This application discusses apparatus and methods of saving power using a quadrature receiver by enabling a single string reception mode of the quadrature receiver. In an example, a receiver for receiving communication information can include an analog front end configured to receive a modulated, information-carrying radio frequency signal at a first frequency band and to provide a digital representation of the modulated, information-carrying radio frequency signal at a second frequency band, a digital front end configured to receive the digital representation at the second frequency and to provide the communication information, for example, to a baseband processor. In a first processing mode of the receiver, the analog front end can provide either one of in-phase symbol information of the modulated, information-carrying radio frequency signal or quadrature symbol information of the modulated, information-carrying radio frequency signal at the second frequency band.