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Bluestacks 4 released: Android apps on PC run faster than on a flagship phone
- The latest version of the popular BlueStacks Android emulator has been released for PC.
- BlueStacks 4 delivers an exponential leap in performance over the previous version and Android flagships.
- Owners of old laptops should also see a performance boost due to the updated emulator.
BlueStacks is probably the most popular Android emulator out there, allowing PC owners to run Android apps and games on their desktop or laptop. Now, the team behind the emulator has revealed BlueStacks 4, claiming a big performance boost in the process.
The latest version of the Android emulator switches to Android 7.1.2 as its backbone instead of the previous version’s KitKat. The company also is claiming an 8x performance boost over BlueStacks 3.0, but it’s the Antutu results that make for interesting reading.
BlueStacks says the emulator has 6x better performance in Antutu over the likes of the iPhone X and Samsung Galaxy S9. Then again, the score was obtained using the MSI GE63 Raider laptop, which packs an eighth generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a GeForce GTX 1070 GPU. So it’s a rather powerful machine to begin with…
Nevertheless, an Antutu test on a more pedestrian ASUS X555UB-NS71 laptop (sixth generation Core i7, GeForce 940M, 8GB of RAM) yielded a significant performance advantage as well.
Benchmarks are only a small part of the equation, especially with something as complex as emulation. But the signs point to better Android app performance than even today’s high-end flagships — if you have a relatively capable computer. What about older machines though? Will your ageing ultrabook see any gains?
“Obviously new PCs will run the best but this [BlueStacks 4 – ed] is a lightweight version, so a lot of older PCs have seen great performance,” a BlueStacks representative told Android Authority.
In any case, if you’ve been playing PUBG Mobile and Fortnite Mobile on your PC for whatever reason, then you might want to update to BlueStacks 4 for a performance boost. As for other changes, there’s a simplified UI, search recommendations, support for multiple instances of the same game, more languages, and new key-mapping options.
Do you play mobile games on your PC? Let us know in the comments section below. Otherwise, you can learn more about what BlueStacks 4 has to offer for games like Call of Duty Mobile and download the platform via the button below.