diff --git a/ci/fireci/fireci/emulator.py b/ci/fireci/fireci/emulator.py
index 831751b3f64..89edc4d65ca 100644
--- a/ci/fireci/fireci/emulator.py
+++ b/ci/fireci/fireci/emulator.py
@@ -12,19 +12,127 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+import datetime
 import logging
+import os
+import signal
+import subprocess
+import time
 
 _logger = logging.getLogger('fireci.emulator')
 
+EMULATOR_BINARY = 'emulator'
+ADB_BINARY = 'adb'
+EMULATOR_NAME = 'test'
+
+EMULATOR_FLAGS = ['-no-audio', '-no-window', '-skin', '768x1280']
+
 
-# TODO(vkryachko): start/shutdown the emulator.
 class EmulatorHandler:
+  """
+     Context manager that launches an android emulator for the duration of its execution.
 
-  def __init__(self, artifacts_dir):
+     As part of its run it:
+     * Launches the emulator
+     * Waits for it to boot
+     * Starts logcat to store on-device logs
+     * Produces stdout.log, stderr.log, logcat.log in the artifacts directory
+  """
+
+  def __init__(
+      self,
+      artifacts_dir,
+      *,
+      name=EMULATOR_NAME,
+      emulator_binary=EMULATOR_BINARY,
+      adb_binary=ADB_BINARY,
+      # for testing only
+      emulator_stdin=None,
+      wait_for_device_stdin=None,
+      logcat_stdin=None):
     self._artifacts_dir = artifacts_dir
 
+    log_dir = '{}_emulator'.format(name)
+    self._stdout = self._open(log_dir, 'stdout.log')
+    self._stderr = self._open(log_dir, 'stderr.log')
+    self._adb_log = self._open(log_dir, 'logcat.log')
+    self._name = name
+
+    self._emulator_binary = emulator_binary
+    self._adb_binary = adb_binary
+
+    self._emulator_stdin = emulator_stdin
+    self._wait_for_device_stdin = wait_for_device_stdin
+    self._logcat_stdin = logcat_stdin
+
   def __enter__(self):
-    _logger.debug('Pretend to start the emulator(TODO)')
+    _logger.info('Starting avd "{}..."'.format(self._name))
+    self._process = subprocess.Popen(
+        [self._emulator_binary, '-avd', self._name] + EMULATOR_FLAGS,
+        env=os.environ,
+        stdin=self._emulator_stdin,
+        stdout=self._stdout,
+        stderr=self._stderr)
+    try:
+      self._wait_for_boot(datetime.timedelta(minutes=5))
+    except:
+      self._kill(self._process)
+      self._close_files()
+      raise
+
+    self._logcat = subprocess.Popen(
+        [self._adb_binary, 'logcat'],
+        stdin=self._logcat_stdin,
+        stdout=self._adb_log,
+    )
 
   def __exit__(self, exception_type, exception_value, traceback):
-    _logger.debug('Pretend to stop the emulator(TODO)')
+    _logger.info('Shutting down avd "{}"...'.format(self._name))
+    self._kill(self._process)
+    _logger.info('Avd "{}" shut down.'.format(self._name))
+    self._kill(self._logcat)
+    self._close_files()
+
+  def _open(self, dirname, filename):
+    """Opens a file in a given directory, creates directory if required."""
+    dirname = os.path.join(self._artifacts_dir, dirname)
+    if (not os.path.exists(dirname)):
+      os.makedirs(dirname)
+    return open(os.path.join(dirname, filename), 'w')
+
+  def _wait_for_boot(self, timeout: datetime.timedelta):
+    _logger.info('Waiting for avd to boot...')
+    wait = subprocess.Popen(
+        [self._adb_binary, 'wait-for-device'],
+        stdin=self._wait_for_device_stdin,
+        stdout=self._stdout,
+        stderr=self._stderr,
+    )
+
+    start = datetime.datetime.now()
+    while self._process.poll() is None:
+      wait_exitcode = wait.poll()
+      if wait_exitcode is not None:
+        if wait_exitcode == 0:
+          _logger.info('Emulator booted successfully.')
+          return
+        raise RuntimeError("Waiting for emulator failed.")
+
+      time.sleep(0.1)
+      now = datetime.datetime.now()
+      if now - start >= timeout:
+        self._kill(wait, sig=signal.SIGKILL)
+        raise RuntimeError("Emulator startup timed out.")
+
+    self._kill(wait)
+    raise RuntimeError(
+        "Emulator failed to launch. See emulator logs for details.")
+
+  def _kill(self, process, sig=signal.SIGTERM):
+    process.send_signal(sig)
+    process.wait()
+
+  def _close_files(self):
+    for f in (self._stdout, self._stderr, self._adb_log):
+      if f is not None:
+        f.close()
diff --git a/ci/fireci/fireci/internal.py b/ci/fireci/fireci/internal.py
index 420bffcad95..84e88d9febc 100644
--- a/ci/fireci/fireci/internal.py
+++ b/ci/fireci/fireci/internal.py
@@ -51,12 +51,12 @@ def _artifact_handler(target_directory, artifact_patterns):
 
 
 @contextlib.contextmanager
-def _emulator_handler(enabled, target_directory):
+def _emulator_handler(enabled, *args, **kwargs):
   if not enabled:
     yield
     return
 
-  with emulator.EmulatorHandler(target_directory):
+  with emulator.EmulatorHandler(*args, **kwargs):
     yield
 
 
@@ -71,14 +71,14 @@ class _CommonOptions:
 @click.option(
     '--artifact-target-dir',
     default='_artifacts',
-    help='Directory where artifacts will be symlinked to.',
+    help='Directory where artifacts will be copied to.',
     type=click.Path(dir_okay=True, resolve_path=True),
 )
 @click.option(
     '--artifact-patterns',
     default=('**/build/test-results', '**/build/reports'),
     help=
-    'Shell-style artifact patterns that are symlinked into `artifact-target-dir`.'\
+    'Shell-style artifact patterns that are copied into `artifact-target-dir`.'\
         'Can be specified multiple times.',
     multiple=True,
     type=str,
@@ -89,6 +89,21 @@ class _CommonOptions:
     help='Specifies whether to start an Android emulator a command executes.',
     is_flag=True,
 )
+@click.option(
+    '--emulator-name',
+    default='test',
+    help='Specifies the AVD name to launch the emulator with.',
+)
+@click.option(
+    '--emulator-binary',
+    default='emulator',
+    help='Specifies the name/full path to the emulator binary.',
+)
+@click.option(
+    '--adb-binary',
+    default='adb',
+    help='Specifies the name/full path to the adb binary.',
+)
 @_pass_options
 def main(options, **kwargs):
   """Main command group.
@@ -120,7 +135,10 @@ def new_func(ctx, options, *args, **kwargs):
       with _artifact_handler(options.artifact_target_dir,
                              options.artifact_patterns), _emulator_handler(
                                  options.with_emulator,
-                                 options.artifact_target_dir):
+                                 options.artifact_target_dir,
+                                 name=options.emulator_name,
+                                 emulator_binary=options.emulator_binary,
+                                 adb_binary=options.adb_binary):
         return ctx.invoke(f, *args, **kwargs)
 
     return functools.update_wrapper(new_func, f)
diff --git a/ci/fireci/tests/emulator_test.py b/ci/fireci/tests/emulator_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9d3a33ad0c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/fireci/tests/emulator_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+# Copyright 2018 Google LLC
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import io
+import os
+import pathlib
+import threading
+import time
+import unittest
+
+from concurrent import futures
+
+from fireci.internal import _emulator_handler
+from fireci.emulator import EMULATOR_FLAGS
+from .fileutil import (
+    Artifact,
+    create_artifacts,
+    in_tempdir,
+    with_env,
+)
+from . import scripts
+
+
+class ProcessChannel:
+  """Write-only communication channel with a process through its stdin."""
+
+  def __init__(self, fd):
+    self._fd = fd
+
+  def send(self, value, close=False):
+    os.write(self._fd, bytes(str(value), encoding='utf8'))
+    if close:
+      os.close(self._fd)
+
+
+class EmulatorTests(unittest.TestCase):
+  executor = futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=1)
+
+  @in_tempdir
+  def test_emulator_when_not_requested_should_not_produce_logs(self):
+    with _emulator_handler(False):
+      pass
+    self.assertFalse(os.listdir(os.getcwd()))
+
+  @in_tempdir
+  def test_emulator_when_emulator_fails_to_start_should_fail(self):
+    create_artifacts(
+        Artifact('emulator', content=scripts.waiting_for_status(), mode=0o744),
+        Artifact('adb', content=scripts.waiting_for_status(), mode=0o744),
+    )
+    future, emulator, waiter, logcat = self._invoke_emulator(
+        './emulator', './adb')
+
+    # emulator exits before wait-for-device
+    emulator.send(0, close=True)
+
+    with self.assertRaisesRegex(RuntimeError, 'Emulator failed to launch'):
+      future.result(timeout=1)
+
+  @in_tempdir
+  def test_emulator_when_wait_for_device_fails_should_fail(self):
+    create_artifacts(
+        Artifact('emulator', content=scripts.waiting_for_status(), mode=0o744),
+        Artifact('adb', content=scripts.waiting_for_status(), mode=0o744),
+    )
+
+    future, emulator, waiter, logcat = self._invoke_emulator(
+        './emulator', './adb')
+
+    # wait-for-device fails
+    waiter.send(1, close=True)
+
+    with self.assertRaisesRegex(RuntimeError, 'Waiting for emulator failed'):
+      future.result(timeout=1)
+
+  @in_tempdir
+  def test_emulator_when_startup_succeeds_should_produce_expected_outputs(self):
+    create_artifacts(
+        Artifact('emulator', content=scripts.waiting_for_status(), mode=0o744),
+        Artifact('adb', content=scripts.waiting_for_status(), mode=0o744),
+    )
+
+    future, emulator, waiter, logcat = self._invoke_emulator(
+        './emulator', './adb')
+
+    # wait-for-device succeeds
+    waiter.send(0, close=True)
+
+    future.result(timeout=1)
+
+    path = pathlib.Path('_artifacts') / 'test_emulator'
+
+    stdout = path / 'stdout.log'
+    stderr = path / 'stderr.log'
+    logcat = path / 'logcat.log'
+
+    for p in (stdout, stderr, logcat):
+      self.assertTrue(p.exists())
+      self.assertTrue(p.is_file())
+
+    # both emulator and wait-for-device write to stdout.log
+    self._assert_file_contains(
+        stdout, './emulator -avd test {}\n./adb wait-for-device\n'.format(
+            ' '.join(EMULATOR_FLAGS)))
+
+    # emulator writes to stderr.log
+    self._assert_file_contains(stderr, 'stderr\n' * 2)
+
+    # logccat writes to logcat.log
+    self._assert_file_contains(logcat, './adb logcat\n')
+
+  def _assert_file_contains(self, path, expected_contents):
+    with path.open() as f:
+      c = f.read()
+      self.assertEqual(c, expected_contents)
+
+  def _invoke_emulator(self, emulator_binary, adb_binary):
+    emulator_stdin, emulator_channel = os.pipe()
+    wait_stdin, wait_channel = os.pipe()
+    logcat_stdin, logcat_channel = os.pipe()
+
+    def handler():
+
+      with _emulator_handler(
+          True,
+          '_artifacts',
+          emulator_binary=emulator_binary,
+          adb_binary=adb_binary,
+          emulator_stdin=emulator_stdin,
+          wait_for_device_stdin=wait_stdin,
+          logcat_stdin=logcat_stdin,
+      ):
+        time.sleep(0.1)
+
+    future = self.executor.submit(handler)
+    return future, ProcessChannel(emulator_channel), ProcessChannel(
+        wait_channel), ProcessChannel(logcat_channel)
diff --git a/ci/fireci/tests/fileutil.py b/ci/fireci/tests/fileutil.py
index d5dd370cb18..30becae00ac 100644
--- a/ci/fireci/tests/fileutil.py
+++ b/ci/fireci/tests/fileutil.py
@@ -58,3 +58,26 @@ def do_in_temp_dir(*args, **kwargs):
       shutil.rmtree(tempdir_path)
 
   return functools.update_wrapper(do_in_temp_dir, func)
+
+
+def with_env(env, extend=True):
+
+  def inner(func):
+
+    def decorated(*args, **kwargs):
+      original_env = os.environ
+      new_env = original_env if extend else {}
+      expanded_env = {
+          os.path.expandvars(k): os.path.expandvars(v)
+          for (k, v) in env.items()
+      }
+
+      os.environ = {**new_env, **expanded_env}
+      try:
+        func(*args, **kwargs)
+      finally:
+        os.environ = original_env
+
+    return functools.update_wrapper(decorated, func)
+
+  return inner
diff --git a/ci/fireci/tests/integ_tests.py b/ci/fireci/tests/integ_tests.py
index 34c42fc5bd4..6a3175773f6 100644
--- a/ci/fireci/tests/integ_tests.py
+++ b/ci/fireci/tests/integ_tests.py
@@ -79,7 +79,8 @@ def test_smoke_test_when_build_succeeds_and_tests_fails_should_fail(self):
     self.assertNotEqual(result.exit_code, 0)
 
   @in_tempdir
-  def test_smoke_test_when_build_succeeds_and_tests_succeed_should_succeed(self):
+  def test_smoke_test_when_build_succeeds_and_tests_succeed_should_succeed(
+      self):
     create_artifacts(
         Artifact('gradlew', content=scripts.with_exit(0), mode=0o744),
         Artifact('test-apps/gradlew', content=scripts.with_exit(0), mode=0o744),
diff --git a/ci/fireci/tests/scripts.py b/ci/fireci/tests/scripts.py
index 61e72ac10af..917cb36aa6b 100644
--- a/ci/fireci/tests/scripts.py
+++ b/ci/fireci/tests/scripts.py
@@ -58,3 +58,26 @@ def with_expected_arguments_and_artifacts(args, env, *artifacts):
   """Python script that checks its argv, environment and creates provided files/directories."""
   arg_string = ', '.join(['"{}"'.format(arg) for arg in args])
   return _SCRIPT_WITH_ARTIFACTS.format(arg_string, env, artifacts)
+
+
+_SCRIPT_WAITING_FOR_STATUS = """\
+#!/bin/sh
+'''true'
+exec python3 -u "$0" "$@"
+'''
+import sys
+print(' '.join(sys.argv), file=sys.stdout)
+print('stderr', file=sys.stderr)
+stdin = sys.stdin.read()
+if stdin:
+    sys.exit(int(stdin))
+"""
+
+
+def waiting_for_status():
+  """Python script with unbuffered that:
+     * Prints argv to stdout
+     * Prints 'stderr to stderr
+     * Waits for exit status to be written to its stdin and exits with it.
+  """
+  return _SCRIPT_WAITING_FOR_STATUS