Methods, systems, and devices are described for power conservation in a wireless communications system. In embodiments, power conservation may be achieved by adaptively controlling power modes of a wireless communication device, and implementing lower power modes with various modes of the device. According to one aspect, the mode of the device may be a beacon monitoring mode or a delivery traffic indication message (DTIM) mode. In such a mode, the device may receive a portion of a beacon in a first power mode. The device may transition to a second, different (e.g., higher) power mode using information contained in the received portion of the beacon as guidance.