But it's not a comparison of these 2 laptops in particular. They are only comparing the CPUs in a similar deployment form factor and with a (mostly) comparable power envelope.

Nothing about the laptop quality (fan noise, build materials, speakers, display, track pad, keyboard, etc etc etc) is ever discussed. That's not the comparison here.

How can you compare CPU without handling variables like cooling? The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro both use an M2, but they tested the one without active cooling versus a competitor that does have active cooling. Wouldn't the MBP be a better comparison between the CPU? The MBP performs better with the same CPU as the MBA due to additional cooling capabilities.

That wasn't the OP's complaint. OP's complaint was that noise levels weren't compared. We don't know if either of them throttled, which is yet again a distinct question from noise levels. It takes the M2 Air a few minutes to throttle, it's quite plausible that phoronix just had cooldown pauses between tests and this wasn't an issue at all.

An M2 13" Pro would have been a better comparison point though sure.