[2026 First Half Best Buys] Celebrating Our 200th Issue! Introducing Only the Strongest Items Derived from Rigorous Tests! (Kaden Hihyo July 2026 Issue)

Announcing the 2026 First Half Best Buy Awards derived from rigorous testing!

We are already halfway through 2026. This year, 'Kaden Hihyo' has been testing a wide variety of home appliances at a furious pace since the January issue. This time, we are introducing over 100 carefully selected excellent products discovered through our first-half verification!

On PR TIMES, we will introduce the editorial team's top recommendations: the 'Grand Prize', 'Semi-Grand Prize', and 'Top 20 of the First Half'.

'2026 First Half Best Buy Awards' featuring only truly recommended products.

The ideal form of open-ear earphones where noise fades and melodies stand out!

[Grand Prize] Shokz 'OpenFit Pro'

Actual market price: 39,880 yen

The winner of the open-ear earphone category for the first half is the 'Shokz OpenFit Pro'! Its appeal is, above all, its excellent sound quality. Professionals praised its rich low-end, which is often lacking in open-ear models, its wide, three-dimensional soundstage, and its speaker-like presence. It features a 'Focus Mode', a rare noise reduction function for open-ear types, allowing enjoyment even in noisy places. Furthermore, it supports Dolby Atmos, making it the no-brainer choice for listening-focused users.

Leveraging drone-developed technology! Eccentric looks but top-tier performance.

[Semi-Grand Prize] DJI 'ROMO P'

Actual market price: 198,000 yen

This product was released in March this year by DJI, famous for drones. While its skeleton design catches the eye, its performance is top-notch for a new entrant, tying with last year's annual best, the Dreame. Maintainability is also excellent, featuring automatic mop washing and dust collection, and a paper bag type for easy trash disposal, making it a highly complete robot vacuum cleaner.

No noticeable weaknesses! The dignity of a champion, continuing from last year.

[Semi-Grand Prize] Dreame 'Aqua10 Ultra Roller'

Actual market price: 249,800 yen

The Dreame, which this magazine selected as a Best Buy in its December issue last year, began general sales in April this year. While its suction power fell slightly short of the DJI, it scored highly in all other areas, leaving almost no blind spots. It demonstrated its skill in every function.

Apple's affordable PC that offers 'more than the price' and deserves the 2026 Cost Performance Award.

[Top 20] Apple 'MacBook Neo'

Actual market price: 99,800 yen (256GB, no Touch ID) / 114,800 yen (512GB, with Touch ID)

A Mac at an affordable price, starting from the 90,000 yen range for the minimum 256GB configuration. Of course, there are performance limitations, but the visible and tactile parts like the body quality, keyboard, and trackpad are crafted with Apple-like quality, making it a PC that is surprisingly 'usable for everyday tasks' unless you are doing heavy work like 4K video editing. It would be an ideal first choice for children, students, and new graduates.

Achieving a stereo feel that breaks the projector stereotype of 'entry-level = compromised sound'.

[Top 20] Anker Japan 'Soundcore Nebula P1i'

Actual market price: 49,990 yen

Despite being a projector under 50,000 yen, this unit achieves a sufficient sense of spaciousness by allowing adjustment of the vertical angle of speakers deployed on the left and right, directing sound to where it resonates most. Functionally, it also scores points with automatic keystone correction and built-in 'Google TV'. Enjoy this year's World Cup on Anker's big screen with great sound quality!

Rich bass and sound quality that feels like it should cost more than 10,000 yen! Professionals rave about its incredible level of completion.

[Top 20] EarFun 'EarFunClip 2'

Actual market price: 9,990 yen

Compatible with the high-resolution codec LDAC, this cost-performance champion open-ear earphone is highly praised for its 'high resolution creating quality sound'. Unique features like Manners Mode are also convenient, and it reliably meets the desire to enjoy music without missing ambient sounds. Some say the fit is 'a bit loose, maybe not suitable for intense exercise like running', but it doesn't hurt even when worn for long periods.

Professional chefs are impressed! A unit exceptionally good at reheating and defrosting frozen food.

[Top 20] Toshiba Lifestyle 'Stone Oven Dome ER-D7000C'

Actual market price: 178,200 yen

A steam oven range that combines microwave functions like reheating with steam oven functions for cooking like baking and steaming. While oven functions have evolved to allow simultaneous cooking, the microwave functions, which were previously somewhat neglected, are starting to improve. The 'ER-D7000C' won the three-way battle for this provisional Best Buy precisely because its microwave function had evolved the most. The evaluation of its reheating and defrosting of frozen food was the deciding factor.

Improving safety and convenience with a high-output quasi-solid-state battery!

[Top 20] CIO 'SMARTCOBY Pro SLIM SS CIO-MB35W2C1A-SSA10K-S-BK'

Actual market price: 6,280 yen

While carrying a mobile battery with your smartphone is now standard, fire incidents are increasing, and rules for bringing them onto aircraft were tightened in April 2026. Therefore, we recommend this product, which stands out for its convenience among 'quasi-solid-state' batteries, which are said to have a lower fire risk. It offers 35W output and a total of 3 ports (USB-C and A). Furthermore, it displays the remaining battery level digitally in 1% increments, making it a high-performance, highly usable mobile battery.

Great balance of price and performance! Excellent in all aspects for about 80,000 yen.

[Top 20] Google 'Pixel 10a'

Actual market price: 79,900 yen (128GB)

A device that combines high-level performance and usability for under 80,000 yen. The camera is particularly excellent, producing beautiful night shots. The display offers sufficient detail for videos with many bright scenes. It's also a subtle plus that the rear camera is flat, so the phone doesn't wobble when placed on a table. A device that can handle various tasks competently at a moderate price!

A bit troublesome, but a hardcore unit that delivers the best sound.

[Top 20] Final 'TONALITE'

Actual market price: 39,800 yen

While it feels like a high hurdle to wear a headband and measure your head shape to achieve the best sound quality, the sound quality beyond that hurdle is top-tier. Its sound quality score of 67.7 out of 70 far outpaces its rivals, earning high praise from professionals as 'a gem that lets you enjoy your favorite tones in high quality' and 'the density and depth of the sound are wonderful'. The sound refined through personalization is clearly different from others at first listen. If you want to listen to music intently, this is undoubtedly the most compelling choice.

Style long hair as you wish and feel great!

[Top 20] MTG 'ReFa Straight Blow Iron'

Actual market price: 23,100 yen

A brush iron that easily creates smooth, straight hair. It excels not only in ease of styling but also in usability, with features like the brush construction and an easy-to-read digital display on the handle. Although introduced for long hair, the writer, whose hair barely touches their shoulders, was impressed by the ease of styling and immediately purchased it. Once you get used to it, you can also create curls and other styles besides straight.