The story of Sung Jinwoo in Solo Leveling is characterized by his special power of creating a shadow army. He is capable of using his System power to pull out shadows from enemies who are defeated and command them using the word “Arise.” From being called the weakest hunter, Jinwoo becomes the powerful Shadow Monarch and creates his own army. In this article, we will rank all of Jinwoo’s shadows based on their powers.

11. Kaisel

Kaisel is a wyvern-type shadow obtained by Sung Jinwoo during his journey in the Demon Castle arc of Solo Leveling. He was originally known as Kaisellin and served as a demon baron. After defeating them in battle, Jinwoo extracted the wyvern’s shadow and added him to his growing army. He was later given the name Kaisel and classified as a Knight Grade shadow.

However, Kaisel’s biggest drawback is his limited role in the story. Instead of fighting, he is mostly used as a flying mount. This means fans never get to see his full combat potential. Even though he looks like a powerful dragon, his lack of action makes him rank lower compared to shadows like Igris or Beru.

10. Min Byung-Gyu

Min Byung-Gyu stands out as one of the most emotional cases in Solo Leveling. As an S-Rank hunter, he was respected for his combat ability, stealth, and healing powers, making him one of the best support-type fighters in Korea.

After he died during a raid, Sung Jinwoo temporarily extracted his shadow. Jinwoo did this mostly because he wanted to use his healing skill at this critical moment. Yet, rather than forcing him to stay as his shadow, Jinwoo chose to let him go, which demonstrates his respect for Byung-Gyu.

9. Greed

In the story Solo Leveling, the character Hwang Dongsoo is portrayed as an S-Rank hunter who seeks revenge by killing Sung Jinwoo because of the death of his brother. His greed makes him do crazy things, even hurting innocent people like Yoo Jinho.

After being defeated, Jinwoo turned him into a General Grade shadow. While Greed is one of the stronger shadows in terms of raw power, he does not get enough opportunities to shine in battle compared to top-tier shadows.

8. Jima

In Solo Leveling, Jima was originally the Boss Naga of a high-end A-Rank Gate. During a joint raid between the Ahjin Guild and the Knights Guild, Sung Jinwoo faced this powerful serpent-like enemy and defeated him with ease.

After his extraction, Jima still possessed his core skills, making him an Elite Knight Grade shadow, which proves his high value in battle. His durability, regeneration, and ability to change size make him suitable for fighting on the front lines. Although he might not be as popular as other powerful shadows, such as Igris or Beru, Jima is a powerful warrior in Jinwoo’s army.

7. Iron

Iron, also known as Kim Chul, is a tank-type shadow in Solo Leveling. He was made a shadow by Sung Jinwoo after the Red Gate incident. Iron’s high durability, defense, and regeneration skills make him suitable for use as a damage absorber in battles. As an Elite Knight Grade shadow, Iron might not be the best attacker, but he makes a great protector in the army of Jinwoo.

6. Kamish

Kamish was a legendary dragon in Solo Leveling, known as humanity’s greatest calamity. He was incredibly powerful and required five top S-Rank hunters to defeat him. Much later, Sung Jinwoo used Shadow Extraction on Kamish’s preserved body and successfully revived him. However, the revival was only temporary because Kamish’s mana had faded over time. As a result, the dragon vanished shortly after. Despite this, Kamish’s legacy remains as one of the most powerful and feared monsters in the series.

5. The Ant Queen

In the world of Solo Leveling, the Ant Queen was the last boss of the dangerous Jeju Island S-Rank Gate. She played a crucial part in the creation of the ant army by constantly producing more powerful and advanced ants over the course of time. This made the Ant Queen one of the biggest threats to hunters.

During the raid, she showed impressive durability and strength by surviving against a team of S-Rank hunters. Later, Sung Jinwoo attempted to turn her into a shadow. However, due to interruptions, she could not remain a permanent shadow soldier. Despite this, she was powerful enough to be considered equal to a high-level S-Rank fighter.

4. Tusk

Tusk is one of the strongest mage-type shadows in the army of Sung Jinwoo in Solo Leveling. He was originally Kargalgan, a powerful High Orc shaman and the boss of a Hunters Guild Gate. After defeating him in a tough battle, Jinwoo extracted his shadow and renamed him Tusk.

Tusk is a master of magic-based attacks, including fire, shields, and size-related spells. As a General Grade, with the enhancement of the Orb of Avarice, he is arguably the strongest and most potent shadow in the entire army.

3. Igris

Igris is a very vital character in the Solo Leveling series, being the very first shadow that Sung Jinwoo gets. He was once a loyal knight of Ashborn, sent to evaluate whether Jinwoo was worthy of becoming the new Shadow Monarch.

However, after being defeated, Igris joins Jinwoo and remains loyal throughout the series. He also becomes increasingly stronger, achieving Marshal Grade, which is a testament to his potential. Igris is arguably the best close-range fighter that Jinwoo has, owing to his proficiency in sword fighting, speed, telekinesis, and regeneration.

2. Beru

Beru is considered one of the strongest and most popular shadows of Sung Jinwoo in Solo Leveling. He was once an Ant King, a fearsome monster that was born from the Ant Queen, who commanded the ant army in the Jeju Island arc. Beru was already strong enough to win against several S-Rank hunters with ease, even before becoming a shadow.

However, he was defeated by Sung Jinwoo in a fierce fight, turning him into a shadow. After that, Beru became one of the most trusted soldiers of Sung Jinwoo. Beru has the abilities of super speed, super strength, flying, and healing, which make him a complete character. This is why he is considered one of the top three strongest shadows.

1. Bellion

Bellion is the strongest shadow in the army of Sung Jinwoo in Solo Leveling. He was originally the Grand Marshal of Ashborn’s shadow army and is considered the first shadow ever created using Ashborn’s power. When Jinwoo inherited the Shadow Monarch’s abilities, Bellion became part of his army as well.

As soon as Bellion arrives, he proves his superiority by defeating Beru in a fight, earning himself a higher rank than even the title of Marshal- Grand Marshal Grade. His power, speed, and proficiency with his weapons make him one of the best fighters, and his leadership skills make him Jinwoo’s right-hand man in a fight.

Finally, we conclude our ranking of the strongest shadows of Sung Jinwoo in Solo Leveling. From powerful warriors like Igris and Beru to the unmatched power of Bellion, Jinwoo’s army is filled with powerful warriors that make his journey even more exciting.

Disclaimer: Unless otherwise stated, any opinions expressed below belong solely to the author.

Sea Ltd. is Singapore’s most successful startup turned major tech company.

Six months ago, it was going head-to-head with DBS for the title of the most valuable company in the city-state, exceeding US$100 billion in market capitalisation.

That number has now shrunk to just over US$40 billion.

This is despite the numbers it keeps reporting, which are, by almost any objective measure, excellent.

For the full year of 2025, Sea generated a net income of S$1.985 billion—which is more than three times what it earned in 2024—on the back of nearly S$30 billion in revenue (a 30% increase), as Shopee continues to dominate regional ecommerce with a reported 52% market share in Southeast Asia.

One could have understood the post-pandemic slide, when markets tumbled in late 2021, and money retreated from unproven companies burning billions of dollars raised from investors each year to fuel their unprofitable expansion. At one point, Sea had even lost nearly 90% off its peak 2021 value, and some questioned whether it is able to survive on its own.

However, after hitting its bottom valuation around 2023, it has made a successful turnaround and transformed into a mature business that not only is in control of its destiny but continues to grow at an impressive pace, while expanding its offer with financial services through its Monee arm, which has increased its lending by 80% over the past year.

Its survival is not under threat anymore, as it has amassed US$11 billion (S$14 billion) in cash stash that it can deploy to make investments into its future.

If it’s so good, then why is it so bad?

It’s not the company that’s unpredictable, but the market

Sea’s decline in value appears to be due to its continued treatment as a growth stock.

Despite market dominance, which saw Shopee push its main ecommerce rival Lazada to the sidelines, Sea is not treated as a household brand, but rather an exotic and unpredictable stock, regardless of its current performance.

Not the great news of today, but the uncertainty about tomorrow is what’s making people cautious.

The rapid rise of TikTok Shop across Asia—which has managed to grab double digit share in several countries (up to 40% in Vietnam)—may have spooked investors into thinking that Sea’s best days are over and that it may not be able to compete with the social media behemoth who has access to a captive audience that Sea has to pay for.

This may have encouraged stockholders to cash in on their substantial gains from the previous two years (when Sea outperformed alternative investments like crypto or Nvidia) and wait to see the results of the rivalry.

Shopee’s first few years in business were marked by competition with an already established Lazada, which was acquired by Chinese giant Alibaba as a foothold in Southeast Asia. The Singaporean startup has eventually defeated the incumbent to take its place.

Now that it has established itself as the market leader, it is facing a challenge from another competitor. Just like in 2023, when it had to prove it could stand on its own two feet, today, it has to show it can do more than just defend its holdings and continue to grow them at an impressive pace.

The bar set by the markets keeps getting higher. Forrest Li has managed to clear it every time. Can he do it again?

The future of his company, and his fortune, depends on it.

• Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.

Featured Image Credit: Sea Ltd.

Google and Microsoft have long ruled the workplace productivity game, but, at the same time, they’ve built empires on your data, and Proton is done watching from the sidelines. On March 31, 2026, Proton officially launched its own workspace alternative, called Proton Workspace (they couldn’t have been more direct).

The Proton Workspace, as the company states, is a fully bundled productivity suite designed to give businesses a genuine, encryption-first alternative to those from the big tech companies. 

What’s so unique about Proton Workspace?

Proton’s Workspace includes several useful tools that people already use as part of their digital lives. They include Proton Mail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, and Sheets, VPN, and Pass. It comes in two tiers: Standard at $12.99 per month (billed annually) and Premium at $19.99 per month.

With the latter, you’ll also get 3TB of storage, higher video calling limits, and access to Lumo, the company’s privacy-focused AI assistant. The standout feature, for me, is Proton Meet, a brand-new encrypted video conferencing tool. 

It uses end-to-end encryption via the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol. In other words, not even Proton can listen in. Even if you don’t have an account, Proton says that anyone can host or join a meeting. This, in my opinion, makes the tool quite useful for journalists, activists, or anyone who needs to keep their conversations off the grid. 

It’s no secret that 2025 was the golden age of budget phones. A year where you could get fast performance and capable cameras all for under ₹20k. Unfortunately, 2026 isn’t shaping up to be the year we all hoped it would be. It’s the year we’re starting to feel the consequences of AI in the form of sky-high RAM and storage prices. As you may have guessed, budget phones have fared the worst, given their already thin margins. OPPO has historically done well with its K-series, and this year the Chinese smartphone maker is back with the all-new K14 5G.

The K14 is an interesting phone, to say the least. It packs the Dimensity 6300 processor, a 50MP main camera, and a new design. The first point of comparison for many would be its predecessor, the K13. It was the favourite of many and still comes out as a better phone than the K14. But to me, that’s not the correct way to judge. Sure, the K13 launched at the same price of ₹17,999, but it now costs over ₹20k, so the two devices simply cannot be compared. This had me wondering: How does the new OPPO K14 justify its price tag? To answer this question, I asked OPPO to send the K14. This review sums up my experience with the device over the last two weeks, highlighting its pros and cons to help you make an informed decision.

Design & Hardware

Design has always been OPPO’s bread and butter, with some handsome-looking phones throughout its history. I can pretty much say the same things about the K14 as well. It’s a tried-and-tested design that just works for everyone. The white variant I received has geometric patterns on the back that catch the light in different ways. This adds a bit of style without being overly flashy. I handed the phone to some of my family and friends, and they all had the same opinion. The matte finish picks up no fingerprints, so the phone stays pristine at all times.

The sides are plastic, of course, but that’s not a problem. The silver finish matches the white frame well, and the in-hand feel is good, too. Don’t get me wrong, the K14 is a big phone, but with a slight curve to the frame, it’s manageable enough to use with one hand for someone with average-sized fingers. The back also includes the dual camera setup tucked inside an island. The design is fairly straightforward, but what I do love is that the camera lenses don’t protrude much, so the K14 doesn’t wobble on a table. The weight can range from 209–216g, depending on your color, and it’s distributed pretty well for a phone with a 7,000 mAh battery pack.

Security is handled by a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. It’s plenty fast and works with both wet and greasy fingers, unlike the optical ones. The K14 also gets the myriad of IP ratings, including IP68 and IP69, meaning you can go swimming with the K14 if desired. Though I would always be against that since water damage isn’t covered under warranty. Also, OPPO is heavily advertising the K14’s durability, which I put to the test when I accidentally dropped it from waist height. There was no damage whatsoever.

Display & Speakers

The OPPO K14 features a 6.75-inch HD+ LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate. I’ll say it straight: the display isn’t a selling point for the K14. The 120Hz refresh rate is great, but the HD+ resolution simply limits everyday usability, and the text does feel noticeably less sharp. However, if you haven’t been testing flagship phones every month, then the K14 would feel right at home. The 1,125-nit peak brightness makes the screen visible outdoors without me having to squint much. The content experience is also fine, but nothing special.

The stereo speakers, on the other hand, are really good. There’s ample separation between instruments, and mids stay decently clear along the spectrum.

Performance

Performance is what makes or breaks the budget smartphone experience. The K14 features the Dimensity 6300 processor, featuring 2 Cortex-A76 cores running at 2400 MHz and 6 Cortex-A55 cores at 2000 MHz, along with the Mali-G57 MP2. In addition, my review unit came with 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.1 internal storage.

The Dimensity 6300 has been around for a long time and has proven to be plenty capable. The K14’s everyday performance is actually really good. ColorOS is my favourite Android skin, and that pays enough dividends. Both light apps and heavier ones like the camera open quickly, switching between tasks is smooth, and the RAM is enough to keep multiple tasks running at the same time.

The animations, while not as pretty on my Find X8, are still fluid enough to make the experience feel premium. The phone also gets a dose of my favourite AI features, including the likes of AI Portrait Retouching, Recompose, and Perfect Shot. All of them help you tweak the camera’s output for a better-looking photo. All that being said, there are many pre-installed apps, including the annoying “Hot Apps” folder, which you’ll need to remove manually.

Since this is a review, I also put the Dimensity 6300 through its paces with a series of benchmarks. The K14 scored 814 in Geekbench’s single-core and 1,981 in the multi-core test. In AnTuTu, the phone achieved 688,325 points. Moving on to gaming, I installed BGMI and played it at Smooth and Extreme settings. Overall, the experience was decent for the price, with stable 60 FPS gameplay and no dropped frames, even in intense situations.

Battery Life & Charging

If you ask me for just one reason to consider the K14, I’ll probably say it’s the 7,000 mAh battery. I couldn’t push the phone hard enough to drain it in a day, and that’s big praise. For context, I started my day at around 9 AM with 100% charge remaining. After my morning cup of coffee, I decided to run benchmarks on the K14. Once that was in order, I watched a few YouTube videos and hopped into a long BGMI gaming session with my friends. The evening was the usual struggle at the gym with the OPPO Enco Air 3 Pro+ connected to the phone. Lastly, I went shopping with my friends and took a few sample photos.

I ended that day with roughly 40% charge remaining. When I did eventually run out of juice the next day, the 45W fast charging came to the rescue. It can charge the battery from 0% to full in around 90 minutes. You can also use the K14 as a power bank to charge other phones with a cable.

Cameras

The K14’s cameras are headlined by a 50MP OV50D sensor paired with a 2MP depth sensor. Selfies are handled by an 8MP shooter. I didn’t expect much from the K14’s cameras, but they are better than expected. Give the main sensor enough light, and it captures some pretty photos, with ample sharpness and decent HDR. The same was true of daytime portraits, where edge detection was on point, and the shallow depth of field looked natural. Skin tones are also managed well. There were a few situations where highlights were slightly blown out, but that isn’t a big issue.

Nighttime is where the OmniVision sensor struggles. Don’t get me wrong, the images are decent, but they just lack details, and there’s noticeable noise. You can also expect to wait before the camera captures the image, since there’s a shutter delay at night, which can make it difficult to capture moving subjects. That said, the 8MP selfie shooter is more than enough to preserve detail while keeping skin tones natural. Videos being capped at just 1080p at 60FPS is a bummer, though.

Verdict

At ₹17,999, the OPPO K14 is the new reality of budget phones in India, and it’s something buyers will have to adjust to. The K14 is a good phone with a pretty design that’s more than capable of handling everyday tasks and even gaming, for that matter. However, it’s not perfect. I’d love to see better nighttime camera performance and a higher-resolution display, but neither is a deal-breaker.

Tired of the stale, fetid air looming over your apartment like a cloud? Check out the Coway Airmega Mighty, an already wallet-friendly home air purifier that’s even cheaper right now as part of the Amazon Big Spring Sale. It’s currently marked down to just $154, a $76 discount from its typical price, but you’ll want to move quickly if you’re interested, as the deal is only available for a limited time.

Coway

Airmega Mighty AP-1512HH

Despite its low price tag and squat stature, the Airmega Mighty is capable of cleaning a substantial amount of space. At full bore, it can handle a 361-square-foot space, although you’ll get the best performance, and save your ears, if you’re closer to a 200-square-foot room. If you don’t want it running constantly, there are built-in timers to automatically shut off after 1, 4, or 8 hours, or you can use Eco Mode, which will run until the Might doesn’t sense any dirty air for half an hour.

That’s right, the Airmega Mighty has a built-in air quality sensor, and it reflects the current state of the air quality using a colored light with three levels. It uses those readings to automatically adjust the fan speed and timing settings on the fly, as well as giving you a peak into how bad the air you’re breathing right now is for you. While it lacks integration with smart home setups like Google Home, it makes up for it by handling all of its own business without Wi-Fi or extra apps on your phone.

While the Coway Airmega Mighty is available in three colors, only the black and silver model is currently discounted, so you’ll have to pay full price if it doesn’t match your living room’s color scheme. We’ve put in the work testing every air purifier we could get our hands on, so make sure to check out the full guide if you’re trying to clean up your space. The Coway is discounted as part of Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, and we’ve got the best deals from products we’ve tested gathered in one place if you want to save some bucks.