2D animator vs. Sprite Array?

Looking at the built in animation Unity uses, it seems as though the animator for sprites simply cycles Sprites as if it were going through a Sprite Array based on Time.deltaTime.

Would it be faster or easier to use my own script and cycle through a Sprite Array, assigning new sprites on update? Or does the animator add something that I might need?

Note: I'm only using it for 2d Sprite animations.