Bluestacks 5 – The Perfect Emulator for Playing Android Games on PC

Bluestacks has always been the go-to software for playing android apps on PC for millions of gamers around the world. It’s not hard to see why. This emulator is light, efficient, and fairly lenient to low-end machines.

Besides, Bluestacks has always been free to download and use, so it’s accessible to everyone. An even bigger plus is that this android app player is always evolving. Every so often, the Bluestacks Corporation releases a new version that’s better optimized and more capable of running apps smoothly.

The latest version is Bluestacks 5, which was released in mid-2021. It was praised for optimized resource consumption, lag-free gaming capabilities, improved boot times, and minimal memory requirements. I was curious to find out if these claims were overvalued.

Traditionally, Bluestacks has only worked well on powerful machines, which is pretty understandable for people who run games. However, this time, I decided to use a regular mid-range laptop – HP Elitebook Folio 1040G1.

Below is the list of the remarkable things I liked about Bluestacks 5.

Speed

I was impressed by the boot speeds. It took just under 30 seconds to start the app. This is much different from the start times I had achieved with previous versions of Bluestacks, including Bluestacks 4. Admittedly, Bluestacks 4 had initially been fast, but the boot times increased as time passed, and I became frustrated.

Bluestacks 5 has very little start time. Even after installing a few apps, the player starts off well without lagging. I am very hopeful that it will not betray me in the future.

Apart from boot time speeds, general computing speeds were satisfactory. The rate at which I installed and ran apps in Bluestacks 5 was reasonably fast – faster than I needed the emulator to be to achieve victories in games such as clash of clans and PUBG.

As opposed to former versions of Bluestacks, version 5 gave me a reason to keep playing.

RAM Usage

This is another area where the latest version of Bluestacks shines. No one wants an android app player that eats RAM for breakfast. Huge memory consumption can make your laptop slow and reduce your multi-tasking capabilities.

Thankfully, Bluestacks 5 has got you covered. Not only is the memory usage of the current version optimized, but the app also allows you to tune this capability manually through a new specialized feature called trim memory.

Clicking the Trim Memory feature reduces the amount of memory that Bluestacks uses, allowing you to reserve it for other apps on your PC. Boosting memory usage also increases the efficiency of your PC.

Android Version

Bluestacks can now run Android 9 Pie. This means you can play the latest games and adapt your emulator to your preferences. The benefits of running Android Pie on your emulator are not instantly visible, as most of the improvements are tailored internally. However, you can be sure that Bluestacks 5 is enhanced for playing modern games, and you are less likely to receive errors involving an outdated operating system.

Media Manager

Bluestacks has always had a functional file manager, but its location changes from time to time. Certainly, nothing much has changed about how it works. You can still copy files between your PC and emulator, and that remains to be its most useful feature.

You can access the file manager using the system apps folder on your home page.

Extras

There are extra features that Bluestacks 5 offers, which other emulators do not. An example is Bluestacks X, a feature that allows you to play games through cloud computing technology. Basically, Bluestacks X (also known as Bluestacks 10) allows you to play games on the cloud without necessarily downloading them.

The app uses artificial intelligence to help you decide whether you need to download a game and play it locally on your PC or play it directly from Bluestacks cloud servers. Cloud integration lets you to leap to the next era of computing and save disk space on your PC.

What is more, Bluestacks 5 adds support for ARM processors. ARM processors are common in devices such as tablets and smartphones – these mobile devices are better at running android apps. In fact, the chief designer at Bluestacks, Sharad Agawarwal, claims that ARM devices run android apps better because they don’t need binary translation. So, if you have an ARM-powered laptop like the legendary HP ELITE FOLIO, don’t shy away from trying Bluestacks 5.

Touch capabilities are also worth remarking about. I had never used Bluestacks on a Touch-screen laptop before. But after trying it on HP Elitebook Folio 1040G1, the experience was much more enjoyable.

Using Bluestacks 5 on a touch-screen laptop felt like I was using it on a large tablet. Sensor integration and multi-touch features enhanced my gaming experiences and allowed me to play games that are incompatible with a PC keyboard. The fact that android apps are mainly built for touch-screen devices makes them more fine-tuned and usable in touch-enabled PCs.