Devices and methods of joint antenna panel switching and beam selection are generally described. A user equipment (UE) can be configured to decode configuration information received via a higher layer for a plurality of receive (Rx) beams for the UE, the configuration information identifying a plurality of Rx beam indices for the plurality of Rx beams. The UE is configured to decode a physical layer (PHY) communication indicating an antenna panel index and an Rx beam index of the plurality of Rx beam indices, the antenna panel index identifying an antenna panel of a plurality of available antenna panels of the UE. The UE is configured to decode a downlink (DL) data transmission, wherein the DL data transmission is received using the antenna panel and a selected Rx beam of the plurality of Rx beams corresponding to the indicated Rx beam index.