Dynamic subharmonic mixing for power reduction in wireless communications

Techniques and apparatus are described for reducing power consumption when performing wireless communications by dynamically changing the frequency of a local oscillator signal for a radio frequency (RF) downconversion circuit, based on signal conditions. An example method includes receiving an RF signal and downconverting the RF signal using an oscillating signal with a first frequency at a first time. The method also includes switching to downconverting the RF signal using the oscillating signal with a second frequency, based on a property associated with the RF signal at a second time. The second frequency is a subharmonic of the first frequency.