A power savings technique is provided for a radio communication device. The technique involves reducing the amount of time that a receiver is powered-up during a time interval that the radio communication device may receive a transmission from another radio communication device. This time interval is referred to as a reception time interval, though it may also correspond to a time interval that the device may transmit to another device if the device is in a transmit mode. This method involves delaying enablement of the receiver for a relatively short first time interval that begins at the start of the reception time interval. When the first time interval expires, the receiver is enabled for at least a second time interval so that the device can detect whether a synchronization pattern is occurring, indicative of a radio transmission being sent for the device. The duration of the second time interval is such that it expires well before the end of the reception time interval. If the device does not detect the synchronization pattern during the second time interval, the receiver is powered-down or disabled. The durations of the first and second time intervals may be set by first and second timers, respectively. Consequently, the receiver is disabled before the end of the reception interval when there is no transmission to the device that is to be received.