Best Nintendo Switch emulators for Android

The Switch can be emulated on personal computers - for this, a PC with hardware from 5-7 years ago is sufficient. However, the situation is different on smartphones. There are several emulators for Android that can run Switch games to some extent. Let's take a closer look at them.

MonoNX and Lightswitch

Both emulators were actively developed until recently, but their creator decided to freeze the projects. The source code of the programs can be downloaded by anyone.

Lightswitch is a Nintendo Switch emulator created by a developer under the name Cyuubi. It is currently frozen. No approximate release dates for a working version have been announced, but anyone is welcome to join the development.

Skyline

An experimental Nintendo Switch emulator with open-source code. It only works on ARMv8 devices - processors with 64-bit integer RISC cores and ARM architecture.

To find out the instruction set of your device, you need to download the utility - Droid Hardware Info. On the first launch, allow access to files and storage, as well as saving reports. Then, go to the "System" tab and look for the "Instruction Set" item. It should indicate arm64-v8a.

At this stage of development, Skyline only supports running simple games. It is not possible to run popular titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

To run games, you will need to:

• Download and install the emulator from the official or our website;
• Allow access to photos, files, and storage on your smartphone when prompted;
• Download the game ROM file with the "NSP" extension;
• Place the game image in any folder or leave it in the "Download" folder if you downloaded it from the smartphone's browser;
• On the main screen, pull down to refresh the content;
• If everything is done correctly, the game title will be displayed in the "NSP" section.

Currently, the utility is in early development and works very poorly on devices with a processor below the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 and less than 8 GB of RAM. For example, when checking the emulator's functionality, a 2D puzzle game only loaded up to the main menu on a device with Snapdragon 660.

In the settings, you can change the visual theme of the program, choose to display performance statistics and record information in a log file, adjust display settings and aspect ratio.

Egg NS Emulator

The world's first relatively stable and functional Nintendo Switch emulator. It has been officially released on Google Play, which also confirms its functionality. According to the developers, it is compatible with hundreds of games, including AAA-class titles.

The performance of the emulated games depends directly on the hardware of the device. The recommended requirements for most projects are Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 and 8GB of RAM.

It is distributed under a conditionally free model. To play games solely using a smartphone/tablet, when the console sticks or Switch Pro controller are emulated using the touch screen, you will need to purchase a subscription for $3.99 per month.

The second option is support for control via the Gamesir X2 Type-C physical controller, similar to the standard sticks of the Switch. It is compatible with devices running Android version 9.0 and above. The average market price in Russia is 5.5 thousand rubles.

The process of setting up and running games is as follows:

• Download and install the utility from a trusted source;
• Launch the utility and grant access to the internal storage;
• Read and agree to the user agreement;
• The emulator will check the device for compatibility and display a pop-up window if the minimum system requirements are not met;
• Click on the pop-up menu button in the upper right corner of the screen and go to "Game setting";
• In the "Data directory" field, click the "Add" button, go to the menu in the upper left corner and navigate to the root directory on the internal memory;
• Find the "Switch Droid" folder, open it, and at the bottom of the screen, click "Allow access to the Switchdroid folder";
• Go back to the main screen and go to the "VIP" tab, register and purchase access for a week/month;
• Go to the "Discover" section, find the game you like, click on the thumbnail and the "Download Link" field;
• Follow the link and access a document with a list of sites from which you can download a working game image;
• Place the downloaded image in any folder on the device, then go to the menu and select the path to the folder in the "Game Root Directory Address" field;
• Go back to the "Discovery" tab and launch the game.

Technically, the emulator is still far from perfect, and even during setup, freezes may occur. On a device that does not meet the system requirements, the utility constantly froze after adding a game. Only restarting the smartphone and relaunching without background programs helped.

Visually and functionally, the program is well-made, with smooth transitions between tabs and scrolling through the catalog. All necessary hints and brief instructions are available within the program itself. For additional information on fine-tuning, you can refer to the dedicated thread on 4pda. It has been active since 2020 and includes a complete list of compatible games.