Embodiments provide a communication method, terminal, and a base station. The method includes: receiving, by terminal, a reference signal sent by a base station; and obtaining, by the terminal, channel energy of a narrow beam by measuring the reference signal, where the narrow beam is a directional beam. According to the communication method in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the terminal may obtain the channel energy of the narrow beam by measuring the reference signal. Compared with the prior art in which channel energy of a narrow beam is measured on a base station side, a difference is that the terminal can more accurately estimate the channel energy of the narrow beam. That is, the channel energy of the narrow beam estimated by the terminal can more accurately reflect channel quality, and transmission efficiency can be improved.