[ConstantineXVI]

I've found the official Intel-based emulator images (2.3+ only) plenty fast. Details here[0] but the tl;dr is:

* Open SDK manager, install Intel image for your preferred SDK version and the "Intel Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager" from the Extras section

* Find the HAXM installer in SDK/extras and run

* Create Intel-based AVD

[0] https://developer.android.com/tools/devices/emulator.html

[cageface]

Agreed. The Intel images turn the emulator into a generally useful tool. If you enable graphics acceleration in the AVD performance is more than good enough for testing the apps I've tried so far.

The emulator does take a while to start but that's a one-time cost.

[EricButler]

Don't forget to enable GPU Acceleration too. I've posted about this here: http://codebutler.com/2012/10/10/configuring-a-usable-androi...

[tszming]

Testing inapp billing without a physical device is still my biggest reason staying with the VirtualBox-based approach.

Installing Play Store app on emulator still requires some hacky workarounds.

[kerrishotts]

Just an FYI -- this killed my Virtual Box install the last time i tried it. Uninstalling HAXM fixed it all, but having Virtual Box was more important than the Intel images, so I left it uninstalled.

[pschwamb]

This issue specifically, and others like it (snapshot management, bugs in the interface to create emulators, such as setting the hw keyboard) really made managing local android emulators a pain for us. We thought we could make the experience better, so we made Manymo.

[dj2stein9]

I didn't know this, I'll try it out, thanks!