it's not the "android studio emulator" it is the "android emulator" that you are using. you can run it completely outside of android studio.
the android emulator is SSSSSSOOOOOOOO TERRIBLE! it's just god awful. it takes like 5-10 minutes to boot up sometimes, then the response time on it is just so bad.
i ended up buying a nexus 7 tablet last year for that reason. i always used the emulator to test out my apps, but i created a game and i didnt even attempt to run it on the emulator after the first time.
it's pathetic too because the iOS simulator is fantastic. it actually runs BETTER than the actual phone devices so sometimes it's not good to only test it out on the simulator. like you will get better performance out of the simulator than the actual device on iOS so just be weary of that.
as for android, i'd strongly recommend just purchasing a device. i got my tablet for like $150 from microcenter, and i've saved more than $150 in time alone with that thing since. no more waiting 10 minutes for the emulator to start up and slow performance.