diff --git a/tests/test_readers.cpp b/tests/test_readers.cpp
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_readers.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+/*
+  Copyright © 2018 Hasan Yavuz Özderya
+
+  This file is part of serialplot.
+
+  serialplot is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+  (at your option) any later version.
+
+  serialplot is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+  GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+  along with serialplot.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+// This tells Catch to provide a main() - only do this in one cpp file per executable
+#define CATCH_CONFIG_RUNNER
+#include "catch.hpp"
+
+#include <QSignalSpy>
+#include <QBuffer>
+#include "binarystreamreader.h"
+#include "asciireader.h"
+#include "framedreader.h"
+#include "demoreader.h"
+
+#include "test_helpers.h"
+
+static const int READYREAD_TIMEOUT = 10; // milliseconds
+
+TEST_CASE("reading data with BinaryStreamReader", "[reader]")
+{
+    QBuffer bufferDev;
+    BinaryStreamReader bs(&bufferDev);
+    bs.enable(true);
+
+    TestSink sink;
+    bs.connectSink(&sink);
+
+    REQUIRE(sink._numChannels == 1);
+    REQUIRE(sink._hasX == false);
+
+    bufferDev.open(QIODevice::ReadWrite);
+    const char data[] = {0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04};
+    bufferDev.write(data, 4);
+    bufferDev.seek(0);
+
+    QSignalSpy spy(&bufferDev, SIGNAL(readyRead()));
+    REQUIRE(spy.wait(READYREAD_TIMEOUT));
+    REQUIRE(sink.totalFed == 4);
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("disabled BinaryStreamReader shouldn't read", "[reader]")
+{
+    QBuffer bufferDev;
+    BinaryStreamReader bs(&bufferDev); // disabled by default
+
+    TestSink sink;
+    bs.connectSink(&sink);
+
+    REQUIRE(sink._numChannels == 1);
+    REQUIRE(sink._hasX == false);
+
+    bufferDev.open(QIODevice::ReadWrite);
+    const char data[] = {0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04};
+    bufferDev.write(data, 4);
+    bufferDev.seek(0);
+
+    QSignalSpy spy(&bufferDev, SIGNAL(readyRead()));
+    // readyRead isn't signaled because there are no connections to it
+    REQUIRE_FALSE(spy.wait(READYREAD_TIMEOUT));
+    REQUIRE(sink.totalFed == 0);
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("reading data with AsciiReader", "[reader, ascii]")
+{
+    QBuffer bufferDev;
+    AsciiReader reader(&bufferDev);
+    reader.enable(true);
+
+    TestSink sink;
+    reader.connectSink(&sink);
+
+    REQUIRE(sink._numChannels == 1);
+    REQUIRE(sink._hasX == false);
+
+    // inject data to the buffer
+    bufferDev.open(QIODevice::ReadWrite);
+    bufferDev.write("0,1,3\n0,1,3\n0,1,3\n0,1,3\n");
+    bufferDev.seek(0);
+
+    QSignalSpy spy(&bufferDev, SIGNAL(readyRead()));
+    REQUIRE(spy.wait(READYREAD_TIMEOUT));
+    REQUIRE(sink._numChannels == 3);
+    REQUIRE(sink._hasX == false);
+    REQUIRE(sink.totalFed == 3);
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("AsciiReader shouldn't read when disabled", "[reader, ascii]")
+{
+    QBuffer bufferDev;
+    AsciiReader reader(&bufferDev); // disabled by default
+
+    TestSink sink;
+    reader.connectSink(&sink);
+
+    REQUIRE(sink._numChannels == 1);
+    REQUIRE(sink._hasX == false);
+
+    // inject data to the buffer
+    bufferDev.open(QIODevice::ReadWrite);
+    bufferDev.write("0,1,3\n0,1,3\n0,1,3\n0,1,3\n");
+    bufferDev.seek(0);
+
+    QSignalSpy spy(&bufferDev, SIGNAL(readyRead()));
+    REQUIRE_FALSE(spy.wait(READYREAD_TIMEOUT));
+    REQUIRE(sink._numChannels == 1);
+    REQUIRE(sink._hasX == false);
+    REQUIRE(sink.totalFed == 0);
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("reading data with FramedReader", "[reader]")
+{
+    QBuffer bufferDev;
+    FramedReader reader(&bufferDev);
+    reader.enable(true);
+
+    TestSink sink;
+    reader.connectSink(&sink);
+
+    REQUIRE(sink._numChannels == 1);
+    REQUIRE(sink._hasX == false);
+
+    bufferDev.open(QIODevice::ReadWrite);
+    const uint8_t data[] = {0xAA, 0xBB, 4, 0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04};
+    bufferDev.write((const char*) data, 7);
+    bufferDev.seek(0);
+
+    QSignalSpy spy(&bufferDev, SIGNAL(readyRead()));
+    REQUIRE(spy.wait(READYREAD_TIMEOUT));
+    REQUIRE(sink.totalFed == 4);
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("FramedReader shouldn't read when disabled", "[reader]")
+{
+    QBuffer bufferDev;
+    FramedReader reader(&bufferDev);
+
+    TestSink sink;
+    reader.connectSink(&sink);
+
+    REQUIRE(sink._numChannels == 1);
+    REQUIRE(sink._hasX == false);
+
+    bufferDev.open(QIODevice::ReadWrite);
+    const uint8_t data[] = {0xAA, 0xBB, 4, 0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04};
+    bufferDev.write((const char*) data, 7);
+    bufferDev.seek(0);
+
+    QSignalSpy spy(&bufferDev, SIGNAL(readyRead()));
+    REQUIRE_FALSE(spy.wait(READYREAD_TIMEOUT));
+    REQUIRE(sink.totalFed == 0);
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("Generating data with DemoReader", "[reader, demo]")
+{
+    QBuffer bufferDev;          // not actually used
+    DemoReader demoReader(&bufferDev);
+    demoReader.enable(true);
+
+    TestSink sink;
+    demoReader.connectSink(&sink);
+    REQUIRE(sink._numChannels == 1);
+    REQUIRE(sink._hasX == false);
+
+    // we need to wait somehow, we are not actually looking for signals
+    QSignalSpy spy(&bufferDev, SIGNAL(readyRead()));
+    REQUIRE_FALSE(spy.wait(1000)); // we need some time for demoreader to produce data
+    REQUIRE(sink.totalFed >= 9);
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("DemoReader shouldn't generate data when paused", "[reader, demo]")
+{
+    QBuffer bufferDev;          // not actually used
+    DemoReader demoReader(&bufferDev); // paused by default
+
+    TestSink sink;
+    demoReader.connectSink(&sink);
+    REQUIRE(sink._numChannels == 1);
+
+    // we need to wait somehow, we are not actually looking for signals
+    QSignalSpy spy(&bufferDev, SIGNAL(readyRead()));
+    REQUIRE_FALSE(spy.wait(1000)); // we need some time for demoreader to produce data
+    REQUIRE(sink.totalFed == 0);
+}
+
+// Note: this is added because `QApplication` must be created for widgets
+#include <QApplication>
+int main(int argc, char* argv[])
+{
+    QApplication a(argc, argv);
+
+    int result = Catch::Session().run( argc, argv );
+
+    return result;
+}