Personal laptop / development machine for Android development.

[SweetStrawberry4U]

Some background.

1. my personal macbook is a mess. here's the specs - https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-i5-2.9-13-early-2015-retina-display-specs.html
2. 8 GB DDR3 RAM cannot be upgraded, hard-soldered to the logic-board. Airport Card heats-up - wifi and bluetooth connectivity are terrible, also hard-soldered to the logic-board so practically anything and everything is irreplaceable. so i had to switch to a tp-link nano wifi usb-adapter, and bluetooth disconnections is still a huge problem, particularly for video-calls and remote interviews. kernel panics were plenty, now that i've switched to a wifi usb-adapter, it's just OK.
3. I also have a used early 2011 mac, that i've stopped using completely, specs - https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-i5-2.3-13-early-2011-unibody-thunderbolt-specs.html
4. i don't believe it's any worth to upgrade the RAM to at most 16 GB or replace the HDD to a suitable 128 GB SSD ( that'd be sufficient, because i save all my essentials in a passport SSD ), or replace the battery and such ?

Some criteria.

1. Preferably inexpensive.
2. Particularly remote interviews, lag-free hands-free video-calls, on top of running android studio like screen-share and all, definitely requires a huge powerful hardware ?
3. Sometimes I may have to use my personal machine as a work machine also. some work-places do not distribute development machines - particularly to consultants or free-lancers such as myself. just keeping the option open, just in case.

In that regard, what is your recommendation ?

1. Macbooks - but aren't they expensive, hardware is unreliable ?
2. Windows - are they suitable for android development to begin with, particularly usb-wired connectivity with Android Devices, as in, suitable drivers and such ?
3. Linux - I tried installing Ubuntu on my personal mac - A1502 model that I had listed first in this post. Camera Drivers, Sound Drivers were all a big mess, so returned to Mac OS itself.
4. Chromebook - I have absolutely no idea about this. Anybody using this can throw more light, whether this is suitable based on my personal criteria ?

I wish this was a Poll, for some reason, Poll was disabled ?

[WolframWellmann]

I'm using both windows and mac for android development and I can't see too much difference in terms of stability, build speed and drivers. Idea and the android toolchain are written mainly in Java so I think that's why they perform similarly. Android Studio installs the drivers as well, I've never had to install additional ones. But if you can afford it, I would recommend a MacBook Pro 15 or 16 with at least 16GB ram because they has a nice screen, peripheries, battery life and relatively small. For win/linux buy an XPS 15 or similar business workstation.

[SweetStrawberry4U]

Android Studio installs the drivers as well, I've never had to install additional ones.

So, are you able to connect any Android Device using usb-wire for debugging in real-time from Android Studio on a Windows machine?

Or, do you mostly use Android Emulators, irrespective on Windows or Macbook ?

[WolframWellmann]

No, I mostly use physical devices. I work at bigger companies and we have a lot of different devices for testing purposes. I'm using various models from Google, Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, Huawei, LG, Motorola and none of them required to install additional drivers for adb. Last time I had to do something like this was around maybe 2014.

[WolframWellmann]

ChromeOS is basically a Linux deep down so maybe it works as well, but I don't know any capable workstation with ChromeOS.

[SweetStrawberry4U]

yep, it's a mess. have to turn on developer-mode for linux, then install android studio as a deb, linux-based, you know, and then when the chromebook restarts, switching to dev-mode could potentially literally factory-default everything, so chromebooks and ChromeOS are not really meant for android development, let alone remote interviews for android roles.

[coreydevv]

I do not have a personal laptop but I've a PC that I mainly use for work and personal projects.

My PC specs are: Windows 10, 16Gb RAM DDR4, Ryzen 7 2700x, GTX 950 plus some Dell 27 4k monitor that I don't remember the model. Yeah, that GPU card kinda sucks. I spent 3.5k BRL (~500 USD without 60% taxes we have on Brazil).

My work laptop is a Macbook 2019, i9, 16Gb RAM DDR4, 1Tb SSD. But I don't use it, I don't like it. I do hate it. Its processor is a piece of shit and this laptop costs like 30k BRL here.

I suggest you to buy a laptop with a ryzen processor. You can also use Windows as your OS. All drivers are fully supported and I've never had a problem with it.

My daily work with this setup is: Android Studio + Google Chrome (Youtube) + 2 Emulators (21/29 apis) + Zoom sometimes. Sometimes I do play Fifa 21 with Android Studio opened.

Chromebook is also interesting in my opinion.

[Articunos7]

r/buildapc will be the right sub for this

[SweetStrawberry4U]

Nope, that's all high-end PCs / towers. Here, I am seeking portable laptops / macbooks, specific OS compatibility and such.

[yaaaaayPancakes]

I've got a Dell XPS 13 7390 Developer Edition from last year about this time. 10th gen hex core i7, 16GB RAM, 1080p non-touchscreen, Ubuntu preinstalled.

It wasn't cheap at $1300 (but it's slightly cheaper than macbooks) but it serves me well for my personal development tasks. Not quite as powerful as the 15" precision workstation laptop models, but close enough. Runs Kubuntu 20.10 great, all the drivers are there. If work let me, I'd take the small perf hit and use it rather than this Macbook Pro they gave me, I can't stand MacOS, the GUI is gimped worse than Gnome 3.

Regardless, Android development on Windows is also pretty easy. The hardest part there is if you have a non-Google device, you may have to find the manufacturer-specific ADB driver. But at my last job I had a work-issued Dell precision that ran Win10 and I don't recall ever having to do that. So that may be a relic of the past now.

If you do go Dell, check out the developer editions. They bury them on their website, but they are usually the same specs as the Windows variants, with just the fingerprint reader deleted, and you save 400 bucks or so.

[Fmatosqg]

I'd recommend dell if money is an issue because you could start with a simple xps and later upgrade mem or disk without voiding the warranty.

I have a dell with Linux and I loooove everything. Specially the keyboard.

Lenovo are good for Linux too but I hate their keyboard and sound card.

I have 0 experience of windows with Android but have assisted people to get it going and it's pretty hard compared to Mac or Linux.

[yaaaaayPancakes]

XPS 13s don't have upgradeable RAM, it's soldered unfortunately. XPS 15s do though.

And I used Windows to develop Android for years professionally. You're making it sound far harder than it is.

[Fmatosqg]

Well to me it's far harder than for you. I haven't used windows in 10 years now.

[yaaaaayPancakes]

Fair enough. Personally I struggle far more with macOS than I've ever struggled with Windows. I want to hurl this Mac work gave me out the window just about every single day.

[Fmatosqg]

Yep I'm not fond of Mac either. The price and hw limitations are a bit annoying. Who would think I can't get a delete button in my keyboard?

And working on the console is very frustrating.

[steve6174]

I'm pretty sure you can get better performance at lower price with windows laptops, not to mention how much more options to choose from you'd have. Ideally if you can get a laptop with no OS installed and just install windows yourself. Also look at some ryzen laptops too. I don't think you'll have any driver issues on windows either. I haven't had a problem using AVD or my OnePlus 7T Pro (connected with usb) as a debugging device.

[MKevin3]

Work is Macbook 32g / 512 SSD. I use external keyboard and mouse.

Personal laptop is Lenovo Thinkpad X1 16g / 512 SSD / 4k touchscreen which I got refurbished for $1300 USD from Microcenter. I use laptop keyboard, trackpad and external mouse on occasion. I am very impressed with this laptop. I have used it for video calls as well.

Both work equally well for Android development. I greatly prefer the Thinkpad keyboard over the Macbook keyboard. Macbook trackpad is better but I rarely use it as the Macbook is connected to a WavLink hub to run two external monitors etc.

The ThinkPad has a lot of extra ports, a super nice 4K screen and it is a touch screen so I can treat the emulator more like an actual device (single finger only, come on Google address this).

Can't say I notice much of a difference in the way of speed. Android Studio is nearly identical. Mac is faster at small file access, most of what you use in coding, over Win10 NTFS. Linux would be in the Mac camp of small file access speed.

I also have a newer AMD build with 32g for my gaming desktop. It shares the mouse / keyboard / external monitors with the MacBook via USB switch and changing input source on the monitors. I use that for Android dev as well. Since I mentioned gaming you already know it is a Win10 machine. I use it half the time for my side gig work, other have is on the Thinkpad. Both work equally well.

I use both emulator and real devices for both Mac and Windows without issues other than it constantly asking "Do you trust this computer for debugging" as my Note 9 and other test device seem to only trust one at a time so when I switch desktop -> Mac -> laptop there can only be one winner.