.

Simply so, is there a difference between a charging cable and a data cable?

FACT - Both data cable and the charging cable are USB interfaces and generally, they are four wires. But the charging cable using only two lines VCC and GND of the power supply, whereas the data cable uses VCC, GND, and two communication lines. This is the reason why charging cable fails to establish the connection.

Subsequently, question is, does USB cable matter for charging phone? Yes the cable absolutely matters. Most cheap cables are 28/28 and can barely cross 500mah when putting power through them. When you buy a phablet like the Nexus 6, or an actual tablet, you are probably shipped a 28/24 awg usb cable, which is about 60 percent larger guage.

Correspondingly, can a charging cable transfer data?

Charging cables: can only charge your smartphone and other devices but cannot transfer data. These are commonly called “Charge-only” cables. Data cables: does both; charges your devices and transfer data.

How do you tell if a USB cable is a data cable?

Just select one on one side of the cable, and test continuity to both of the middle pins on the other side. You will see no continuity or a high/"infinite" resistance on your meter if the cable is missing data wires and is a "charge only cable".