This disclosure describes techniques for implementing and utilizing a transceiver in a communication device that has two separate radio-frequency (RF) power amplifiers that are optimized to transmit signals using separate communication standards. The power amplifiers may be designed to convert a lower-power RF signal into different higher-power signals according to different standard-mandated, output-power limits. In this way, a communication device may arbitrate between two transceiver chains that include respective power adapters in order to convert lower-power RF signals into different higher-power RF signals. The higher-power RF signals may have different output-power levels that are appropriate for the respective communication standards of the separate transceiver chains.