Our Motorola twin cordless phone is really really really pants... it runs off of standard AAA rechargeable batteries which last about 10min (they don't seem to charge properly). I presume I could buy new batteries but I hate the phone for other reasons (mainly the inability to sync contacts between handsets and annoyances like having to cancel a missed call on both handsets).

So, is piss poor battery life par for the course with the phones that use finger batteries, or did we just get a lemon? Should I look for something with Li-Ion like mobile phones use?

We've had a few cordless phones over the years but never had battery problems like you've got.
Agree with your other points---very annoying.

Sounds like a lemon. You generally won't go wrong with Siemens or Panasonic cordless phones. They still use NiMh AAAs though, but I can get a week's use out of mine (I have both brands).

I've got a BT branded cordless phone which uses a pair of AAA NiMH cells in the handset, and a full charge lasts around a week. Admittedly I don't spend much time making calls- perhaps an hour per week on average.

I did have to replace the original cells after only two or three years use as they were no longer holding their charge, and rather than charge them on the base station, I now take them out and charge them on a decent charger which ensures neither cell is consistently under- or over-charged (I have two sets, so I have a fresh set ready to go in when the battery indicator on the handset says the current set are running low).

I never measured it but I should be getting longer use now than with the original cells that came with the phone, as they were 550mAh and I'm now using 700mAh versions. Given that 1000mAh AAA NiMH cells are readily available, if I used them instead I could probably get about ten days use from each charge with this phone.

There's certainly nothing fundamentally wrong with cordless phones which use AAA NiMH cells; in fact I'd say it is a big plus as you know you can always get some replacements at a fraction of the cost of a model which uses some specialist lithium-ion cell.

Either your batteries are old and worn or you got a lemon. Phones that don't use awful overpriced battery packs are brilliant. My panasonics last quite a while on a charge.