Manager, select a system image capable of VM acceleration.		`-accel` `-accel-check` `-no-accel`
	Multi-Core CPU
			`-engine`
	Emulated Performance: Graphics — hardware, software, or auto		`-gpu`
			`-nojni` `-no-jni`
			`-selinux {disabled\|permissive}`
			`-timezone`
			`-version`
UI
Settings: Emulator window theme
Resize	Screen Size and Screen Resolution			`window` command
	Round
			`-no-boot-anim`
	Default Skin	Device Frame and Custom Skin Definition
			`-screen {touch\|multi-touch\|no-touch}`
Debug
			`-debug tags` `-debug-tag` `-debug-no-tag`
			`-logcat`
			`-show-kernel`
			`-verbose`