The best GameBoy Advance GBA emulators for Android

The Game Boy Advance is one of the most popular portable game consoles of all time and Android smartphones occupy such a large part of the market, which is almost inevitable that Android owners are interested in playing their old favorite games on their phones.

Android phones have increased dramatically over the years, while the first Android phones did not have the power for reliable emulation, today’s phones can even emulate consoles like the GameCube.

The maturity of the Android platform allows you to have a great selection of Android GBA emulators out there that are worth using. Today we are going to see what are the best, but first, we have to explore what makes a great GBA emulator.

What distinguishes a good GBA emulator?

Let’s talk about what distinguishes them. A great GBA emulator for Android, or actually a great emulator in general, will give priority to the accuracy of emulation while offering many extra features. The most important of these features will include full gamepad support and rescue status management, especially when you want to be able to use, play and store a GBA emulator at any time.

We have listed the best GBA emulators for Android we found, but some notable options are missing from this list. If you notice that your GBA emulator is missing, there’s one of two reasons- it’s broken due to its latest updates or uses open-source (uncredited) development.

1. John GBA Lite – GBA emulator

A reasonably accurate GBA emulator with lots of extra features, John GBA is a great option for those who want to keep things simple. It has built-in tricks, various options to improve rendering and, in particular, Dropbox support, which allows you to synchronize your saves and configuration data in the cloud, and then continue playing on another Android device.

The default layout of the virtual gamepad is not great, but you can change it at least, and there is also support for Bluetooth controllers (we can not emphasize how much better it is to play GBA games with a gamepad).

2. RetroArch

RetroArch is a project in continuous development in the world of emulation, even if it is not exactly an emulator. RetroArch is best described as a single and unified application through which it is possible to interact with other emulators. These emulators are represented in “Core” and multiple RetroArch cores are available for each system you want to emulate. In particular, VBA-M and mGBA are excellent options.

3. My Boy! Free – GBA Emulator

My Boy! Free is a leading GBA emulator in the Play Store and perhaps the most important of the GBA Android emulators. It is definitely the most popular and has gained this popularity thanks to great performance, accuracy and emulation functionality. The Premium version of the application eliminates advertisements but is not strictly necessary for a good gaming experience.

4. MyGBA

It is based on the open source Gameboid emulator and has a fairly large following. While it is quite reliable, some of the other features that are quite common on these emulators, such as speed controls and a cheat menu are missing.

5. GBAoid

GBAoid is the GBA emulator I started with. Although not as updated as other options on this list, it is still completely free and offers all the key features needed for a GBA emulator for Android. If for some reason you do not choose one of the highest free options on this list, GBAoid is a classic that still does what it needs to do today.

Link to download GBAoid

Conclusion

Ultimately, GBA emulators for Android are many, but only a few are really worth it. If you want to avoid the long configuration associated with RetroArch (especially if you are only interested in GBA titles), then MyBoy! it’s probably your best option. GBA.emu is another great alternative, especially because it offers all its features for free.