The main downside with a
The main downside with a unit like this is that the output you get is either a serial string or a pair of analog voltages - either of which requires onboard processing to make use of. Although they’re less flexible, the opto-switch sensors like the Sharp unit above output 2 binary values which makes sensor processing almost trivial.
MEMS sensors are fantastic no doubt, but I try to avoid component overcomplexity wherever possible.