Quest in Finding a good Android Emulation Device

[casterofdreams]

Go to experiment section if you don't care for back story.

A bit of backstory: My first couple of Android phones I owned was during 2010-2011. The resolution wars that is waged today wasn't the sole focus back then so the screen resolutions were kept down.

I ran into a set of emulators done by the same person: Gameboid (GBA), GBCoid, and SNESoid. With the resolution of the screens on the phones at the time I can set the scaling to 2x and it was the equivalent to the size of the GBA SP. The on screen controllers wouldn't overlap over the playing screen so that was a plus.

Over the years however, as the resolutions of the phone screens increased the emulators wouldn't scale properly unless I choose a full screen option and have it all pixel-y and on screen controls all over the place. My current phone, running Android 5.1 or something and having a 1440p resolution is horrendous. On top of that, games would not save at all. The OS way outpaced the old app.

So the experiment: Wal-Mart is selling a very cheap prepaid phone for $10. An LG I think. Not having a store near me I went to Amazon to see what they had. They sold an LG Optimus Exceed 2 for $20. Screen is 800x400, running 4.4.2 Kit Kat and is prepaid from Verizon.



Upon start up, pressing Volume Up, Volume Down, Back Button, then Home Button bypassed activation. I put it on airplane mode and then sideloaded the emulators. And everything works! The scaling of the games are perfect and the games save. So for $20 I have a great little emulation machine. The phone can be a nice $20 music player like a iPod touch If you get a memory card (32GB max).

Anyway that's all. Thought I'd share for what it's worth.

[noiseredux]

hmm. I have probably a half-dozen Android phones around. I've never had a contract phone, and I generally buy myself a new one every year. (Srsly). I've just thrown each old one in a junk drawer, and never really thought they'd have much use. I know I've got an LG Optimus Elite and LG Optimus V in there for instance.

[casterofdreams]

This may be a good idea to repurpose them.

[noiseredux]

This may be a good idea to repurpose them.

not for me, but if anybody needs one.

[JoeAwesome]

I'm interested in getting a cheap Android phone for this purpose (and video streaming). My biggest concerns are learning how to root, set up emulators, attach a compatible Bluetooth controller (preferably), and find a video-out. The last of which is not likely on a cheap phone, but how easy is going about the rest? Noise, I might be interested in picking one up from you if I can understand how to go about setting it up easily.

[noiseredux]

Joe, I don't know anything about any of that stuff. Haha. Honestly, the most gaming I ever do on my phone is like a trivia game or maybe some Pokemon Shuffle. But here's the product page for the Elite if that helps you at all. That would be the most recent spare phone I have. I don't generally get a new one until January or so each year.

[JoeAwesome]

Joe, I don't know anything about any of that stuff. Haha. Honestly, the most gaming I ever do on my phone is like a trivia game or maybe some Pokemon Shuffle. But here's the product page for the Elite if that helps you at all. That would be the most recent spare phone I have. I don't generally get a new one until January or so each year.

Oh, I understand. I was more asking OP for phone rooting experience, but you for the phones . I'll look into it myself with this phone to see how functional and intuitive it would be for me, so thanks for the link!

[Exhuminator]

So for $20 I have a great little emulation machine.

Really killer idea and very economic. I wouldn't mind doing this myself. When you say "side loaded" do you mean you moved the emulators and ROMs onto it using a USB cable or what?

[JoeAwesome]

Side-loading for devices like phones usually means loading "unofficial" apps through means other than the default stores, and may require rooting your phone first.

[casterofdreams]

Correct on side-loading. You have to unselesct an option on the security settings to install from third-party sources. These apps do not require rooting. Just move them into storage (I created a folder labeled Emulators), tap the .apk file and let it install. All done.