An apparatus of user equipment (UE) includes a radio integrated circuit (IC), an adjustable external low noise amplifier (eLNA) external to the radio IC, and processing circuitry. The radio IC includes a receive signal circuit path including an adjustable gain internal low noise amplifier (iLNA), and a transmit signal circuit path including a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit configured to convert digital signals to analog baseband signals for transmitting. The processing circuitry is configured to provide digital values of the digital signals to the DAC circuit and initiate adjusting gain of one or both of the iLNA and the eLNA according to the digital values.