I've bought an ultrasonic distance sensor, 2cm to 510cm. The triggering angle is nearly 30 degrees.. but there are some that go from .5m to 50m with only10 degree angle..
I have an "electronic tape measure" like that with the Stanley name on it (and an additional $10 on it). The laser is simply for letting you know where the thing is pointed. There is such a wide degree of acceptance on the thing that it's nearly worthless for anyone but a real estate agent for measuring room sizes. I find the thing to be really aggravating to use for measuring narrower walls in larger rooms for estimating paint coverage. The concept is nice and has been around for 30 years or more, but just hasn't been improved for greater definition with more like a 1° acceptance angle ... which would make that built-in laser very necessary.
RF-based range meters? I can't wait for the explanation on that one.