[mgmueller]

There may be a simple explanation.
I'm a bit of an "Adrian Monk".
In the hotel for example, I don't put my valued gadgets on the table.
Who knows, what has been spilled there before?
So I put my Chrombook Pixel on the sleeve.
This seriously might harm air circulation.

And fan "noise" of course is a bit harsh.
It's not the sound of an Airbus engine, it's the usual whisper.

In direct comparison, I'd say:
MacBook Air's fan from time to time (30%?) is louder.
But therefore Pixel's fan is on more often.
It's not constantly on, as it seemed at first.
But once it starts, it stays on for quite some while.
Not much different from Surface Pro.

In a tablet I find it more obtrusive, than on a notebook.
Simply because you hold a tablet closer to your face/ears.

On both, Surface Pro and Chromebook Pixel, the fan is obvious.
You easily can ignore it, but you will hear it at first.
But on both I don't consider it a show stopper.
I'd call it "one minor detail from perfection"...