ADT: Most Efficient Set of Emulator Devices to Cover Actuals?

Issue

When setting up my emulator devices in ADT, what array of device specs should I target in order to best cover the broadest range of real-life devices? Let's say I want to set up six virtuals to cover the broadest range of actuals. What six would you choose?

I found an article, but it's outdated (2010). Any advice and/or direction to a more current source of this information would be appreciated.

Solution

I propose the following configuration:

1. 3,5'' device with Android 2.3
2. Nexus One with Android 4.0
3. Nexus 4 with Android 4.1
4. Nexus 7 with Android 4.2
5. Nexus 10 with Android 4.3
6. Nexus 5 with Android 4.4

This covers the most important screen factors and Android versions.

Number 1 depends on whether you support Gingerbread at all.

Android 4.1 - 4.3 don't differ too much, so you could probably skip two of them, but there are some important changes between Android 4.3 and 4.4.

7'' devices like the Nexus 7 are especially tricky (UI-wise) when switching between landscape and portrait mode. When in portrait mode it doesn't really qualify as tablet device because of the limited width. But if you use the phone layout in landscape mode it tends to look ugly.

Answered By - Kirill Rakhman