Can a dongle transfer data and 18W charging at the same time as it converts digital audio signals to analog? Sony‘s newest cable can’t.

The USB Type-C 2-in-1 Cable EC270 is available for proprietary use on the Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact — because they don’t have headphone jacks — to let users “charge your Xperia and enjoy clear conversations and flawless control of your music through your headset’s mic and in-line remote.” The USB-C merged connection splits out to a 3.5mm port for analog sound and an extra female USB-C slot for a charging cable.

The catch here is that charging in and out is limited to 5V/0.5A (2.5W), so there’s no fast charging and there’s also no data transfer available here.

While that might disappoint USB-C spec-heads, it should be said that this is as much insight into these aspects as we have seen on a component like this — we’ve looked around pretty hard for similar parts and the product descriptions have been awfully vague as to what those items can do, much less if they can do so without a compromise in the quality of data for the price given.

Speaking of price, Android Police reports that the dongle, only available in Europe for the time being, costs shy of €20.