A communication unit for a radio communication system comprises a receiver for receiving data over an air interface. The receiver can operate in a first diversity mode and a second diversity mode. The first diversity mode may specifically correspond to no receive diversity being employed and the second diversity mode may correspond to signals from two or more fully or partially de-correlated antennas being combined. The communication unit comprises a data unit which determines a first data characteristic for a section of data to be received over the air interface. A switching unit is arranged to switch between the first diversity mode and the second diversity mode in response to the first data characteristic. The invention may allow improved performance and e.g. reduced power consumption by allowing an improved adaptation of diversity operation. In particular, an improved trade-off between power consumption and performance may be achieved in many embodiments.