When testing mobile applications, one key decision every QA team faces is:
Should we test on real devices, emulators, or both?
Both methods have advantages and limitations. Understanding the differences can help you create a reliable and scalable testing strategy.
In this post, you’ll learn:
- What are emulators and real devices
- The pros and cons of each
- When to use which
- Best practices for combining both
🔍 What’s the Difference?
✅ Real Device
A physical smartphone or tablet (iOS or Android) that runs the app just like a user would experience it.
🖥️ Emulator/Simulator
A software-based virtual device that mimics a mobile operating system and hardware for testing purposes.
- Emulator: Android virtual device (AVD), built into Android Studio
- Simulator: iOS virtual environment via Xcode for iPhone and iPad
⚖️ Pros and Cons
🔧 Real Devices
Pros:
- Accurate user behavior testing (touch, gestures, GPS, etc.)
- Reliable performance, battery, and hardware testing
- Captures real-world issues (network switching, camera access, sensors)
Cons:
- Expensive to purchase and maintain a wide range of devices
- Manual setup and slower to scale
- Limited by location and device availability
🧪 Emulators/Simulators
Pros:
- Cost-effective and fast to set up
- Ideal for early-stage development and smoke testing
- Easier to automate and integrate into CI/CD pipelines
- Can simulate different OS versions quickly
Cons:
- Limited hardware accuracy (e.g., camera, sensors, gestures)
- Not ideal for performance or battery usage testing
- May behave differently than real devices in some edge cases
📌 When to Use What
| Scenario | Best Choice |
|---|---|
| Early development & debugging | ✅ Emulator/Simulator |
| Functional regression testing | ✅ Emulator with automation |
| UI/UX validation | ✅ Real Device |
| Performance and battery tests | ✅ Real Device |
| Hardware feature testing (camera, GPS) | ✅ Real Device |
| Large device coverage (OS & screen sizes) | ✅ Device farm (real + emulator) |
| CI/CD integration | ✅ Emulators (fast & scalable) |
🧠 Best Practice: Use Both
Modern QA strategies use a hybrid approach:
- Start with emulators for fast, repeatable tests across multiple configurations
- Validate on real devices for critical flows, real-user conditions, and hardware-specific bugs
- Use cloud device farms (like BrowserStack, Sauce Labs, Firebase Test Lab) to scale testing without managing hardware
✅ Final Thoughts
Testing only on emulators might miss real-world bugs. Testing only on physical devices can be slow and expensive. The best testing strategy balances both.
By understanding their strengths and using them together wisely, you can catch more bugs, ensure better coverage, and ship confidently.
